To pass the Exam for the Professional Practice of Psychology (EPPP) you need help, a strategy. You can’t just walk into a test center, sit down, and pass this exam without preparing.
How important is the EPPP?
The EPPP is one of the most important tests a psychologist will face.
It doesn’t matter how well your graduate classes went. It doesn’t matter how well you did on comprehensive exams. Or how brilliant your thesis defense was. Or how many journals accepted articles based on your dissertation. You may have been the star of your internship. Your internship director may have considered you the model intern. Yet despite everything …
If you don’t pass the EPPP …
If you fail the Professional Practice Exam in Psychology, you will have very limited practice opportunities in the US or Canada. You will practically not be able to practice anywhere without passing it. At least not in any state or province that has a board of psychology that is a member of the Association of State and Provincial Boards of Psychology (ASPPB). The only exceptions to requiring you to pass this exam are Prince Edward Island and Quebec. However, even Quebec requires applicants from outside the province to pass the exam before they are allowed to practice.
The list of professional activities for which you are restricted when you are not licensed is long – you cannot have private patients. You cannot get a refund from the insurance company. You cannot print “Licensed Psychologist” on your business cards. Many employers require that you have a license. Basically, if you can’t pass the EPPP, you’ve wasted years of graduate school and thousands of dollars in education – and all the sacrifices you’ve made.
The defined EPPP
The EPPP is the exam for professional practice in psychology. Any psychologist who wants to place a shingle in any state in the US or almost any province in Canada must complete it successfully.
Who does the EPPP?
An organization in Montgomery, AL creates and markets the EPPP to state and provincial boards of psychology.
EPPP content
The EPPP contains these 8 domains: Ethical, legal and professional issues, Treatment, intervention and prevention, Social and multicultural bases of behavior, Biological bases of behavior, Assessment and diagnosis, Cognitive-affective bases of behavior, Research methods and statistics, and Growth and development throughout life.
EPPP Administration
The EPPP is made up of two hundred and twenty-five multiple-choice questions. The examinee has exactly four hours and fifteen minutes to finish the exam.
The exam is administered by computer. The examinee stands and sits for the exam at a Prometric Testing Center.
It is natural to assume that after you have earned a Ph.D. or PsyD in psychology, passed an accredited graduate program in psychology, completed an internship, and defended a dissertation or research project, you could easily pass the exam. Or maybe approve it with a little review. But nothing could be further from the truth.
Why EPPP Questions Are Difficult
In the EPPP, examinees must choose the “best” answer, not necessarily the “correct” answer. The wording is usually the other way around. Questions can specify “all are true except” or “all are false except”. Discriminating the small differences between the answers on this psychology test can be a great challenge.
The exam questions require that you not only be familiar with each of the eight domains, but demonstrate the application of that knowledge.
It is not realistic to believe that you can prepare minimally for the EPPP or prepare in the same way as you did in the past for the exams. It’s also unrealistic to prepare minimally and just plan to repeat the test continuously until you pass it. There are many reasons for this.
EPPP registration fees
One reason it is unrealistic to keep repeating the test is the high cost. Each EPPP administration costs you $ 450. Each session at the Prometric Test Center to take the psychology test costs $ 68.
State and provincial boards of psychology require payment of licensing and administration fees before you are allowed to take the exam. You must obtain an Authorization letter to take the test from your psychology board before the ASPPB will allow you to register for the psychology exam. The psychology board costs related to licensing and taking the exam, depending on where you live, can run to more than a thousand dollars.
How many times can I take the EPPP?
Another reason it is unrealistic to re-take EPPP repeatedly is that there are limitations on how many times you can take it. The ASPPB restricts you to taking the exam four times a year, while your local board of psychology may restrict it even more. After a number of unsuccessful attempts at the Psychology Exam, many psychology boards require you to convince them why you should be allowed to try to pass the exam again. Before you can retake the exam, your psychology board may require you to do additional class work, gain more experience, or submit to supervision (for example).
All of these additional requirements can significantly increase the time it takes you to pass the EPPP.
Financial costs of repeating the test in the EPPP
Replays of the EPPP are not free. You must pay the full fee to ASPPB ($ 450) and Prometric ($ 68) each time you take the exam. Your board of psychology will also charge you additional administrative fees to reapply for another authorization letter to retake the exam. In general, the process of taking and passing this test is quite expensive.
How to pass the EPPP
So in short, passing the Professional Practice Exam in Psychology is a difficult task that requires special preparation. However, help is available. Websites, like How to Pass the EPPP Without Even Trying. They exist to facilitate the process. With careful preparation, an understanding of the exam structure, appropriate exam study materials, and strategies for taking specific EPPP exams, you can and will pass the exam.
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