2004 Annual Reports for Boards and Committees

Commission for Recognition of Specialties and Proficiencies in Professional Psychology (CRSPPP)

Membership of CRSPPP for 2004: Elena Eisman (Chair), Elizabeth Almaier, Raymond Folen, Patricia Hollander (Public Member), Sally Singer Horwatt, Nadine Lambert, Lisa Porche-Burke, Lynn Rehm, and Reiko True.

The following activities were conducted in 2004:

CRSPPP held its annual meeting on May 22-23, 2004, at which time it discussed and acted upon petitions for the following: a) continued recognition of a specialty in Clinical Health psychology, b) continued recognition of a proficiency in Biofeedback: Applied Psychophysiology, c) recognition of Geropsychology as a specialty, and d) recognition of Hypnosis as a proficiency in professional psychology. The following recommendations and actions were taken by CRSPPP in 2004 related to the various petitions:

Clinical Health Psychology: On the recommendation of CRSPPP, the Council of Representatives was asked to approve, at its July 2004 meeting, the renewal of recognition of Clinical Health Psychology as a specialty in professional psychology. The Council approved the continued recognition of Clinical Health Psychology as a specialty for a period of seven years, to be reviewed again in 2011.

Biofeedback: Applied Psychophysiology: On the recommendation of CRSPPP, the Council of Representatives was asked to approve, at its July 2004 meeting, the current recognition of Biofeedback: Applied Psychophysiology as a proficiency in professional psychology for a probationary period of one year, until August 2005. CRSPPP deferred making a decision, during its May 2004 meeting, pending receipt of additional information from the petitioner. CRSPPP plans to make a recommendation to the Council regarding renewal of recognition for the proficiency by the Council's August 2005 meeting.

Geropsychology: In response to CRSPPP's correspondence (in 2003) regarding submission of a petition for renewal of recognition of Geropsychology as a proficiency, the petitioners sought recognition for this area of practice as a specialty. Based on its review, however, CRSPPP did not find that the petition met sufficiently the criteria for specialty recognition. CRSPPP communicated this decision with criterion-specific feedback to the petitioners and indicated that it would review the petition materials relative to the criteria for proficiency recognition. The latter criteria were satisfied sufficiently for CRSPPP to recommend that the Council of Representatives renew its recognition of Clinical Geropsychology as a proficiency in professional psychology. The Council of Representatives will be asked to approve the renewal of recognition of Geropsychology as a proficiency in professional psychology until February 2012 at its February 2005 meeting.

Hypnosis: CRSPPP voted not to recommend recognition on the basis of its review of petition information related to the criteria for recognition of proficiencies.

In addition, CRSPPP discussed during its May 2004 meeting, a new task force recently created by the Board of Educational Affairs (BEA) at its March 2004 meeting. The BEA formed the new task force to address issues related to the quality of education and training for areas of practice that required sequential, supervised learning experiences of duration for more than a single workshop but less than that of a degree program, generally taken by licensed or other psychologists for additional certification. These areas of practice might be thought of as proficiencies in professional psychology.

The task force, created by BEA, will include representation from various APA boards and committees, including the Committee on the Advancement of Professional Practice (CAPP), Board of Professional Affairs (BPA), Board of Scientific Affairs (BSA), Board for the Advancement of Psychology in the Public Interest (BAPPI), Committee on Accreditation (CoA), Continuing Professional Education Committee (CPEC), and other relevant groups. The task force will report its recommendations to BEA for action by BEA. Raymond Folen was appointed as the CRSPPP representative to the task force.

CRSPPP held an Open Forum on its work during the July 2004 APA Convention held in Honolulu, HI. The purpose of the Open Forum was a discussion of the document, A Conceptual Framework for Specialization in the Health Service Domain of Professional Psychology.

Lastly, in December 2004, CRSPPP received petitions for the continued recognition of the following specialties from the following divisions: a) Clinical Psychology from APA Division 12 (Society for Clinical Psychology), b) Clinical Child Psychology from APA Division 53 (Society of Child and Adolescent Psychology), c) Counseling Psychology from APA Division 17 (Society of Counseling Psychology), and d) School Psychology from APA Division 16 (School Psychology). A period of public notice and opportunity for comment of 60 days for all petitions will be available beginning February 1, 2005.

As a final note, public member, Ms. Patricia Hollander finished her term as a CRSPPP Commissioner in December 2004, and Ms. Claire Guthrie Gastaņaga will serve a three-year term of office as the new public member appointee, beginning January 1, 2005 and ending December 31, 2007. Dr. Elena Eisman continues in her role as Chair of CRSPPP for 2005.