President's Welcome
Shavonne J. Moore-Lobban Ph.D., ABPP, SCP President 2022-2023

Welcome to the Society of Counseling Psychology’s (SCP) official website! We are Division 17 of the American Psychological Association. Our mission is to “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.” In part, our values are to empower people to improve their lives; promote resilience beyond ameliorating pathology; build upon people’s strengths from a strength-based approach; consider context, systems, and intersecting social identities; center marginalized voices; and address systemic oppression. We welcome your membership, your engagement, and your leadership as we continue to work toward actualizing our mission and living out our values.

SCP is in an exciting time as we continue strengthening our society by centering the fight against anti-black racism, and moving toward the liberation that Past President, Dr. Anneliese Singh, called us to a few years back. That call has been continued by Past Presidents, Drs. Mary O’Leary Wiley and Amy Reynolds, who have, respectively, led us in engagement and transformation over the past two years. The SCP executive board, our larger group of SCP leaders, and many of our SCP members have been committed to this work and advancing our society. That includes our President-Elect, Dr. Helen Neville. Our consultants, from Jernigan and Associates, have also been instrumental in helping us think about the next steps in our journey.  

Building off the insights from the past, and with great hope for the future, I invite you to join us as we continue forward movement with my presidential theme– Dismantling Anti-Black Racism with Unapologetic Boldness: Redefining our Values and Living them Out Loud. I look forward to working together in a bold and unapologetic pursuit of becoming an anti-racist, anti-oppressive, and liberated Society of Counseling Psychology!

Shavonne J. Moore-Lobban, PhD, ABPP
President | Society of Counseling Psychology, Division 17, APA


What is Counseling Psychology?

Counseling Psychology is a specialty within professional psychology that maintains a focus on facilitating personal and interpersonal functioning across the life span. The practice of Counseling Psychology encompasses a broad range of culturally-sensitive practices that help people improve their well-being, alleviate distress and maladjustment, resolve crises, and increase their ability to function better in their lives. With its attention to both to normal developmental issues and problems associated with physical, emotional, and mental disorders, the specialization holds a unique perspective in the broader practice-based areas of psychology.

For more information, click here.

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The Benefits of Membership 

With more than 2000 members and affiliates who live these values through a wide diversity of identities, interests, and professional activities and commitments, SCP can offer YOU a home. If you are not yet a member or an active participant in SCP, we heartily invite your involvement!

The success of our efforts rests heavily on the membership and the work of SCP volunteer leaders – our Executive Board, our committee chairs and members, our task group chairs and members, our student affiliate organization, and the staff of our central executive office.  We currently have 13 Sections and Special Interest Groups (SIGs) tailored to specific foci in counseling psychology. I encourage you to browse our websites and join as many Sections or Special Interest Groups as you like, many of which offer free or very inexpensive membership. We also have a nationally ranked journal, The Counseling Psychologist, a useful blog, SCP Connect, and a Facebook page for more frequent updates of SCP activities. I hope you will make use of these many means of communication and connection with SCP.

Depending on your needs, you have several membership options. Regardless of which option you choose, you will receive a welcome packet by email within 2-3 weeks of joining Division 17. You will begin receiving The Counseling Psychologist shortly thereafter or at the beginning of the new membership year.

JOIN TODAY!