Division 17: Society of Counseling Psychology

What is the Society of Counseling Psychology? The Society of Counseling Psychology (SCP), Division 17 of the American Psychological Association (APA) was founded in 1946 to promote personal, educational, vocational, and group adjustment in a variety of settings. Presently, SCP brings together psychologists, students, and international and professional affiliates who are dedicated to promoting education and training, scientific investigation, practice, and diversity and public interest in professional psychology. SCP advocates for Counseling Psychology within the field of psychology and in the public sector. SCP also supports, encourages, and promotes its members and celebrates their diversity. SCP strives to meet the particular interests and needs of its member. This is accomplished through the formation of sections which are formal organizations designed to promote issues in interest areas, and special interest groups which are informal groups representing a variety of interest areas. SCP Mission & Values MISSION We cultivate a “home” for all counseling psychology professionals and affiliates to connect, to collaborate, and to coordinate efforts toward creating a more just and equitable world where ALL people and communities can thrive. Our members share a commitment to a holistic psychological perspective that is strengths-based, person- and community-centered, systems-oriented, contextually aware, multiculturally inclusive, socially just, and integrative of vocational and lifes issues. We promote this perspective within the field of psychology and in the public sector through practice, research, education and training, advocacy, consultation, and leadership. VALUES Critical Consciousness Counseling psychologists think critically about how anti-Black racism and other interlocking oppressions operate in the contexts in which we work. We openly acknowledge what is learned, teach accurate history, and engage in self-examination and cultural humility to look at our own biases and practice new ways of engaging for the collective good. Prevention Counseling psychologists value and center prevention of anti-Black racism and interlocking systems of oppression. We take a proactive approach to examine how anti-Black racism has and continues to shape history, including of our discipline. We adopt primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention measures in all aspects of our psychology training and work in order to respond and dismantle the systems of oppression that cause harm or create barriers to wellness. Strength-Based Counseling psychologists use cultural humility to attend to the well-being of the whole person, including their lived experiences, through frameworks that are contextual, intersectional, and strength-based. Advocacy Counseling psychologists are bold in our efforts to dismantle mechanisms, systems, and structures of injustice as we engage in advocacy and social justice praxis that addresses anti-Black racism and other interlocking oppressions embedded within our own profession (including within the education and training of counseling psychologists). Counseling psychologists’ advocacy is direct and occurs across the individual, institutional, and structural levels, including local, state, and federal policy. Flexibility and Adaptability Counseling psychologists are change agents who work through innovation, collaboration, flexibility, and adaptability as they shape-shift structures that contribute to the oppression and subjugation of marginalized people. Collectivism Counseling psychologists honor the collective group that encompasses personal, professional, and societal groups to which we identify with. Counseling psychologists prioritize the sharing of power and engage in collaboration over competition. Accountability and Repairing Harm Counseling psychologists aim to identify and correct biases at the individual, institutional, and structural levels, by taking self-accountability, acknowledging cultural missteps and harm—especially against marginalized communities—supporting others in taking accountability, and offering paths to reconciliation and reparations where possible. Liberation Counseling psychologists actively work together and toward freedom from oppression for all people. Liberation is an action oriented psychological construct that only has meaning when we enact it. Liberation requires engagement in advocacy and social justice toward personal and collective freedom goals. Liberation unites us in the vision of a better world and is the proactive effort to make it a reality. Healing Counseling psychologists promote healing of the self and others, where we strive to know ourselves first and enhance personal and collective wellness. Counseling psychologists understand that short-term problem management and survival are sometimes necessary, but long-term healing and thriving are the goal.