American Board of Professional Psychology

The American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) is the primary organization for specialty board certification in psychology. "The mission of the American Board of Professional Psychology is to increase consumer protection through the examination and certification of psychologists who demonstrate competence in approved specialty areas in professional psychology." The American Board of Professional Psychology was founded and incorporated in 1947, as the American Board of Examiners in Professional Psychology (ABEPP). When established, ABEPP replaced a committee that was formed by the American Psychological Association (APA) to explore the development of a credentialing body for individual psychologists. According to Bent, Goldberg & Packard, APA had come to realize that a membership organization, such as itself, could not advocate for its members at the same time that it performed certification functions designed to protect the public. Determining that a distinction should be made between basic and advanced levels of competence, ABEPP focused its attention to the latter and identified three fields of certification – Clinical Psychology; Personnel-Industrial (later becoming Industrial Psychology, and then Industrial/Organizational Psychology); and Personnel-Educational (later becoming Counseling and Guidance, and then Counseling Psychology). In order to recognize those psychologists already working in applied and practice areas, persons deemed to have sufficient experience and training (and awarded Bachelor of Arts degrees prior to December 31, 1935) were allowed to be "grandfathered" without examination. Those requiring examination were administered both written and oral components. In 1968, the current name – American Board of Professional Psychology – was adopted, and a fourth specialty – School Psychology – was introduced. In 1972 multimember regional boards were implemented – Northeast, Midwest, Mideast, Southeast, Intermountain West and Far West.