David B. Mather, PhD, ABPP

Hello!  Let me extend a warm welcome to you from the American Board of Clinical Psychology (ABCP).  ABCP is the largest of the fifteen specialty boards comprising the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP).
 
We as a Board have two main functions.  The first is maintaining standards for board certification, developing and revising examination processes, and administering board certification examinations for the specialty of Clinical Psychology.  The second is working as an Academy of peers to provide training and continuing education for ABCP members and examiners, and promoting board certification as a way of assuring quality Clinical Psychology services to the public and assisting professional credentialing boards in verifying that quality.
 
Most of this letter is for those interested in pursuing board certification in Clinical Psychology, or perhaps exploring board certification for the first time.  A personal reflection on the very common question “why become Board Certified in Clinical Psychology”?  For some of us, there may be an immediate, tangible answer.  Bonus pay for military psychologists, potential step increases for VA psychologists, an increasing number of healthcare systems and hospitals requiring board certification for their psychologists just as they do for their physicians.  For me, it was simple – I applied for a training director job I really, really wanted, and board certification within a year was required.  But there’s a better reason for clinical psychologists, related to the work we have done as a profession to demonstrate and obtain parity in multiple aspects of healthcare practice.  Full staff privileges in healthcare organizations, reimbursement equity in a host of reimbursement organizations and mechanisms – the list (and the effort) goes on.  That growth has required a great deal of work, including demonstrating the value professional psychology brings to the table.  Related to that is what I believe is the best reason for board certification for psychologists - demonstration through a rigorous and respected examination process of genuine competence in clinical practice and, more to the point, the specifics of your individual clinical practice.  Psychology licensure demonstrates that we studied and learned a great deal about the science of psychology broadly defined, with the expectation of application of that knowledge to clinical practice.  But, while it allows us to practice, licensure is not an actual demonstration of clinical practice competence.  This is analogous to the distinction between licensure and board certification for our physician colleagues.  Passing the physician licensing exam ensures acquisition of a great deal of knowledge in medical school, but does not demonstrate expertise in any of the physician specialties.  That is the role of board certification for physicians, and it’s the same role for us as clinical psychologists. This is a competence demonstration that healthcare organizations and insurers fully understand.  I encourage you to strongly consider the intrinsic and extrinsic value of that demonstration of clinical psychology practice competence, and to join the ranks of Board Certified Clinical Psychologists.  We will warmly welcome you.
  
The process involves significant self-reflection and a degree of effort in successfully preparing practice sample materials and then preparing for the oral examination.  However, we provide a clear overview and specific directions for each step of the process in our Clinical Examination Manual.  This manual outlines the full process and all requirements.  We encourage careful review of our current version of the manual, in the ABCP Document Library.  We know that most clinical psychologists meeting our educational eligibility requirements can successfully complete the board certification process, and our data indicate that the very significant majority of clinical psychologists completing the application and examination process are indeed successful.
 
ABPP provides a number of methods to ease the process of obtaining board certification.  The ABPP Foundation/APPIC Training Director Scholarship program offers scholarships, up to $1000.00, to substantially reduce the cost of the ABPP board certification process.  These scholarships are available to training directors and co-directors of APA accredited or APPIC-listed Doctoral Program Associate (DPA) academic training programs in clinical, counseling, and school psychology, and programs combining two or three of these practice areas, or training directors and co-directors of APA accredited or APPIC member internships or post-doctoral residencies.  Information on scholarships and applying can be found here. 
 
If you are a doctoral student, intern, or postdoctoral resident, please take a look at the ABPP Early Entry Option Brochure. This option allows the “banking” of credentials as you complete them during training, and significantly reduces application costs for board certification.
 
Finally, if you are already board certified, we are always looking for new examiners.  It’s an enormously rewarding experience.  I’ve now had the pleasure of being on dozens of exam committees over the past twenty years, and it has been some of the best ongoing professional education I’ve gotten.  I always learn something new with every exam, and have more than a few times discovered something from an exam candidate that I want to incorporate in my own practice, or introduce into the internship I run.  Being a regular board examiner can be a significant and rewarding component of lifelong learning, and your help to our Board will be enormously appreciated!
 
Please e-mail me if you have any questions about board certification, or any recommendations for our Board.
 
Sincerely,
 
 David B. Mather, Ph.D., ABPP
Board Certified in Clinical Psychology
President, American Board of Clinical Psychology
david.mather03@gmail.com