Standards for the Purpose and Structure of a Body Certifying
Psychologists as Specialists in
Professional Psychology

The American Board of Professional Psychology adheres to the following criteria for the purpose and structure of an organization certifying specialists in professional psychology. The criteria should serve as the standard for the recognition by the public and the profession of a confederated organization of specialty boards established to certify specialists in professional psychology.

Purpose. The organization should have as its primary purpose the evaluation of specialists in professional psychology who voluntarily submit for candidacy and examination, and to certify those who qualify. The organization assures the public that the specialists it certifies have completed the education, training, experience, and professional standing required by the specialty, including an examination designed to assess the competencies required to provide quality services in that specialty.

Structure. The specialty certifying body should:

• Be national in scope, appropriately incorporating standards of the profession and collaborating closely with organizations related to specialization in psychology.
• Have clearly described purposes, related by-laws, policies, and procedures which are accountable to the public, its certified specialists, and the profession.
• Develop and implement examinations designed to assess the competencies required to provide quality services in the specialties it certifies.
• Not be a governmental, membership, advocacy, or accrediting body.
• Have organizational and financial stability with professional and office support staff.
• Be governed by a single, national in scope, not-for-profit corporation comprised of a certified specialist Trustee (Board Member) from each of its multiple, member Specialty Boards as well as public member representation. The multiple board structure provides a continuing peer review of the organization's activities. The governing board has formal procedures for the selection and tenure of Trustees.

The Examination

Having met the eligibility requirements, a candidate must pass an examination administered by the specialty board. The examination is a collegial process by ABPP Board Certified examiners designed to allow the candidate the opportunity to demonstrate the defining competencies required to practice the specialty. By definition, all specialties are at an advanced level of competency. The purpose of the examination is to affirm that the candidate is practicing at a specialty level, not at some normative level such as the top half of the specialty.

The format of the oral examination usually involves a “professional inquiry” based upon the candidate’s practice samples; fundmental knowledge expected in the specialty; situational content representative of the specialty; and professional issues/ethical problem solving capacity of the candidate.

The oral examinations are usually 3 to 5 hours in length, administered by a small team of examiners certified in the specialty.

Written and oral examinations are held at convenient locations across the country. Additionally, Clinical Neuropsychology and Forensic Psychology require an objective written examination. Most specialties have an examination option for a senior specialist (15 years or more practice in the specialty following licensure). The senior option allows more flexibility of practice samples and the educational preparation requirements of the specialty. There is a strict policy of confidentiality related to credential review and the examination.

Eligibility for Specialty
Certification

To attain board certification in a specialty, an applicant must meet the general and the specialty eligibility requirements which include:

• A doctoral degree from a program in pro-fessional psychology which at the time the degree was granted was accredited by the APA, CPA, or was listed in the publication Doctoral Psychology Programs Meeting Designation Criteria. Applicants credentialed in the most recent direcotry of the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology, the Canadian Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology, or the Certificate of Professional Qualification in Psychology (CPQ) (ASPPB) qualify as meeting the doctoral degree requirements.
• Licensure or Certification at the inde-pendent practice level as a psychologist in the State, Province, or Territory in which the psychologist practices.

Note: Limited exceptions exist for prior to 1983 doctoral preparation, degrees granted outside the U.S or Canada, formal retraining, substantial equivalents to accreditation requirements, and licensure in jurisdiction of practice for some Federal employees and members of the Uniformed Services. Exception criteria and procedures are available from Central Office.

• Specialty preparation for practice characteristic of the specialty, including appropriate doctoral education as a foundation for the specialty and such post-doctoral preparation as necessary to meet the standards of the specialty.

Specialty Certification
In Professional Psychology

The American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) serves the public need by providing oversight certifying psychologists competent to deliver high quality services in various specialty areas of psychology. Board certification (awarding of a Diploma in a specialty) assures the public that specialists designated by the ABPP have successfully completed the educational, training, and experience requirements of the specialty, including an examination designed to assess the competencies required to provide quality services in that specialty.

The American Board of Professional Psychology was incorporated in 1947 with the support of the American Psychological Association. The ABPP is a unitary governing body of member specialty examining boards which assures the establishment, implementation, and maintenance of specialty standards and examinations by its member boards. Through its Central Office, a wide range of administrative support services are provided to ABPP Boards, Board Certified Specialists, and the public.

A Specialty is a defined area in the practice of psychology that connotes specialty competency acquired through an organized sequence of formal education, training, and experience.

Most specialties recognized by the ABPP are health service specialties. Psychologists certified by the ABPP in the health service specialties meet the APA definition as a health service provider and the specific requirements of the specialty.

In order to qualify as a specialty affiliated with the ABPP, a specialty must be represented by a governance board of certified specialists which is stable, national in scope, and reflects the current development of the specialty. A specialty board is accepted for affiliation following an intensive self-study and a favorable review by the ABPP affirming that the standards for affiliation have been met. These standards include a thorough description of the area of practice and the pattern of competencies required therein as well as the requirements for education, training, experience, research bases of the specialty, practice guidelines, and a demonstrated capacity to examine candidates for the specialty on a national level.

