I support this petition.  As with other healthcare professions, the practice of psychology requires not only learning didactic material, but also having the interpersonal skills to use that knowledge with people whose mental illnesses or subjective distress may make them difficult.  Developing the skills to work with patients requires mentoring over an extended period, not brief interactions several times during a year.  Distance learning has a place, but so does mentoring, observing, and critiquing the work of psychology students over an extended period to assure that their interpersonal skills and knowledge are used effectively with patients.  This is the job of the institution granting the degree.  While placements where students work may provide some supervision, they have jobs that must be accomplished and time limits in which to complete them.  This limits the time for supervision of actual interaction with patients and for developing skills through observation of mentors with extensive experience.