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Datapoint

A look at psychologists' specialty areas

News from APA's Center for Workforce Studies

By Luona Lin, MPP, Peggy Christidis, PhD, and Karen Stamm, PhD

September 2017, Vol 48, No. 8

Print version: page 15

1 min read

APA Style leaf logo Cite This Article in APA Style
Lin, L. (2017, September 1). Datapoint: A look at psychologists' specialty areas. Monitor on Psychology, 48(8). https://www.apa.org/monitor/2017/09/datapoint

  • The American Board of Professional Psychology provides certification for doctoral-level licensed psychologists in 15 specialty areas.1 In 2017, approximately 3,900, or 4 percent, of licensed psychologists in the United States were board certified.2 About one-third of those were certified in clinical psychology,3 and 26 percent were certified in clinical neuropsychology.
  • As for all licensed psychologists, 55 percent reported a primary or secondary area of specialty in clinical psychology, and 23 percent reported an area of specialty in clinical child and adolescent psychology.4
  • The distribution of board-certified psychologists across states is similar to the distribution of all licensed psychologists.5 California (422), New York (297), Florida (277), Texas (226) and Massachusetts (176) had the most board-certified psychologists.6

Licensed Psychologists and Board-Certified Psychologists by Area of Specialty


By Luona Lin, MPP, Peggy Christidis, PhD, and Karen Stamm, PhD
For more information, contact APA's Center for Workforce Studies.

1 A specialty is a defined area in the practice of psychology that connotes special competency acquired through an organized sequence of formal education, training and experience. Board certification (awarding a certificate in a specialty) assures the public that specialists designated by the ABPP have successfully completed the educational, training and experience requirements of the specialty, including an examination designed to assess the competencies required to provide quality services in that specialty.

2 ABPP. (2017). ABPP Directory. Retrieved from  www.abpp.org/i4a/member_directory/feSearchForm.cfm?directory_id=3opens in new window

3 APA recognizes specialties via the Commission for the Recognition of Specialties and Proficiencies in Professional Psychology (CRSPPP), which includes sleep psychology and excludes group psychology. CRSPPP specialties may have different names from ABPP specialties.

4 APA. (2016). 2015 Survey of Psychology Health Service Providers. Retrieved from  www.apa.org/workforce/publications/15-health-service-providers

5 APA. (2016). County-Level Analysis of U.S. Licensed Psychologists and Health Indicators. Retrieved from  www.apa.org/workforce/publications/15-county-analysis

6 States were based on addresses listed as residence/office in the ABPP Directory.

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