ABPP in Family Psychology

The American Board of Couple and Family Psychology (ABCFP) is a member board of the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). The ABPP oversees and authorizes the credentialing activities of 13 specialty boards. The ABCFP is responsible for establishing criteria related to the definition and requirements for education, training, competencies, and the examination, which leads to board certification in couple and family psychology. The ABCFP is governed by a board of directors who are certified in couple and family psychology and are representative of the specialty on a national basis.

The board, in association with the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP), is responsible for conducting board examinations in the specialty of couple and family psychology, mentoring and training examiners, and awarding the diploma in couple and family psychology. Board certification by ABCFP, is intended to certify that the successful candidate has completed the educational, training and experience requirements of the specialty, including an examination designed to assess the competencies required to provide quality services in the specialty of couple and family psychology. The primary objective of the ABCFP board certification process is to recognize, certify and promote competence in the specialty.

The specialty of couple and family psychology is not confined to “couple and family therapy," but is a comprehensive application of the science and profession of psychology with families, couple and family subsystems, and individual couple and family members. Couple and family psychologists stress the centrality of understanding and constructively changing the couple and family unit or subsystems, as well as the individual. Couple and family psychologists consider the individual, couple and family, and human relationships from a perspective that includes systemic interactions and developmental processes over the life span and takes into account the context in which they are embedded.