Welcome to the American Board of Counseling Psychology Website Beginning in 1947, before state licensing boards, the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) started credentialing psychologists. This board certification process has continued uninterrupted now for more than fifty years. During these years, ABPP has grown into thirteen specialty boards that offer Board Certification. Counseling psychology (ABCoP) is one of the original boards. As a discipline, counseling psychology is robust with theoretical and scientific scholarship. It is also a field with a strong practice component. The practice of counseling psychology and the credentialing of this practice at a high level is a central goal of our profession. Board certification in counseling psychology has been constructed as a meaningful development process. We hope, with the information given at our web site, to demystify this professional development process in counseling psychology. The stance of the current Counseling Board is one of encouraging colleagues to engage in the process of becoming board certified in counseling psychology. The Counseling Board is continually attempting to make the exam process one that is meaningful and fair while conducted within a respectful and collaborative process. Graduate programs take in new doctoral students with the hope and expectation that the new students will find doctoral study rich and useful while succeeding and then graduating. The Counseling Board hopes for a similar result with our professional development process. This professional development process, has these phases: an initial application, a credentialing review, use of a mentor, a practice sample, an oral exam that is conducted by counseling psychology colleagues in a respectful, positive atmosphere and, finally, an exam feedback process. For many applicants, often years away from the learning and development atmosphere of graduate school, the board certification process in counseling psychology is a revitalizing career enhancing method. This whole process is often described, by those who go through it, as a rich experience. For it, CE credits are offered by the Academy of Counseling Psychology. The Counseling Board maintains a stance that demonstrating high counseling competence is central to the exam process. This competence is most often met through a video of counseling /therapy and a focus on assessment and intervention. A newer area added is a video of counseling supervision and a focus on assessment and intervention. The Board approved a new pilot project limited to the senior exam; live consultation on counseling supervision with a focus on assessment and intervention. This new area is intended to capture the expertise of many senior counseling psychologists who provide consultation to newer practitioners. Senior members of the profession are defined as those who have had the Ph.D. for 15 or more years. Tom Skovholt, Ph.D. ABPP University of Minnesota President, American Board of Counseling Psychology