February 2019

I hope everyone’s year if off to a good start! I want to take just a moment to share with you some of the items that you will be hearing more about in the coming months.

ABPP is in the process of the final stages of a technology update that will permit us to have Practice Samples uploaded to our system for processing by specialty board reviewers. As you read this you may expect the roll-out of the system within weeks, assuming all goes as hoped for in the final stages of testing. This is a big step for which ABPP has worked hard, and we hope it facilitates the process for candidates, reviewers, and specialty board personnel alike. When the system is reading to use, each specialty board will receive instructions and training. I am looking forward this!

On behalf of ABPP, I am working with representatives of the Council of Specialties and Proficiencies in Professional Psychology (CRSPPP) and the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB) to plan and co-facilitate the 4^th Summit on Specialty, Specialization, and Board Certification. The Summit will occur in June and the plan includes participation once again by most of the major organizations in psychology. We anticipate that the upcoming Summit will put in place a plan for increased integration of specialty, specialization and board certification into the professional pathway. The group is looking at this on the continuum from education and training, accreditation, licensure and board certification as a specialist. Much more to come in future updates.

I recently returned from Washington, D.C. where I attend the APA Council of Representatives (COR) meeting. At the COR meeting, the COR took action on the new APA strategic plan of integrated structure of the 501(c)3 (educational/charity entity) and 501(c)6 (business/profession entity), received a report on the issue of accrediting masters degree programs in psychology, adopted guideline on depression, updated policies on psychopharmacology training and passed a resolution on physical discipline of children. There was also a significant meeting on the process of merging into the new APA structure the activities that had previously been completed by the Committee for the Advancement of Professional Practice (CAPP). CAPP had been the guiding entity for what was previously known as the APA Practice Organization. With the new structure, CAPP activities are initially going to be addressed largely by the APA Board of Professional Affairs (BPA).

Serving as our liaison to the American Psychological Association (APA) and other organizations, I have a couple of busy months coming up. In the coming months I will be representing ABPP at the Consolidated Meetings which includes many boards and committees. Specifically, I attend to the business of BPA, the Board of Educational Affairs (BEA) and any other boards/committees that have agenda items that intersect with the interests of ABPP. I will also be in attendance that the Psychology Leadership Conference, which includes psychologist leaders and executive directors the from state, provincial and territorial psychology associations (SPTAs). This is always a good opportunity to engage with the SPTA leaders as well as many leaders from other psychology organizations. I will also be present as the Commission for the Recognition of Specialties and Proficiencies in Professional Psychology (CRSPPP) meets to review its processes including items such as subspecialty and the APA Taxonomy. Finally, the ASPPB meeting will be our opportunity to interact with the member licensing boards as they hold their spring meeting. I will provide updates from each in my next column.  Until then, always remember that you can count on our excellent Central Office staff to assist you in any way they can…..