Hello ABPP community,
In this, my last article as ABPP Board President, I come to you with a sense of deep appreciation and respect for the experience of serving with my colleagues on the Board of Trustees, the 17 Specialty Boards, and the Central Office staff.
My perspective as I entered this role two years ago was to approach the role with optimism and intention to engage specialists as well as other stakeholders in the world of psychology. This was guided by the following framework:
Honor the Past → Be Clear Eyed about the Present → Take an Optimistic and Developmental Stance about the Future
Given this, one of my primary objectives was to collaborate with the board and ABPP Central Office staff to enhance the connection and relationships with our community of specialists, with all the different specialty boards and with other psychology-oriented organizations.
The intention was to respectfully listen to our stakeholders’ interests, concerns and aspirations in order to support our specialists, to enhance collaborations with and among the specialty boards and the Board of Trustees, and to also strengthen appropriate coalitions with other psychology organizations.
To that end various Listening Sessions were organized across all of these stakeholders, resulting in key themes for exploration and dialogue, leading to nine Focus Areas for action. Detailed information about the Listening Session themes, 5- and 10-year prospective goals for the future, and action items, and Focus Areas can be found here.
Those Focus Areas included:
- Profession and Marketplace Presence / Influence
- CO / BOT Functioning / Development
- ABPP Organizational Efficiency and Effectiveness
- Specialty Board(s) Development / Cross Pollination
- Stakeholder Engagements / Partnerships
- Specialists Community Involvement
- Financial Transparency and Understanding
- Marketing / Branding and Social Media
- Effective Utilization of Technology
Each Focus Area had a designated point person, who was a member on the Board of Trustees’ Executive Committee. Many Focus Areas were also linked with ABPP committees.
We learned a great deal and identified a myriad of actions to potentially take in service of our goals (many of which are already completed, some are in the process of being accomplished, and others to be considered in the future).
One of the most vibrant outcomes from this work was the need to regularly communicate through diverse forums to our specialty boards and specialists that which we are already doing, but was unknown or unclear to our ABPP colleagues.
Some examples of items that required increased clarity and promotion to Specialists included:
- The value proposition and benefits of board-certification for psychologists, including access to webinar and CE home-study offerings, ethics consultation, mobility support, and the On Board with Professional Psychology publication.
- Assistance available to Specialists through the Central Office staff and our website/technology support.
- Resources and mentors available to candidates through Specialty Boards, the ABPP Foundation, and the ABPP website.
- Engagement and leadership opportunities for specialists to get involved in ABPP activities.
- Outreach opportunities through sponsorship and presenting at conferences, social media and partnering with other psychology organizations.
The work groups suggested a variety of actions to enhance the value and benefits of ABPP certification, as well as promote awareness of and understanding about the ABPP credential.
Another cluster of activities involved sustaining a healthy, effective, and efficient ABPP organization, including mechanisms for regular reviews and adjustments, updating our policies and procedures, sharing best practices and lessons learned across Specialty Boards, and expanding numerous opportunities for connecting with and supporting our specialists.
Actively monitoring current issues, challenges, and opportunities that are affecting professional psychology was another grouping of activities, identifying the potential impacts on our specialists and determining recommendations for how to respond individually (as Specialists) and organizationally (as an organization).
With over one hundred action recommendations focused on the present circumstances and preparing for the future, we are actively engaged in sustaining ABPP, in relationship with the larger community of psychology colleagues and in support for the clients, patients, students, employees and others that we engage with as psychologists.
These ideas will continue to be curated, and the implementation of numerous actions will be sustained through the ABPP board committees as well as in the specialty boards.q
I wish you the best for the holiday season and a wonderful beginning to the new year.
Previous updates from ABPP President, Dr. Rick Day, can be found in the following announcements published in On Board with Professional Psychology:
- December 2024: Update from the ABPP President
- March 2024: Letter from Incoming ABPP President, Dr. Rick Day
J. Rick Day, MBA, PhD, PsyD, ABPP
Board Certified in Clinical Psychology and Organizational & Business Consulting Psychology
President of the American Board of Professional Psychology
Correspondence: drjrday@drjrickday.com