Luis Carlos Richter, PsyD, ABPP
Thank you for visiting the webpage of the American Board of Clinical Health Psychology (ABCHP), a section of the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). The goals of ABCHP are (1) to serve our profession and the broader public by ensuring that psychologists certified by ABPP in clinical health psychology have the appropriate education, training, and experience for specialty practice in clinical health psychology; and, (2) to ensure that board certified clinical health psychologists possess, demonstrate, and maintain the functional and foundational competencies required to provide quality clinical health psychology services while adhering to the ethical standards of the profession. If you are a psychologist interested in pursuing board certification in clinical health psychology, our website provides all necessary information and documents needed to submit an application and to successfully complete the ABCHP board certification process, including the oral examination. We expect that most clinical health psychologists with the requisite training and experience will qualify for board certification. Obtaining board certification is an attestation to your commitment to excellence in professional psychology.
If you are interested in becoming board certified in clinical health psychology, please review the ABCHP Candidate Manual, which can be found in our document library. The manual contains the instructions for submitting an application, preparing practice samples and a professional statement, and preparing for the oral examination. Although it may seem intimidating, the oral examination process is not like a dissertation defense, and is actually quite collegial and discussion oriented. It provides you, as an applicant, an opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge of the core functional and cross-cutting foundational competencies in clinical health psychology. Doctoral students, interns, fellows, and unlicensed psychologists may be eligible to start the board certification process through the ABPP Early Entry Option program. Participants in this program have their application fees significantly discounted and have access to mentoring, which is discussed below.
Working hand-in-hand with ABCHP, the American Academy of Clinical Health Psychology represents and supports the professional interests of those pursuing board certification and those who are currently certified in clinical health psychology. The American Academy of Clinical Health Psychology offers mentoring and additional resources to support you in the process of obtaining board certification. To find out more about these options, please visit their website here, American Academy of Clinical Health Psychology.
I would also like to invite those of you who are already board certified to encourage your peers to become board certified. We also appreciate specialists who are willing to serve as ABCHP practice sample reviewers and oral examiners. Thank you for your interest in ABCHP. The members of our board are always available to discuss questions you might have about the application and certification process. Information about current board members can be found at Specialty Board Officer page. Please feel free to contact me directly if you have input for the board or questions about the board certification process
Sincerely,
Luis Carlos Richter, PsyD, ABPP
Board Certified in Clinical Health Psychology
President, American Board of Clinical Health Psychology