NCSPP External Relationships, Liaisons, and Affiliations: Advocacy and Liaison Activities
by Ray Crossman, Ph.D., Adler University

NCSPP maintains relationships with a number of psychology organizations to ensure that the interests and perspectives of our students, our training programs,and our other publics are represented.

The President and President Elect of NCSPP participate in the Council of Chairs of Training Councils (CCTC). CCTC is constituted by the 15 national doctoral, internship, and postdoctoral training associations in professional psychology that together educate the professional psychologists of the USA and Canada. CCTC works with the Education Directorate of the American Psychological Association to secure coherent preparation of professional psychologists. Recently, CCTC elected a President of NCSPP as its Chair.

NCSPP has membership on the Psychology Executive Roundtable (PER), a group comprised of the presidents and CEOs of organized professional psychology groups in the USA, Canada, and Mexico. The President and President Elect of NCSPP attend PER. The President (or President Elect or Past President) of NCSPP also attends the Trilateral Forum on Professional Issues in Psychology, a joint effort of psychologists in the USA, Canada, and Mexico to focus on professional psychology in a global context.

NCSPP has three representatives appointed to the American Psychological Association (APA) Commission on Accreditation (CoA). Representatives also attend the CoA’s recently initiated annual Accreditation Assembly.

NCSPP maintains liaison relationships with several APA boards and committees. NCSPP Executive Committee members regularly attend and participate in the proceedings of the Board of Educational Affairs (BEA), the Board of Practice Affairs (BPA), the Council on the Advancement of Professional Practice (CAPP), the Board for the Advancement of Psychology in the Public Interest (BAPPI), the Council on Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Concerns (CGLBC), and the Committee on Women in Psychology (CWP).

Formal liaison relationships are also maintained with several education and training organizations. In recent years, NCSPP representatives have regularly participated in meetings of the Council of University Directors of Clinical Psychology (CUDCP), the Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology (COGDP), the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC), and the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB). Representatives from these groups have also often attended NCSPP’s summer and midwinter meetings.

In addition, NCSPP is strongly represented in ad hoc and continuing endeavors in the psychology community. For example, NCSPP was a convener of the 2005 Inter-Organizational Summit on the Accrediting Body for Professional Psychology, and NCSPP was represented on the planning and working groups for the 2007 Assessment of Competencies Benchmark Work Group, the group that recently defined the path for development of competencies for professional psychologists.

The Executive Committee of NCSPP reviews all liaison and external activities on an annual basis to guarantee best use of the organization’s resources for advocacy. The membership of NCSPP receives a report on every liaison activity from the representative or representatives who participate. The Executive Committee’s Strategic Plan for 2005 – 2007 calls for the evaluation of advocacy activities and the development of advocacy efforts for new issues and audiences.