SCP Announcements

Congratulations from Jay C. Thomas, President, ABOBCP
The American Board of Organizational and Business Consulting Psychology ( a specialty board of the American Board of Professional Psychology) wishes to congratulate our newest diplomates. These psychologists have confirmed their commitment to ethical and effective practice as well as demonstrating exceptional skills in organizational and business consulting psychology.

  • John Blanche

  • Judith Blanton

  • Michael Quirk

  • Rick Day

  • Virginia Mullen

  • Stephen Marshall

Please join us in recognizing the accomplishments of these skilled and talented psychologists!

Midwinter Conference 2005
A record number of participants attended the recent 2005 Midwinter Conference on Consulting to Organizations and Business, and the conference appears to have been a great success and productive experience for all involved. Very positive feedback about all aspects of the program (the 5 keynote addresses, the multiple pre- and post-conference workshops, and the numerous knowledge and skills focused concurrent sessions) was received. Special events like the Town Meeting and Rio Cibolo Ranch social event lauded. There were many firsts for this conference including Shared Interest Group (SIG) Roundtable Presentations and Peer-to-Peer Mentoring sessions targeted by level of experience in consulting. Some of the papers presented at the conference are now available on the SCP website.

2005 APA Conference
A schedule for SCP programming at the 2005 APA Conference in Washington DC is now available here.

The Ballots are Coming! The Ballots Are Coming!
On behalf of the Nominations Committee, I am pleased to announce an outstanding slate of candidates for four board positions with terms beginning in August 2005. They are:

  • President Elect - Randy White and Judy Blanton
  • Treasurer - David Peterson and Mike Atella
  • Member at Large - David Brewer, Sandy Shullman, and Virginia Mullin
  • Second APA Council Representative - Mary Kralj and Skip Leonard.

Since there is only one nominee for President Elect, Judy Blanton has graciously agreed to be placed on the ballot as an alternate candidate to President Elect White in the event that he is unable to serve his term.

The official ballots will be mailed by APA for receipt by the end of April. To learn more about the nominees for each of these positions, Candidate Statements will be available for viewing starting April 15th on the APA website at http://www.apa.org/governance. Thanks to all of the nominees for their willingness to serve on the board if elected. These volunteers do our Society and the membership a great service. Let's how our support by voting when the ballots arrive!

Paul Winum
Past President and Chair, Nominations Committee

Graduate Students / Emerging Professionals
Please visit us at the SCP discussion board. This is a great way to the feedback from other graduate students and emerging professionals. In addition, we are looking for article proposals/writers (similar to the Breaking into Consulting article in the previous e-newsletter) to add either to the Grad Student Corner or future e-newsletters.

Delta Sky Magazine
Click here to read about Steve Kincaid, an SCP Member who discussed the practice of corporate psychology as part of being featured in Delta Airline's April in-flight magazine.

Guidelines For Education and Training
Many thanks to Ann O'Roark, our SCP Council Representative at APA. The Society of Consulting Psychology can celebrate adoption of a new APA Policy: "Guidelines for Education and Training at the Doctoral and Postdoctoral Level for Consulting Psychologists / Organizational Consulting Psychologists."  Other reports received and motions/resolutions include:

  • A motion calling for APA to seek expert consulting/consultation on policies and issues from APA members
  • "Determination and Documentation of the Need for Practice Guidelines" [potential implication for coaching]; with that needed expertise first, and to establish a mechanism for identifying those experts [potential implication for consulting psychology]
  • The revised "Standards and Criteria of the Sponsor Approval System"
  • Policy and Planning Committee's Five year Report: Vision 2020

Society of Consulting Psychology 2005 Call for Award Nominations
The Society of Consulting Psychology annually offers (or participates in) the following awards:

