American Board of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology Update

American Board of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology Update

By Anna Egan, PhD, ABPP
President, ABCCAP

Considering Board Certification?

The American Board of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology’s mission is to recognize, certify, and promote competence in our specialty areas– Pediatric Psychology and Clinical Child/Adolescent Psychology. Becoming a board-certified Specialist through the ABCCAP serves as an important professional step for psychologists as it helps demonstrate competence in the field, enhances professional credibility, and signals commitment to high-quality, evidence-based care for children and adolescents.

The process of board certification begins by applying through the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP), the parent organization of ABCCAP. Candidates must meet specific education and training requirements (stage 1), submit a practice sample (stage 2), and complete an oral examination (stage 3). More details on eligibility and application steps can be found at www.abpp.org.

Interested candidates can attend informational presentations which are often scheduled at national conferences, through webinars, or in small group meetings with psychology departments.  Individual mentorship from current ABCCAP Specialists is also available to provide valuable guidance throughout the process.

Are you a Current Specialist?  Get Involved!

The Board relies on the expertise of its members to conduct essential work. Board-certified Specialists can:

• Serve as mentors for candidates,
• Participate as examiners in the certification process,
• Contribute to advocacy efforts that promote the value of board certification,
• Serve on board committees,
• Attend one of our examiner training sessions, or
• Meet with a board member to learn more about next steps of getting involved

ABCCAP is committed to making the process clearer and more supportive for Pediatric and Clinical Child/Adolescent Psychology. Recent revisions to the manual, which increased transparency in the process, and revised the evaluation form to provide more nuanced feedback for candidates, will be available soon.

As we prepare for our upcoming specialty certification, we will have many opportunities for Specialists to serve on committees to help review and update materials as we continue to improve the process for future Specialists. Consider lending your expertise to the Board today.

Board Member Update

The Board is excited to welcome two new Members at Large:

• Heather Agazzi, PhD, MS, ABPP, IMH-E, Professor at the University of South Florida
• Laura Dilly, PhD, ABPP, Assistant Professor at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Emory University School of Medicine.

Two board members recently completed their terms and rotated off the Board at the end of December. We would like to express our great appreciation for their years of service to ABCCAP:

• David Langer, PhD, ABPP Associate Professor at Suffolk University (8 years on the Board)
• Sara Gould, PhD, ABPP, Associate Professor at Children’s Mercy Kansas City (6 years on the Board)