The “Distinguished Service and Contributions to the American Board of Professional Psychology” recognizes a Certified Specialist who has made significant contributions to the development and operation of the American Board of Professional Psychology by way of publications about or advocacy for board certification, involvement in ABPP administration or policy development, or other service to ABPP and its affiliated boards. The focus of this award is specifically focused on the individual’s contributions to ABPP and do not require recognition of a broad impact upon the profession as a whole.
ABPP is pleased to announce the 2026 award recipient:
Kathleen T. Bechtold, PhD, ABPP
Kathleen T. Bechtold, PhD, ABPP earned her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from Southern Illinois University in 2000 after completing a one-year internship specializing in neuropsychology at the Medical University of South Carolina within the Charleston Consortium. She then completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship specializing in clinical neuropsychology and rehabilitation psychology at Johns Hopkins University in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and has been on faculty in that department since 2003. Dr. Bechtold became Board Certified in Rehabilitation Psychology in 2007 and in Clinical Neuropsychology in 2011.
Dr. Bechtold joined the Board of Directors for the American Board of Rehabilitation Psychology (ABRP) in 2017 and served as ABRP’s representative to the ABPP Board of Trustees from 2021 through to the end of 2023 before being elected President of ABRP, where she continues to serve. In her various roles as a member of the Board of Directors of ABRP, she has given numerous talks at professional conferences encouraging and providing guidance to other individuals curious about or active pursuing specialty board certification in Rehabilitation Psychology through ABPP to continue to grow our ranks.
In addition to her ABRP-specific service, Dr. Bechtold has dedicated her time to ABPP-wide service. Since the beginning of 2024, she has served as a member of the American Board of Professional Psychology Ethics Committee, providing consultation to board certified psychologists who pose situations with possible ethical dilemmas. She is due to Chair that committee in 2027. She also serves as a Representative Consulting Member from American Board of Professional Psychology to the interagency/interorganizational Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, aiding all national professional agencies with determining best practices for use of AI within the practice of psychology. In November 2024, she co-presented “The Pros, Cons, and Ethical Considerations When Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Psychology Practice”, a Webinar sponsored by the American Board of Professional Psychology and broadcast nationally. Since the beginning of 2025, she has also been serving as a member of the American Board of Professional Psychology Continuing Education Committee.
Dr. Bechtold’s professional career has been focused on the provision of clinical care to patients who have incurred catastrophic injuries, including traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, amputation, and burn. She has specialty expertise in the neuropsychological evaluation of brain dysfunction and the implementation of therapeutic interventions to promote adjustment to the cognitive and behavioral sequelae that occur following injury to the brain. She has been an active clinical researcher with over 70 publications, including 11 book chapters focusing on recovery, adaptation, and rehabilitation following injury and illnesses that lead to changes in functioning. She is the editor of the Oxford Handbook of Rehabilitation Psychology just published in September of 2025. She continues with her research efforts currently focusing on diagnostic clarification and development of interventions for the persistent symptoms of mild traumatic brain injury. Her current clinical efforts are focused on provision of specialty evaluation and intervention services to federal officers and active-duty Special Operations personnel to facilitate operational readiness. She has engaged in clinical training for most of her career and served as the APPCN clinical neuropsychology training director at Johns Hopkins for five years and is currently serving as the Director of Psychology Training for the Johns Hopkins Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation overseeing three postdoctoral fellowships and an externship.
