Members of the Louisiana State Board of Examiners, at their November 30 meeting in Baton Rouge, discussed how the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB) has adopted a reward and punishment program for those state boards still resisting adopting the controversial second examination a psychology license, the EPPP2.

Complaints about the new exam had been growing and escalated when officials at ASPPB decided in August 2017 that the new test was to be mandatory. Following that move and resulting controversy, ASPPB backpedaled somewhat and on October 24 notified its members that they would have an option to use the EPPP but without the EPPP2.

However, there are penalties associated. Some members said they view this as an attempt to coerce states into compliance.

According to the October 24 announcement from Dr. Sharon Lightfoot, President of the ASPPB Board of Directors, if Louisiana chooses to decline the use of EPPP2, individuals here will not be allowed to take EPPP2 even if they wish to do so. Also, those test-takers from compliant states will pay $300 as a reward for early adoption of the additional exam, while those from late adopters will pay $450.

“Only applicants who are registered through a jurisdiction that has adopted the Enhanced Exam, and who have passed the knowledge portion of the exam, will be allowed to take the skills portion of the exam,” said Lightfoot.

“January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2021 is designated as an early adoption period. All jurisdictions who decide to adopt the Enhanced EPPP at any point during this time frame will be offered reduced fees for their applicants,” wrote Lightfoot.

In October, LSBEP members Drs. Amy Henke and Greg Gormanous, and Executive Director, Jaime Monic, attended the annual meeting of ASPPB in Salt Lake City, Utah. The EPPP-2 was discussed in depth.

Henke has been critical of the move since she lead opposition and the passage of a Resolution in the Louisiana Psychological Association. Sources say that some consider the ASPPB to be more in the mode of a “sales” organization and that there was little opportunity given for the ASPPB member jurisdictions to voice concerns.

One source said that ASPPB appears to be going around its board members and marketing the new test to internship programs and state legislatures. It was reported that they have also said that student groups support the new test when that is not the case.

Through 2016 and 2017 objections to the EPPP2 mounted, mostly from student and early career psychologist organizations.

In 2016, Dr. Henke, then a Director on the Executive Council of the Louisiana Psychological Association (LPA) and Co-Chair of the LPA Early Career Psychologists Committee in LPA, put forth a Resolution to oppose the EPPP2 for Louisiana, which passed unanimously. Dr. Henke is now serving on the state psychology board.

Objections, from Henke and others, involve technical and scientific issues, but also the criticism that there is no problem that the new test needs to solve. “There is no evidence that the public is facing some sort of previously unheard of crisis in terms of safety from currently practicing psychologists,” said Dr. Henke in 2016.

The Examination for Practice of Professional Psychology (EPPP) is privately owned by the ASPPB, which claims to serve its 64 members, regulatory boards of psychology. In a plan that appears to have been in place for a number of years, the ASPPB has decided to double the content and the price of its main product, the EPPP, from $600 to $1200, plus administration fees.