Earlier this year, the American Board of Clinical Psychology (ABCP) and the Academy of ABCP were honored to recognize outstanding individuals with awards. In this article, we describe these awards and share a little bit about some of the deserving recipients of our awards.
Recognition of Early Career Psychologists
ABCP recognizes early career psychologists who achieved board certification within the last year. The Early Career Psychologist Advocacy Award honors early career psychologists whose advocacy efforts have had a positive impact on policy, law, public reform, communities, and/or institutional change. Advocacy efforts may be demonstrated through the development of strategic alliances for the purpose of effecting change; organizing diverse affiliates (including institutions and agencies) for the purpose of a common cause; development and implementation of action plans for targeted change or progress toward a social, political, economic, or cultural goal; and evaluation of the effectiveness of advocacy efforts. Our 2024 recipient of this award is Megan M. Gaschk, Psy.D., ABPP:
Megan M. Gaschk, Psy.D., ABPP, is a Specialist in Clinical Psychology of the American Board of Professional Psychology. She is a military psychologist, serving as a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) and previously as an officer in the United States Air Force (USAF). Currently, she is the Mental Health Flight Director of Operations at Fairchild Air Force Base (AFB) in Spokane, Washington, home of the 92nd and 141st Air Refueling Wings. She has led as the Fairchild AFB Mental Health Clinic Officer In Charge (OIC), Family Advocacy Program OIC, and the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment (ADAPT) Element Chief. She is also currently a Surgeon General-appointed Voting Member of the USPHS Junior Officer Advisory Group (JOAG), advocating on behalf of junior officers. In 2018, she graduated with honors from the Wisconsin School of Professional Psychology in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, earning her doctorate of psychology in clinical psychology. She completed her pre-doctoral residency at Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, where she was recognized as Psychology Resident of the Year 2018.
Support for Doctoral Students
The American Board of Clinical Psychology Doctoral Student Scholarship aims to support doctoral students in an APA/CPA-accredited doctoral program in clinical psychology who intend to pursue board certification in clinical psychology following their training and licensure. ABCP provides the honorees’ ABPP early entry fee to support their future pursuit of board certification and $100 to defray costs of educational materials. In partnership, Society of Clinical Psychology, Division 12 of APA, provides the honorees a one-year student membership to Division 12 and Section 10: Graduate Students and Early Career Psychologists. Please visit the ABCP Awards, Grants & Scholarships webpage to learn more.
Student Scholarship Winners
Grier H. Potter
Aditi Venkatesh
Laura Aldrich
Rachel Elizabeth Steele
Anne Werkheiser
Congratulations to all the awardees!
Debra Chen, PhD, ABPP
Board Certified in Clinical Psychology
Academy Membership Director | American Board of Clinical Psychology
Correspondence: drfchen123@gmail.com