<P> All U.S. state and Canadian province licensing boards are members of the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB) which created and maintains the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP). Many states require other examinations in addition to the EPPP, such as a jurisprudence (i.e. mental health law) examination and / or an oral examination . Most states also require a certain number of continuing education credits per year in order to renew a license, which can be obtained though various means, such as taking audited classes and attending approved workshops . Clinical psychologists require the Psychologist license to practice, although licenses can be obtained with a masters - level degree, such as Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), and Licensed Psychological Associate (LPA). </P> <P> In the U.K. registration as a clinical psychologist with the Health Professions Council (HPC) is necessary . The HPC is the statutory regulator for practitioner psychologists in the U.K. In the U.K. the following titles are restricted by law "registered psychologist" and "practitioner psychologist"; in addition the specialist title "clinical psychologist" is also restricted by law . </P> <P> An important area of expertise for many clinical psychologists is psychological assessment, and there are indications that as many as 91% of psychologists engage in this core clinical practice . Such evaluation is usually done in service to gaining insight into and forming hypotheses about psychological or behavioral problems . As such, the results of such assessments are usually used to create generalized impressions (rather than diagnoses) in service to informing treatment planning . Methods include formal testing measures, interviews, reviewing past records, clinical observation, and physical examination . </P> <P> There exist hundreds of various assessment tools, although only a few have been shown to have both high validity (i.e., test actually measures what it claims to measure) and reliability (i.e., consistency). These measures generally fall within one of several categories, including the following: </P>

The key function of clinical assessment is to