The September 2026 practicum hours tracking guide, explained
In September 2026 the organization that runs the psychology internship application published its first practicum hours tracking guide, version 1.0: a shared rulebook for which category each practicum activity belongs in. In short, only practicum your program approves counts, you report hours through 30 September of the year you apply, each activity is rounded up to the next 15 minutes, each hour goes in exactly one category, work done under live supervision is logged as the work itself, and support hours are reported as one total. It calls itself a living document, so check the current version before you apply.
Check an existing log against the guide
If you started logging before September 2026, these steps bring your records in line with the guide. Do them with your director of clinical training, who verifies your hours.
- Confirm every experience is program approved. Only practicum your director of clinical training accepts as program sanctioned goes in the practicum categories. Check anything unusual, such as clinical work in a research study or staying on at a site after the placement ended. Clinical work that is not approved practicum goes in the application's separate non practicum section instead.
- Round each activity, not each month. A practicum hour is a clock hour, and each activity is rounded up to the next 15 minutes: 1 to 15 minutes is 0.25 hours, 16 to 30 is 0.50, and so on. Apply it entry by entry.
- Take live supervision out of the supervision totals. Therapy or testing done while a supervisor watches live is logged as the therapy or testing. It is not counted again as individual or group supervision.
- Move the edge cases to support. Shadowing without an active role, text based therapy or assessment, scheduling calls, scoring, report writing and case conferences are support hours.
- Split video from telephone. Video sessions count as face to face with in-person work. Clinical work by telephone has its own telephone intervention and telephone assessment categories.
- Recount integrated reports. A report counts once when it brings together history, interview findings and at least two psychological tests of personality, intellectual, cognitive or neuropsychological functioning. Rating scales and symptom checklists alone do not qualify.
- Separate terminal master's hours. Hours from a master's earned inside your doctoral program are doctoral. Hours from a separate, stand alone master's program go in their own terminal master's columns.
- Split your log at 30 September. Hours through 30 September of your application year are reported. Hours you expect after that are described as anticipated practicum experience instead.
What the guide covers, and what it does not
The guide is about categorising practicum activities. It says plainly that it is not a how-to for completing the application itself, and it is independent of whatever you use to track hours, whether a program system, a spreadsheet or a commercial tracker. Questions about the application go to its own help pages; questions about a tracking tool go to that tool's makers.
It also sets a tone worth quoting in spirit: hours are a record of training, not a target to pile up. The guide asks programs and students to read them alongside the quality and breadth of the experience. It sets no minimum number of hours.
The categories in one paragraph
Intervention covers face to face work in person or by video, split into individual therapy by age group, group, career, family and couples counseling, school interventions, other psychological interventions such as intakes and substance use work, consultation, work with students or organizations, and telephone intervention. Assessment covers psychodiagnostic, neuropsychological, other and telephone assessment, marked clinical or research. Integrated reports are a count. Supervision is individual or group, by your supervisor's credential. Support is everything else, as one total. Every category is defined in plain words on the categories page.
Worked example: why rounding each activity matters
In October a student sees clients for eight 50 minute sessions and makes four 20 minute clinical phone check-ins.
| Method | Therapy | Telephone | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Each activity rounded up (the guide's rule) | 8 x 1.00 = 8.00 h | 4 x 0.50 = 2.00 h | 10.00 h |
| Minutes added up, then rounded once | 400 minutes | 80 minutes | 480 minutes = 8.00 h |
Rounding once at the end reports two hours fewer than the guide's method, and puts them in one category instead of two. Over three years of practicum that gap becomes dozens of hours. The practicum log stores your actual minutes and applies the rounding to each entry when it adds up your totals.
Common mistakes
- Counting an hour in two categories. Categories are mutually exclusive; choose the one that fits best and ask your director of clinical training when unsure.
- Counting live supervision as both therapy and supervision.
- Reporting hours accrued after 30 September of your application year as accrued rather than anticipated.
- Counting a class practice assessment with no real client. It is not practicum.
- Splitting support into many subcategories. The application asks for one support total and a short description.
- Relying on an old copy of the guide. It is a living document; read the current version before you apply.
Log your own hours
The log files each activity in the category it will be reported in, rounds each one up to the quarter hour, and adds up your totals per term and cumulative, privately in your browser.
Frequently asked questions
When was the practicum hours tracking guide published?
It was announced on 11 September 2026 as version 1.0, last revised September 2026. It describes itself as a living document that will be updated as questions arise.
Does the guide say how many practicum hours I need?
No. It sets no minimum and stresses that hours are a record of training rather than a number to accumulate. Minimums come from your program and from individual internship sites.
Does the guide explain how to fill in the internship application?
No. It covers which category an activity belongs in. For completing and submitting the application itself, it points to the application's own help resources.
Who decides whether an activity counts as practicum?
Your program. Your director of clinical training approves program sanctioned practicum and verifies your hours. The guide suggests discussing unclear activities with them using the guide.
Sources
Last reviewed 26 September 2026 against:
- AAPI Practicum Hours Tracking Guide, Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers, version 1.0, last revised September 2026, read 25 September 2026. Used for: The general rules, the intervention, assessment, integrated report, supervision and support categories, and the rounding table.
- AAPI Hours Tracking Guide Now Available, Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers, announcement of 11 September 2026, read 25 September 2026. Used for: The publication date and where the guide lives.
This guide is our own summary, not advice about your eligibility. If it disagrees with the current documents, the documents win. Practicum Ledger is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to APPIC, ASHA, any match service, any application portal, or any other association or board.