Member since
1998
His job
In an indirect way, Turner touches the lives of every up-and-coming practicing psychologist. He is the psychologist charged with developing and managing the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP), the test would-be psychologists must pass to be eligible for licensure in the United States and Canada. The EPPP is produced by the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB), located in Tyrone, Georgia.
As the director of examination services at ASPPB, Turner oversees the yearly revisions of the test, working with content experts from psychology's many facets to develop new content and scour every exam item to be sure it is accurate, grammatically correct and in no way ambiguous. His interaction with the volunteer experts is the best part of his job, he says. "It's fun and exciting to meet all these bright psychologists from all over the United States and Canada to see what other people do and how the field varies. It's a unique position in psychology."
He is particularly excited about one recent change they made to the exam: Candidates now get their scores immediately after they take the test, rather than having to wait two weeks for results.
His own practice
Turner also runs a small private practice, providing child and family counseling, as well as conducting psycho-educational evaluations and educational advocacy services. Before coming to ASPPB, he was a school psychologist in Gwinnett County Public Schools for 10 years. While he loved working in the schools and with the children, he felt like it was time for a change. "I had done the same thing for a long time and thought it was time to try something new. "
Why psychology
Like many psychologists, Turner was attracted to the field as a way to help people. "All along, a lot of people would come to me with their problems and tell me I should be a psychologist, so I went with it." He says he couldn't be happier with the choice. "I definitely love psychology. It's such a varied field that it allows you to do so many things."
The best part
Much as he loves his career, though, he says the highlight of his life is his 11-year-old son. "What I think is funny is that despite my work as a child psychologist, everything is different when it's your own. I make parenting mistakes, but he is a great kid!"
— Sara Martin
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