Forensic Psychologist: How to Become One

APA has recognized forensic psychology as a specialty since 2001. It defines the specialty as:

“Forensic psychology is a specialty in professional psychology characterized by activities primarily intended to provide professional psychological expertise within the judicial and legal systems.”

APA, Forensic Psychology (created 2008)

The distinctiveness of forensic psychology is its advanced knowledge and skills reflecting the intersection of legal theory, procedures and law with clinical issues, practice and ethics (APA). Forensic Psychology is the application of the science and profession of psychology to questions and issues relating to law and the legal system (ABPP).

BLS describes forensic psychologists among the other types of psychologist:

“Other psychologists include forensic psychologists, who work with judges, attorneys, and related specialists to understand the psychological aspects of a legal case; neuropsychologists, who study how dysfunction or damage to the brain, spine, or nerves affects behavior and cognition; and rehabilitation psychologists, who help foster independence in clients who have physical or developmental disabilities due to illness or injury.”

BLS OOH, Psychologists: What Psychologists Do, types of psychologists

On what the work produces, APA says:

“The description and measurement of capacities relevant to legal questions is an important goal in forensic psychology. As a result, the forensic specialist attempts to create relevant, accurate, and credible data and conclusions that inform legal arguments and judicial decision-making without imposing an opinion regarding the ultimate issue before the court.”

APA, Forensic Psychology: Procedures

APA's description of the civil population covers litigants in personal injury suits, parties to child custody cases, persons subject to civil commitment and individuals assessed for disability. The criminal population covers defendants raising issues such as competency to stand trial, insanity and sentencing considerations (APA).

“Psychologists in this field may work in prisons, rehabilitation centers, police departments, courthouses, law firms, schools, government agencies or private practices.”

APA, A Career in Forensic and Public Service Psychology: What You Can Do

A second APA page adds military and academic work and psychiatric facilities to that list (APA). The legal clients APA names are attorneys in civil and criminal cases, courts at every level, insurance claim specialists, employers and institutions such as school or university settings (APA).

The usual route is a doctorate followed by postdoctoral training in forensics. APA says:

“The dominant model continues to be one in which an individual earns a doctoral degree in clinical psychology, and subsequently pursues a postdoctoral specialization in forensics. However, more graduate schools are adopting forensic tracks.”

APA, A Career in Forensic and Public Service Psychology

While there is no single model for becoming a forensic and public service psychologist, a doctoral degree, often in clinical or counseling psychology, is usually required. Such a degree takes five to seven years of graduate study to complete (APA). The steps, in order:

1. Earn a bachelor's degree in psychology or a related field. Graduate programs in psychology typically look for applicants with a bachelor's in psychology, education or social science, according to BLS.
2. Complete a doctorate, usually in clinical or counseling psychology. A clinical PsyD is one such degree, and it includes the one-year internship APA describes as part of doctoral study in clinical, counseling and school psychology.
3. Earn the state license. In most states, practicing psychology or using the title of “psychologist” requires licensure (BLS). A PsyD is a degree, and the license comes from the state board. The licensure guide covers the steps, and ABPP asks every board-certification candidate to hold one.
4. Train after the doctorate in forensics. APA describes the dominant model as a postdoctoral specialization in forensics, and ABPP's forensic board asks for postdoctoral supervised practice and experience in the specialty.
5. Consider board certification. It follows the license and the experience, as the next section sets out.

Board certification in forensic psychology comes from the American Board of Professional Psychology and is separate from the license. ABPP's requirements stack in this order:

• A license. All ABPP candidates in the United States, U.S. territories, or Canada must be licensed as psychologists for independent doctoral-level practice in a jurisdiction within the United States, U.S. territories, or Canada (ABPP).
• An accredited doctorate. For doctoral degrees granted in 2018 or later, the program must have been accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of the American Psychological Association or the Canadian Psychological Association at the time the degree was granted (ABPP). Every program in this site's rankings is on APA's list of accredited doctoral programs.
• Postdoctoral forensic experience. The specialty also requires postdoctoral supervised practice and experience in the specialty (ABPP).
• An examination. The forensic board ends its review with an oral examination, described below.

ABPP's forensic board defines the experience it counts after the doctorate this way:

“Experience in forensic psychology after the completion of the doctoral degree obtained by either a) accumulating 1000 hours of direct experience in forensic psychology over a minimum of five years, or b) completing a full-time, at least 2000 hour, formal postdoctoral training program in forensic psychology that has been accepted as meeting ABFP’s training requirements.”

ABPP, Forensic Psychology: Specialty Specific Requirements

And it describes the review like this:

“It has a rigorous standard for credential and practice sample review, which culminates with a three-hour oral examination by three ABFP board-certified forensic psychologists in two primary areas of forensic practice as exemplified by the practice samples.”

ABPP, Forensic Psychology

BLS counts a forensic psychologist inside the occupation Psychologists, All Other (SOC 19-3039), and the 2018 Standard Occupational Classification lists the title Forensic Psychologist as an example under it (SOC direct match title file). BLS defines the group as “All psychologists not listed separately” (BLS). The classification files list these titles under the same code: developmental psychologist, experimental psychologist, forensic psychologist, neuropsychologist, psychotherapist, rehabilitation psychologist, social psychologist and sports psychologist.

The figures below therefore describe that whole group. They are not a forensic psychologist wage.

The bands are percentiles of the group's wage distribution, not years of experience. For pay by state and for the other psychologist occupations, see the psychologist salary guide.

These are the group's figures, and the group includes forensic psychologists. For psychologists as a whole BLS projects 6 percent growth from 2025 to 2035, faster than the average for all occupations, with about 11,300 openings a year. The job counts come from BLS Employment Projections, which include self-employed workers.

APA's dominant model starts with a clinical doctorate, and 17 ranked PsyD programs also name a forensic emphasis, track or concentration on their own pages. See the PsyD programs with a forensic emphasis, or the PsyD programs accredited in clinical psychology for the wider clinical list. The methodology page explains the score that orders both.