  1. RHR International Award for Excellence in Consultation. This award is given to an individual with a distinguished career in the practice of consulting psychology, and it is funded by the consulting firm of RHR International. It honors a founding member, Perry L. Rohrer, who epitomized the standards of excellence that RHR and the Society seek to perpetuate. The award is accompanied by a $1500 check.
    Please submit: (1) a letter of nomination from a primary sponsor outlining the qualification of the individual for this award; (2) letters of recommendation from colleagues, clients, etc.; (3) a current resume or vita for the nominee; and (4) evidence of the significance/impact of the nominee's work.
  2. RHR International Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award. This award, given to a doctoral student or recent graduate for exemplary research contributing to theory or practice of consulting psychology, is funded by RHR International. The winner receives a $1000 check and travel funds to present the award winning research at the APA annual meeting.
    Nominations should include: (1) a copy of the defended dissertation (2002-2005); (2) a letter of nomination explaining why it is an exemplary study and clearly links it to the domain of consulting psychology; and (3) two letters of recommendations from the student's faculty or members of the Society of Consulting Psychology.
  3. Society of Consulting Psychology Service Award. This award is given to a member of the Society of Consulting Psychology who has made a sustained and significant contribution to the society. Nominations need to include: (1) a nomination letter detailing the service contributions of the nominee and (2) two letters of support from society members.

RHR and SCP Awards deadline are to be announced.  To see if applications for 2005 are still being accepted, please contact Rodney L. Lowman or call him at 858/635-4535.  The contact person for 2006 will be announced shortly. 

  1. Harry and Miriam Levinson Award for Exceptional Contributions to Consulting Organizational Psychology. The Levinson award is a $5,000 prize given annually to an APA member who has demonstrated an exceptional ability to turn psychological theory and concepts into applications that leaders and managers can use to create more effective, healthy, and humane organizations. The award is administered by APA's Office of Division Services, in conjunction with Divisions 13, 14, and 39. Representatives from each Division review nominations and recommend a recipient to the American Psychological Foundation Board of Trustees. Nomination materials must include a letter that addresses the nominee's accomplishments and his or her curriculum vitae. Self-nominations are welcome, and APF encourages nominations that represent diversity of race, ethnicity, gender, age, and sexual orientation. The web address for more information and for application materials, is http://www.apa.org/monitor/nov04/levinson.html. The nomination deadline will be announced.

APA Council Representative Report
The Society of Consulting Psychology can celebrate adoption of a new APA Policy: "Guidelines for Education and Training at the Doctoral and Postdoctoral Level for Consulting Psychologists / Organizational Consulting Psychologists." I would like to express appreciation from SCP for their support and collaboration over the more than seven years of this effort.

SCP's motion for "Licensure Portability for Psychologists consulting in Multiple Jurisdictions" was announced. The SCP motion moves forward Vision 2020 item #3 [Note. The Five Year P&P Report is to be published in an upcoming APA MONITOR]: 

"APA should continue to work with legislative bodies and other psychological entities (ASPPB, National Register, ABPP) to address licensure issues such as interstate mobility and other barriers...stemming from jurisdictional licensing laws [that] hinder the development of new career options in corporate consultation, telehealth, and other distance service applications. These laws are also problematic for psychologists who may wish to relocate or do volunteer work such as disaster response assistance outside their jurisdiction of licensure." Co-endorsers are Independent Practice [42] Representative and Multicultural advocate, Rita Dudley-Grant, US Virgin Islands; and, Charles Spielberger, a long-time SCP Fellow, Past-President of APA, and currently a representative for Clinical Psychology [12]. SCP's new business motion is received and referred to the Board of Professional Affairs [BPA]; the Committee for the Advancement of Professional Practice [CAPP]; and the Committee on Legal Issues [COLI]. 


Also of potential interest to SCP is another new business item, "Consultation and Supervision in Sports Psychology," referred to the BEA, BPA, COLI, and the Ethics Committee.

The Council approved increasing APA's financial reimbursement for Council members. In addition to covering travel costs for the Winter meeting, APA will cover up to three nights hotel room. Diversity representatives and Council member groups with limited resources are provided additional financial support. The 2006 SCP budget will incorporate two Council representatives for the first time in 30 years. The next Apportionment Balloting will determine if the second Council seat is to continue beyond one year.


