Updated for 2026

New York Psychologist Continuing Education Requirements

New York psychologists must complete 36 continuing education hours every 3 years to renew their Psychologist license, including 3 hours of law & ethics and 3 hours of professional boundaries.

total hours / 3 years

law & ethics hours

professional boundaries hours

Triennial · renewal date depends on the licensee's birth month.

New York Psychologist requirements

Requirement	Notes
Total continuing education	36 hours every 3 years.
Renewal	Triennial cycle: renews at the end of your birth month.
Renewal fee	$179 board renewal fee every 3 years.
Law & Ethics	3 hours required each cycle.
Professional Boundaries	3 hours required each cycle.
Format limits	Up to 12 hours may be completed through home study / self-study.
New licensees	Licensees are exempt from continuing education "for the triennial registration period during which they are first licensed to practice as a psychologist in New York State" (8 NYCRR 72.6(b)(1)(i); Education Law 7607(1)(b)). The exemption is unconditional — it applies equally to a licensee who was already practicing in another jurisdiction before New York licensure (CE FAQ Q5). The obligation begins with the second registration period, which is prorated at one hour per month (the second period is usually shorter than 36 months because it is adjusted to end in the licensee's birth month).
Approved providers	New York runs its own provider-approval registry: courses and self-study are acceptable ONLY from providers approved by the State Education Department on application and fee (8 NYCRR 72.6(c)(2)(ii)(a), 72.6(i)-(j)); courses from non-approved providers cannot satisfy the requirement, and an approved provider may not delegate approval to other organizations (CE FAQ Q23). APA or other national approval does not by itself qualify a provider. Entity types ELIGIBLE to apply for approval (8 NYCRR 72.6(i)): higher education institutions (licensure-qualifying, APA-accredited, or accredited with psychology-relevant graduate coursework); psychotherapy institutes; national psychology or other professional organizations (including specialty boards); New York State psychology organizations; national organizations of jurisdictional psychology boards (e.g. ASPPB); entities operating under Mental Hygiene Law articles 16, 31, or 32; and hospitals/health facilities under Public Health Law 2801 — but each must individually hold Department approval ($900 application, three-year term). Teaching, conference presentations, and academic coursework are likewise tied to approved-provider organizations/institutions. Authorship (first-time articles, chapters, books), independent study, and mentoring have no provider requirement, so provider classification is enforced only for credits tagged with the course/teaching/presentation/coursework categories. Credits must be earned within the registration period they are claimed for: "Continuing education hours taken during one triennium may not be transferred to the subsequent triennium" (Education Law 7607(2)), and only activities completed on or after January 1, 2021 are acceptable — enforced structurally by must_be_within_cycle_window (every current cycle window begins after that date).
Recordkeeping	Keep CE documentation for 6 years after each course's completion date.
Board audit	The board may audit licensees to verify CE compliance.
Provisional renewal	The board allows a provisional/conditional renewal for up to 12 months before full compliance is required. The Department may issue a one-year conditional registration to a licensee who attests to noncompliance: the licensee must remedy the prior-period deficiency during the conditional year, complete the regular requirement at one hour per month during it (no more than one-third as self-study), and complete any additional CE the Department requires (8 NYCRR 72.6(f); Education Law 7607(3); CE FAQ Q37). Fee: the regular registration fee ($179) plus the $50 continuing education fee, $229 total. After the conditional year the licensee receives a 24-month registration for the remainder of the triennium and must complete 24 hours during it.

Limits on how the hours are earned

Board caps and floors on where the 36 hours can come from.

home study / self-studymax 12 hrs
independent studymax 12 hrs
sponsored continuing educationmax 36 hrs
mentoringmax 18 hrs

Keeping the proof in order: what to keep for a CE audit, with every state’s retention period and what the audit notice asks for.

