American Board of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology Update

By David A. Langer, PhD, ABPP
President, ABCCAP

I’m delighted to write my first column as ABCCAP president for the Progress Notes newsletter! As an attempt to blend concision and creativity, I present an ABCCAP acrostic:

ABCCAP’s mission is to recognize, certify, and promote competence in our specialty areas– Pediatric Psychology and Clinical Child/Adolescent Psychology.

Boarded specialists demonstrate their competence through a 3-stage board certification process: 1) credentials (e.g., license, transcripts, description of training), 2) practice samples (portfolio of your everyday work), and 3) oral exam (committee meeting with three specialists/peers).

Competence is the focus. Our examiners are guided to focus on competent practice as the bar for board certification (excellence is great, of course, but it’s not the standard we use!).

Collegiality is our style. The vast majority of our boarded specialists report that the boarding experience was collegial and positive. We’re looking to help. If you’re not sure about the process, please reach out!

Any psychologist could describe themselves as a pediatric psychologist or clinical child psychologist. Board certification shows that you completed a rigorous process to demonstrate successfully your specialized training and competent practice.

Psyched about learning more? Contact me and/or visit our website: https://www.clinicalchildpsychology.com/

David A. Langer, Ph.D., ABPP
Director, Clinical Doctoral Program, Suffolk University
Associate Professor, Suffolk University
APA Fellow
President, American Board of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology
Treasurer, Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology