RCW 18.83.020

License required—Use of "psychology" or similar terms. (Effective until October 1, 2025.)

Applied in 6 court decisions — leading case 156 Wash. 2d 150 - Detention of Marshall v. State (2005)

Most recently applied in 156 Wash. 2d 150 - Detention of Marshall v. State (December 2005)

1986 c 27 s 1; 1965 c 70 s 2; 1955 c 305 s 2.

How often courts cite this section

citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(1) To safeguard the people of the state of Washington from the dangers of unqualified and improper practice of psychology, it is unlawful for any person to whom this chapter applies to represent himself or herself to be a psychologist without first obtaining a license as provided in this chapter.

(2) A person represents himself or herself to be a psychologist when the person adopts or uses any title or any description of services which incorporates one or more of the following terms: "psychology," "psychological," "psychologist," or any term of like import.

Official source: Washington State Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Washington statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.