Council Decisions/Actions
Reports received and motions/resolutions, in addition to the OCP E&T Guidelines, Council voted to approve include:

  • A motion calling for APA to seek expert consulting/consultation on policies and issues from APA members 
  • "Determination and Documentation of the Need for Practice Guidelines" [potential implication for coaching]; with that needed expertise first, and to establish a mechanism for identifying those experts [potential implication for consulting psychology]
  • The revised "Standards and Criteria of the Sponsor Approval System"
  • Policy and Planning Committee's Five year Report: Vision 2020

Presidential Initiatives and Themes for 2005
President Ron Levant opened the Winter Council session with a review of his four presidential initiatives:

  • Making psychology a household word [Note. All council member groups are asked to have someone trained to foster this long range objective. Paul Lloyd has volunteered.]
  • Promoting health care for the whole person [Note. This seems to ignore any whole person-workplace connection.]
  • Resolving controversies in evidence-based practice [EPB]. Defining a broader range of research and clinical/[consultation practice] evidence including client values and the issue of treatment acceptability and consumer choice. Note. This one needs a nonhealthcare service provider voice. SCP members Tom DeMaio and Sandra Shullman are active in diversity. An aside: Perhaps, non-healthcare service[NHS] providers of all stripes qualify as being considered a "marginalized" minority within psychology. Names of SCP members have been submitted to President Levant for each initiative where there is not already a NHS provider appointed. 

Several of Council's new business items will need review and comment before the August meeting.

The announcement of Paul Lloyd as a nominee-candidate for APA President-Elect was well received during the Council's plenary opening session. Unfortunately, Paul contracted a severe case of pneumonia while attending back-to-back professional events this winter and needed to withdraw this election season. Hopefully, he will be at full strength and willing to campaign next year. Thanks to those who sent in his name on the nomination ballot and to those who volunteered to help campaign. 

Do not hesitate to call if you have an interest in hearing more about Council issues and discussions. 

Ann O'Roark

Education and Training Committee

  • Promoting and further building the SCP Training/Supervision and Mentoring Directory. Please check it out!
  • Beginning to build learning modules (web-based material and a teleconference meeting format) to meet the training needs of SCP members (see announcement below).
  • Delivering more distance learning courses before APA meeting this summer. Any SIGS interested in sponsoring one should contact John Fennig.
  • Becoming stewards of the (newly approved by APA) Organizational Consulting Psychology Guidelines - a model for competence in both the development of emerging organizational consulting psychologists and in the articulation of what we do as practicing organizational consulting psychologists.

Distance Learning Training Modules
The Education and Training Committee (E&T) introduced its Distance Learning Training Modules concept at the recent midwinter conference and it received rave reviews from participants of the Test Drive Session. Similar to the Distance Learning seminars piloted this fall, E&T aspires to pilot three training modules this year. We are asking members of the Society to partner with us to create the modules. 

The training module concept follows the competency levels (individual, group, organizational/systemic) cited in the Guidelines for Educational and Training at the Doctoral and Post Doctoral level in Organizational Consulting, and aims to provide students and transitioning professionals practical, tool-based skills. The modules add two other competency levels called business core competency and personal core competency as cited in a yet to be published article by E&T members. Examples of modules covering each of the competencies cited above include "How to Use the 16PF," "Team Assessment and Interventions," "Organizational Diagnosis," "Assessing the Value Portfolio of Assets" and "Use of Self in Consulting."

If you have interest in partnering with us to create a module, you will receive the same fee as the presenters of the Distance Learning Seminars. Presenters can also tap into a revenue stream with participants who might be interested in follow-up supervision. Presenters will be given a free listing on the Training Directory for Supervisors and Mentors. Please send your proposals to Scott Serviss or call with questions at (508) 650-1945.