Greetings!  Welcome to the American Board of Clinical Health Psychology (ABCHP) section of the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) website. The goal of our board is to serve the public and the profession by ensuring that psychologists certified by ABPP in clinical health psychology have completed the appropriate education, training, and experience required of this specialty; maintain ethical standards; and demonstrate the functional and foundational competencies required to provide quality clinical health psychology services.
 
If you are a psychologist interested in pursuing board certification, information on this website should provide you with what you need to know to get started on your application and to successfully complete the ABCHP board certification examination. Although pursuing board certification may seem like a daunting process, we expect that most clinical health psychologists qualify for board certification.  Obtaining board certification is an attestation to your commitment to excellence and to the profession. If you are interested in becoming board certified in clinical health psychology, please review the  ABCHP Candidate Manual in our document library.  The manual contains the instructions for getting started, preparing practice samples and a professional statement, and preparing for the oral examination. 
 
The examination process is inclusive, collegial, and based upon the demonstration of core functional and cross-cutting foundational competencies in clinical health psychology. Members of our board are available to discuss questions you might have about the application and certification process. You may find all of the board members by going to the Specialty Board Officer page.  
 
The American Academy of Clinical Health Psychology represents and supports the professional interests of those pursuing board certification and those who are board certified in clinical health psychology. The American Academy of Clinical Health Psychology offers mentoring and additional resources to support you in the process of obtaining board certification. To find out more about these options, please go to their website here.
 
If you are a doctoral student, intern, fellow, or unlicensed psychologist, you may be eligible to start the board certification process through the ABPP Early Entry Option program. Participants in this program have their application fees significantly discounted and access to mentoring. 

For those of you who are board certified clinical health psychologists, I invite you to be active in advocacy for board certification by encouraging your peers to become board certified.  We also need specialists who are willing to serve as ABCHP practice sample reviewers and oral examiners.  Please contact the Practice Sample Coordinator (Dr. Nicole Najar [abchp2013@gmail.com]) or the Oral Examiner Coordinator (Dr. Luis Richter [luis.richter2@va.gov]) if you are interested in either of these opportunities.
 
Thank you for your interest in ABCHP.  Please feel free to contact me directly if you have input for the board or questions about the board certification process.  I can be reached via email at jgoodie@gmail.com.
 
Sincerely,
 
Jeffrey L. Goodie,  PhD, ABPP
Board Certified in Clinical Health Psychology
President, American Board of Clinical Health Psychology