Essentially, the Diplomate is evidence that you have a high level of demonstrated competency in your specialty. It is a measure of the excellence you bring to the practice of Counseling Psychology. It is the umbrella organization for 11 specialty boards in psychology offering the Diplomate. The major task of the Board is to serve as the governing body of the separately incorporated specialty examining boards. A specialty in psychology is a defined area in the practice of psychology that connotes special competency in that area.
Competency is acquired through an organized sequence of formal education, training, and experience.
An ABPP Specialty Board is an independently incorporated examining board that is stable, national in scope, and reflects the current development of the specialty. The American Board of Counseling Psychology is the specialty board that defines the standards of competency for counseling psychologists. In addition the Board develops the examination and is responsible for administering and scoring the examination for counseling psychologists. Material in the packet explains the process in detail. Basically, there are three components as defined by the Specialty Board in Counseling Psychology.