A brief history of NCSPP

Since the National Council of Schools and Programs of Professional Psychology (NCSPP) first endorsed a practitioner-oriented model in 1973, the group has undergone a series of transformations. Key moments in its history are:

1976 Following the charge of its founding conference, NCSPP forms under the direction of Nicholas Cummings, PhD.

1981 NCSPP mandates that its member programs be APA accredited. It also allows associate membership for schools that aspire to accreditation.

1989 Ethnic minorities seek more inclusion in NCSPP governance, leading to greater diversity at organizational and programmatic levels.

1990 PsyD scholar Roger Peterson, PhD, of Antioch New England Graduate School, lays out the notion of core competencies. He and colleagues publish an influential book on the topic, "The Core Curriculum in Professional Psychology" (APA, 1991).

1991 NCSPP incorporates feminist values into its educational model.

1997 NCSPP's educational model is delineated in an article by Roger Peterson and colleagues in Professional Psychology: Research and Practice(Vol. 28, No. 4, pages 373-386).

2000 The first combined meeting of four psychology training councils-NCSPP, the Council of Directors of School Psychology Programs, the Council of University Directors of Clinical Psychology and the Council of Counseling Psychology Training Programs-is held in Miami. The meeting acknowledges the diversity in models, facilitates communication among them and supports common goals such as advocacy for education and training, notes Cynthia Belar, PhD, APA's executive director for education.

2002 NCSPP establishes "diversity" as a core competency.

2004 "Advocacy" becomes an NCSPP professional value.

2006 NCSPP celebrates its 30th anniversary and announces the results of its third and most comprehensive self-study.

-T. DeAngelis

Note: Material is drawn from a timeline developed by Gilbert Newman, PhD, of the Wright Institute.