Full board policy details

TIER STRUCTURE: 8 NYCRR 72.6(c)(2)(ii) recognizes (a) formal courses of learning from Department-approved providers (no hour limit) and (b) eight other educational activities — teaching a CE course, teaching at an approved higher-education institution or psychotherapy institute, technical conference presentations, provider self-study (max 12 hours), first-time article/chapter authorship (2 hours), first-time book authorship (5 hours), independent study (3:1 conversion, max one-third), and mentoring (15:1 conversion, max one-half). Activities are NOT organized into lettered categories, no rule requires drawing from a minimum number of activity types, and no minimum-hours floor exists for any activity type — all 36 hours may come from approved-provider courses.
SELF-STUDY VS INDEPENDENT STUDY: these are DISTINCT buckets with separate one-third limits. Self-study (max 12 hours, encoded as a format cap) is structured, provider-offered media-based study without live interaction; recorded courses count here. Independent study (max 12 hours, encoded as a category cap) is self-initiated reading and research credited 3:1. Under the rule text a licensee could use both buckets in full (12 + 12 of the 36). ENCODING OVERLAP NOTE: a credit logged with format self_study AND category independent_study would be constrained by both caps; log independent study with its conversion category and a non-self-study format so each cap binds its own bucket.
LIVE / FORMAT: there is no minimum live or in-person requirement and no per-day or per-course cap. Live-interactive online courses (webinar or telephone with real-time interaction) are treated as live, with no hour limit: "There is no limit on the number of hours of acceptable continuing education you may take on-line through a Department-approved provider, when the course includes live interaction with the instructor and other students" (CE FAQ Q29). If a course is recorded without real-time interaction it is self-study under the 12-hour cap.
MEASUREMENT: "a minimum of 50 minutes shall equal one continuing education hour of credit" (8 NYCRR 72.6(h); CE FAQ Q10). Courses must be offered in contact hours; no other time measurement is acceptable.
NO CARRYOVER: "Continuing education hours taken during one triennium may not be transferred to the subsequent triennium" (Education Law 7607(2); 8 NYCRR 72.6(d)(3); CE FAQ Q11). Only activities completed on or after January 1, 2021 are acceptable.
PRORATION (MANUAL REVIEW): registration periods are per-licensee and are adjusted so renewals fall in the licensee's birth month; "during each registration period of less than three years' duration, an applicant for registration shall complete acceptable continuing education … on a prorated basis at a rate of one hour of continuing education per month" (8 NYCRR 72.6(c)(1)(ii)) — e.g. a 30-month period requires 30 hours (CE FAQ Q9), and the self-study cap becomes one-third of the prorated hours. The engine evaluates the standard 36-month/36-hour cycle; a licensee in a short adjusted period (typically the second registration period after licensure) needs a prorated total the engine cannot derive per-licensee, so those renewals require manual review. Whether the 3-hour ethics and boundaries floors prorate is not addressed by the rule text; the conservative reading (full floors still apply) is encoded.
COURSE REPEAT RESTRICTIONS: teaching and presentation credit requires NEW or revised material — teaching a course or presenting a topic is not acceptable "on more than one occasion without presenting new or revised material" (8 NYCRR 72.6(c)(2)(ii)(b)(1)-(3)), and authorship credit is limited to FIRST-TIME articles, chapters, and books. The rule imposes no general ban on an attendee repeating a course for credit.
PROHIBITED SUBJECTS: CE "designed for the sole purpose of personal development, marketing, business practices, and maximizing profits" is not acceptable (8 NYCRR 72.6(c)(2)(iii)), and supervision of a licensed professional, limited permit holder, student, or intern in a license-qualifying placement is not acceptable CE (CE FAQ Q26).
LICENSE STATUS RULES: licensure is for life; PRACTICE requires triennial registration. A licensee not practicing in New York may declare inactive status and is exempt from CE while inactive (8 NYCRR 72.6(b)(1)(ii); Education Law 7607(1)(c)); there is no time limit on inactive status and no separate retired tier. RETURN FROM INACTIVE/LAPSE (8 NYCRR 72.6(e); CE FAQ Q16-Q18): make up one hour per month of lapse, capped at 36 hours — completed within the 12 months before the new registration period if the licensee was not lawfully practicing elsewhere (followed by at least 12 hours in each successive 12-month period of the new registration period), or within the new period (or the 36 months before it) if the licensee practiced continuously in another jurisdiction, plus the regular requirement for the new period. Duration-dependent make-up cannot be evaluated by the engine — manual review.
ADJUSTMENTS (WAIVERS): the Department may adjust the requirement for documented good cause — poor health or disability certified by a health care professional, extended active duty with the Armed Forces, or other good cause beyond the licensee's control (8 NYCRR 72.6(b)(2); Education Law 7607(1)(b)). An adjustment does not grant extra time; a licensee needing time must seek the one-year conditional registration (CE FAQ Q14).
OVERLAYS: New York has NOT enacted PSYPACT as of August 2026 (bills S7136/A4566 pending; NY absent from the psypact.gov member map), and New York grants psychologists no prescriptive authority. Limited permits under Education Law 7604 (12-month out-of-state-applicant permit; 3-year supervised-experience permit) are pre-licensure authorizations that are not triennially registered and carry no CE obligation.

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New York Psychologist CE: frequently asked questions

How many CE hours do New York Psychologist licensees need?

New York requires 36 continuing education hours every 3 years to renew a Psychologist license. Triennial cycle: renews at the end of your birth month.

How many ethics hours are required for New York Psychologist licensees?

Of the total, 3 hours must be in law & ethics.

How often do New York Psychologist licensees renew?

Triennial cycle: renews at the end of your birth month.

How much does New York Psychologist license renewal cost?

The board's renewal fee is $179 every 3 years, per the New York board fee schedule. CE course costs are separate and set by course providers.

Are there subject-specific CE requirements for New York Psychologist licensees?

Yes. In addition to ethics, New York requires 3 hours of professional boundaries.

Can New York Psychologist licensees complete CE online or by home study?

Up to 12 hours may be completed through home study / self-study.

Is the first renewal different for new New York Psychologist licensees?

Licensees are exempt from continuing education "for the triennial registration period during which they are first licensed to practice as a psychologist in New York State" (8 NYCRR 72.6(b)(1)(i); Education Law 7607(1)(b)). The exemption is unconditional — it applies equally to a licensee who was already practicing in another jurisdiction before New York licensure (CE FAQ Q5). The obligation begins with the second registration period, which is prorated at one hour per month (the second period is usually shorter than 36 months because it is adjusted to end in the licensee's birth month).

Sources & verification

State source: New York board rule
Fee schedule: New York board fee schedule
Last verified: August 2026
Ruleset version: 2026.2

Reviewed against the New York board source and refreshed from the compiled ruleset above. Methodology and disclaimer. Compliance data is for guidance only, not legal or board advice. Always confirm requirements with your licensing board before renewing. See something wrong? Report it →

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New Yorkguides & data

What to keep for a CE audit

What boards ask for in a CE audit, how long each state says to keep certificates, what the notice looks like, and a printable checklist.

New York mental health workforce data

112,519 active providers, or 562.5 per 100,000 residents, ranked 13 of 51. County density map and free CSV downloads.

Other New York CE requirement pages

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