Who must be licensed to practice ABA in Wyoming, and how do you get credentialed?

Is ABA licensed in Wyoming, and under which board

Yes. Wyoming licenses behavior analysts and assistant behavior analysts under Title 33, Chapter 27 of the Wyoming Statutes, titled "Psychology and Behavior Analysts." This guide fetched the chapter directly: "Board" is defined, for the entire chapter including the behavior-analyst provisions, as the Wyoming State Board of Psychology (Wyo. Stat. § 33-27-113(a)(i)). There is no separate behavior-analyst board; the same board that licenses psychologists administers this credential, under its own dedicated sections added to the chapter for behavior analysis (Wyo. Stat. § 33-27-124, § 33-27-125).

The credential tiers: analyst and assistant

The chapter defines a "licensed behavior analyst" as a person licensed under the act for the practice of behavior analysis, and a "licensed assistant behavior analyst" as a person licensed under the act for that practice who is supervised in accordance with the chapter's supervision provision (Wyo. Stat. § 33-27-113(a)(xi), (xii)). The chapter also defines the "practice of behavior analysis" itself: the design, implementation, and evaluation of instructional and environmental modifications, based on scientific research and direct and indirect observation and measurement of behavior and environment, to produce socially significant improvements in human behavior, expressly excluding psychotherapy, cognitive therapy, psychoanalysis, hypnotherapy, counseling, psychological testing, and personality, intellectual, or neuropsychological assessment, or diagnosing psychological disorders (Wyo. Stat. § 33-27-113(a)(xiii)).

The BACB foundation

Licensure rests on current certification from a "certifying entity," which the chapter defines as the Behavior Analyst Certification Board or another entity the board specifies by rule, so long as that entity's credentialing programs are accredited by the National Commission on Certifying Agencies, the American National Standards Institute, or a similar successor organization, and reasonably ensure qualified, protective credentialing (Wyo. Stat. § 33-27-113(a)(x)). For licensure as a behavior analyst, an applicant must hold current certification as a board certified behavior analyst, verified by the board with the certifying entity; for the assistant tier, current certification as a board certified assistant behavior analyst, similarly verified (Wyo. Stat. § 33-27-124(a)). This page does not restate the BACB's own degree, coursework, or fieldwork requirements; those live with the certifying body and are covered in the national guide linked above.

What it takes to get licensed

An applicant files an application on a board-prescribed form, with the appropriate fee, and furnishes satisfactory evidence of competence and of current board-certified status as described above, in compliance with board rules (Wyo. Stat. § 33-27-124(a)). A license may also be issued to a person the board verifies is currently licensed as a behavior analyst or assistant behavior analyst, in good standing, in another jurisdiction with comparable licensure requirements, who otherwise meets the chapter's requirements (Wyo. Stat. § 33-27-124(b)). There is no separate Wyoming examination; the board relies on the certifying entity's own certification and examination.

Title protection and exemptions

This guide read the chapter's behavior-analysis exemptions section directly, and it is unusually broad and specific. Exempt from licensure, when practicing within the scope of their own authority, education, and training, are: members of another recognized, state-regulated profession acting within their own training and ethics, provided they do not claim to be licensed behavior analysts; a licensed psychologist, or a person acting under a psychologist's authority and direction as the board prescribes by rule; a behavior analyst who practices exclusively with non-humans, including applied animal behaviorists and animal trainers; a person providing general behavior-analysis services to an organization for the organization's sole benefit, without direct individual-client services; a person teaching behavior analysis or conducting behavior-analytic research outside the direct delivery of services beyond typical instructional or applied-research parameters; a matriculated student or postdoctoral fellow whose applied behavior analysis activities are part of a defined program of study and are supervised by a Wyoming-licensed behavior analyst or qualified faculty member; and an unlicensed person pursuing experience consistent with the certifying entity's own experience requirements, under appropriate supervision (Wyo. Stat. § 33-27-125(a)).

Supervision rules

A person licensed as an assistant behavior analyst may engage in the practice of behavior analysis only under the supervision of a licensed behavior analyst or a licensed psychologist, in compliance with the certifying entity's own requirements and as the board provides by rule (Wyo. Stat. § 33-27-124(c)). This guide found no additional Wyoming-specific numeric supervision schedule (contact counts, hour minimums) in the statute text itself beyond this cross-reference to the certifying entity's standards and board rule; confirm with the board whether a more specific rule has been adopted.

Renewal, fees, and continuing education

The board establishes reasonable fees for issuance and renewal of licenses and certificates by rule, rather than fixing an amount in the statute itself (Wyo. Stat. § 33-27-116(f)); confirm the current fee directly with the board. The board may require continuing education as a condition of renewal, with the specific terms set in board rule rather than the statute (Wyo. Stat. § 33-27-116(j)), which in practice means Wyoming does not restate a separate hour count beyond whatever the board's own current rule requires. The board must request criminal history background information for all initial applicants and all renewal applicants every two years, as provided by board rule, which signals a two-year renewal rhythm even though the statute frames it as a background-check cadence rather than stating "renewal is biennial" directly (Wyo. Stat. § 33-27-116(o)).

Getting credentialed with payors

Licensure lets you practice; credentialing lets you bill, and they are separate processes with separate timelines. After licensure, a provider enrolls with Wyoming Medicaid and credentials with commercial plans, most of which draw provider data from CAQH. Credentialing verifies the license and history and is followed by periodic revalidation. The billing entity and its ownership are disclosed during enrollment, which is where licensing meets the entity and ownership questions covered elsewhere in this guide. What each payor covers and pays for ABA is a separate topic on the Medicaid and insurance page. A sale or expansion in Wyoming turns on more than licensing: the Wyoming sale and expansion guide covers the Medicaid notice and the covenant.

Wyoming-specific wrinkles

Three features stand out. First, the shared-board structure: Wyoming folds behavior-analyst licensure into the same chapter and the same board that regulates psychology, rather than creating a separate board or borrowing a social-work or medical board, which makes the psychology board's own general powers section, covering fees, continuing education, and background checks, apply directly to behavior analysts as well. Second, the certifying-entity definition is deliberately flexible, naming the BACB by default but allowing the board to recognize another accredited certifying body by rule, which is broader than states that name the BACB exclusively. Third, the chapter's general provisions were substantially renumbered in the 1990s, with sections 101 through 112 repealed in 1993 before the current behavior-analyst sections were added later, so a citation to an old section number in that repealed range should be treated as stale rather than current.

How licensing connects to the rest of your compliance stack

Licensing is the credential the rest of the structure is built around:

• Entity and ownership. Wyoming's professional-corporation form is elective for a licensed behavior analyst, not compelled, and the corporate-practice question routes through psychology rather than medicine. See the Wyoming entity page and the Wyoming ownership page.
• Medicaid and insurance. Licensure and credentialing are prerequisites to coverage; what is covered and paid is separate. See Medicaid and insurance mandates.
• Facility and records. Supervision and treatment documentation carry into facility and HIPAA compliance. See facility licensure and HIPAA.

Becoming licensed and credentialed in Wyoming: the sequence

1. Obtain BACB certification. BCBA for the licensed-analyst tier, BCaBA for the licensed-assistant tier.
2. Apply to the Wyoming State Board of Psychology. Submit the application, fee, and certification evidence for board verification with the certifying entity.
3. Complete the required background check. Required for initial applicants and, every two years, for renewal applicants.
4. Credential with payors. Enroll with Wyoming Medicaid and credential with commercial plans, typically via CAQH.
5. Renew on the board's schedule. Maintain current BACB certification and complete any continuing education the board's rules require.

Wyoming licensing variables at a glance

Frequently asked questions