Member Specialty Boards

Currently there are thirteen member Specialty Boards. These Boards are listed below with a very brief description of the specialty.

It should be noted that the practice activities in any specialty seldom are exclusive to the specialty and that most practice activities are shared with the general practice of professional psychology. The pattern of practice activities, including limiting the scope of practice, and focusing upon more complex or unique problems or technologies is more relevant in defining a specialty together with advanced education, training, and experience.

The American Board of Cognitive and Behavioral Psychology
Applied behavior analysis, cognitive behavior therapy, and cognitive therapy.

The American Board of
Clinical Child and
Adolescent Psychology
Assessment and treatment of mental, physical, emotional, and behavioral disorders limited to children and adolescents.

The American Board of Clinical Health Psychology
The science and practice of psychology related to health, including the prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of illness.

The American Board of
Clinical Neuropsychology
Evaluation of brain-behavior relationships and treatment of cognitive and psychological reactions to known or suspected impairment in the central nervous system.

The American Board of
Counseling Psychology
Individual, group, and community intervention for emotional, behavioral, vocational, and mental health problems using preventive, developmental, and remedial approaches, and the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of behavioral disorders.

The American Board of Family Psychology
Intervention and assessment in Family Psychology embracing the total family system including individuals, couples, families, and the intergenerational system.

The American Board of
Forensic Psychology
The practice of psychology as related to law and the legal system.

The American Board of
Psychoanalysis in Psychology
A body of knowledge, a research method, and a treatment technique based on description of organized, unconscious, dynamic mental processes to aid in understanding emotions, attitudes, and belief systems to facilitate more satisfying, secure, and productive living.

The American Board of School
Psychology
The facilitation of learning and the promotion of mental health in schools and educational settings.

The American Board of Organizational and Business Consulting Psychology
Application of psychological practice and research to organizations and business environments.

Why Should a Qualified
Psychologist Attain Specialty
Certification?

The practice of American Psychology has become increasingly complex and competitive. There has been a decided trend toward practice focused in delimited areas with a number of such areas emerging as specialties. The ABPP establishes and continually incorporates the current developments in the definition and requirements of specialties in professional psychology. Over the past two decades, 9 new specialties have joined 4 traditional specialties, which have been in the field for more than 50 years. The new specialties have emerged through public needs and professional advancements.

The public is not expected to be knowledgeable about specialty requirements such as accredited doctoral programs, internships, or supervised post-doctoral training.

The clearest and most responsible way for a psychologist to represent herself/himself to the public, third-parties, and the profession as a specialist is to be certified through an organized peer process as meeting the standards and demonstrating the competencies required in the specialty. ABPP is the only non-profit professional, unitary organization with multiple specialty board quality controls recognized by the profession as certifying specialty practioners in psychology.

Some of the rewards of specialty board certification include:

• The attainment of an independent, rigorous verification that the standards and competencies required in a specialty area of psychology have been met.
• Holding an increasingly valuable credential, in the context of increasing specialty practice, which is recognized by universities, hospitals, health service systems, agencies, and the public.
• Listing as a Board Certified Specialist in the online Directory and in a number of ABPP Academy Directories available as a guide to the public, third parties, and colleagues.
• Supporting qualification as an expert witness.
• A Directory of certified specialists with easy, on-line, public access (by geographic area) to certifed specialists in Psychology.
• Verification as currently maintaining certification requirements of the specialty.
• Listing specialty board certification as additional recognition in the APA Membership directory and the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology.
• Membership as a Fellow in the Academy of the specialty. The newly organizing Academies provide professional fellowship, continuing education, advocacy activities, recruitment, improving quality and accessibility of services in the specialty, participation in Specialty Board examination and the election of Specialty Board members.
• Receipt of and opportunity to publish in The ABPP Specialist, the official newsletter of the ABPP.
• Invitation to attend and participate in the ABPP’s National Convocation held during the APA National Convention.
• Recognition by most licensing jurisdictions of ABPP Board Certification as an endorsement for reciprocity of licensure.
• Increasing recognition by employers such as the US Public Health Service and the US Department of Defense for salary bonus benefits.
• Qualification for significant reduction of the premiums for liability practice insurance by the American Professional Agency.
• An opportunity to support and participate in the advancement of the specialty practice of psychology at the local, state, and national levels through the governance of the ABPP and the Academies.
• Most fundamentally, to meet the standard of a responsible profession that when offer-ing specialty services to the public the pro-fessional psychologists offering such services should be certified in that specialty by the profession.

Application — Fees

The ABPP is a non-profit professional organization which fundamentally relies on voluntarism, from examiners to governance.

Fees for individualized examinations are kept to a lean level subsidized by general revenue in an attempt to keep cost impact down. The current general fee level is:

• $125 for application and credential review to establish candidacy
  · Written examination fees: $300 for Clinical Neuropsychology and $200 for Forensic Psychology
• $250 for the practice sample review and establishment of the oral examination team
• $450 for the oral examination

These fees are due sequentially over the time span necessary to complete all of the candidacy and examining steps.