Introducing the Latest Special Interest Group (SIG) at SCCAP:

The Professional Development and Mentoring SIG (PDM SIG)

Introducing the Latest Special Interest Group (SIG) at SCCAP:

The Professional Development and Mentoring SIG (PDM SIG)

By Hannah Ades, BA & Andres De Los Reyes, PhD
Co-Chairs, PDM SIG

The Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (SCCAP) enjoys a long history of efforts at outreach, dedication, and programming relevant to its Early Career Members (ECMs). SCCAP thrives when it fosters the development of ECMs, as they represent the next generation of mentors who will train the generation of ECMs that follow them. We are excited about the recent approval of a new Special Interest Group devoted to Professional Development and Mentoring (PDM SIG), with a specific emphasis on SCCAP’s ECMs. Through a partnership with an annual meeting devoted to the professional development and mentoring of ECMs (i.e., Future Directions Forum), the PDM SIG advocates for ECM interests, provides a means for established SCCAP members to consult and provide guidance, and solicits information from ECMs on professional development programming and mentoring opportunities of interest to them.

The PDM SIG’s mission is of relevance to the SCCAP membership broadly. As such, we welcome all of you, regardless of your career stage, particularly because our mission and activities dovetail with anyone interested in professional development and mentoring. That said, the PDM SIG’s mission is of particular relevance to any of you who identify as an ECM, or identify as an ally and/or mentor of ECMs. Per APA’s definition of an Early Career Psychologist (ECP), this includes any of you who are in the first 10 years of your career post-Ph.D. Among those of you who have yet to receive a Ph.D., are you a Student Member of SCCAP? If so, then we also see you as a core member of the PDM SIG! And why not join the only SIG at SCCAP that explicitly centers your interests and needs?

Beyond ECMs, we also welcome mid-career and senior-level SCCAP Members. Do you have expertise or interests in the mentoring and professional development of ECMs? If so, then we expect you to also comprise a core segment of PDM SIG members! In fact, take a look at our list of Founding Members on our SIG home page. We have founding members who traverse career stages!

We close this piece by highlighting the two things that excite us most about where the PDM SIG goes from here. First, to encourage accountability and representation, we expect the rich diversity of membership in the PDM SIG to inform its leadership structure. At our initial planning meetings, our goal is to have Student Members and Members of SCCAP build consensus on how to share leadership roles. We expect to build a SIG Board that includes positions for members at various career stages (e.g., student, ECP, mid-career, senior). Beyond career stages, we expect to include board roles for ECMs at various stages of training (e.g., undergraduate, post-baccalaureate, master’s, doctoral, post-doctoral). Governing members will work together to produce professional development and mentoring opportunities that center SCCAP’s ECMs. At the PDM SIG, we will make decisions where everyone will not only have a stake in the outcome but will also have the power and responsibility to ensure that the outcome serves the bests interests of ECMs and their needs.     

Here is the second thing that excites us: The PDM SIG’s annual meeting, the Future Directions Forum, is where we expect to hold our annual board meetings! The value of this infrastructure is that the Future Directions Forum will serve as a capstone for the PDM SIG’s year-round activities. We expect to hold monthly board meetings virtually, at which a member of our Executive Board, the Community Manager, will lead discussions surrounding virtual programming offered throughout the year, and collaborate with the board to design social events for the APA Convention. Collectively, these activities will serve to engage PDM SIG members year-round, and create an outlet for attendees who have yet to become SCCAP members to learn more about the society and see the value of becoming a member.

Join us in this exciting initiative, and we welcome all your feedback, questions, comments, and insights about where the PDM SIG goes from here!