Barry Dauphin, PhD, ABPP
Dear Colleagues,
Welcome to the American Board and Academy of Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Psychology (ABAPPP). We are the specialty board of the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) for Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Psychology. We certify psychologists in the Specialty of Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Psychology and in the Subspecialty in Psychoanalysis. Board certification recognizes specialist-level competence beyond licensure. We aim to make the process a collegial peer review of a psychologist’s training, clinical work, and way of thinking about that work.
Psychoanalytic and psychodynamic psychotherapies emphasize relationships, depth, and insight as the basis for addressing psychological suffering. Psychologists who practice this way work in private offices, clinics, hospitals, training programs, and universities. Our board exists so that their specialized competence is recognized within professional psychology.
Psychologists come to psychodynamic expertise by different routes, and our requirements reflect that. Some receive substantial psychodynamic training in their doctoral programs and continue it after graduation. Others complete most of their specialized training after licensure. Psychologists with 15 or more years of post-licensure experience may apply through the Senior Option, which recognizes their career contributions to the field. Graduate students can begin through Early Entry and bank their credentials while they are still in training.
Much of our current work aims to make board certification clearer and easier to approach. Mentors help applicants see how their training fits the requirements. We are revising our manual so that the requirements are easier to follow, and we are working with training programs to show how their training corresponds to the specialty. With Academics for the Advancement of Psychodynamic Psychology (A2P2), we are coordinating peer support for applicants and planning a joint conference for summer 2027. At the Division 39 Spring Meeting this past April, we held oral examinations and presented sessions on the pathways to certification.
The board also offers three annual awards for psychologists pursuing certification: the Early Career Psychologist Award, the Psychodynamic and Psychoanalytic Leadership Award, and the Working with Underserved and Marginalized Populations Award. Each award covers the oral examination fee and the first year of ABPP and Academy dues. Details are on the ABAPPP awards page of the ABPP website.
Interest in the specialty is growing, especially among early career psychologists. If you are thinking about board certification, I encourage you to contact us. You can reach out before you have worked out every detail of your eligibility, and a mentor can help you sort through how your training applies. Board-certified colleagues can also contribute by serving as examiners, mentors, and board members. Students and faculty who want to know more about the specialty are welcome to contact us as well.
To get in touch, please contact me, Barry Dauphin, or our Academy Coordinator, Alicia MacDougall. For questions about the application itself, you can also contact the ABPP Central Office at office@abpp.org or 919-537-8031.
I hope you will join us in this work, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Barry Dauphin, PhD, ABPP
President, ABAPPP
Board Certified in Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Psychology
Board Certified in Psychoanalysis
Updated: October 23, 2026