SCP International Award for the Advancement of Counseling Psychology Values


The awards, known as the SCP International Award for the Advancement of Counseling Psychology Values are given for notable collective work focused on international matters, actions, or endeavors that are congruent with the values embraced by counseling psychology. Examples of these values include, yet are not limited to, Social-Restorative-Distributive-Environmental Justice, Reparations and beyond, Emancipation, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Intersectionality, Pluralism, Advocacy, Wellness, Humanism and Human Rights, Peace, Sustainability, Prevention, Developmental and Strength-Based Perspectives, Open Access to Knowledge, and Universal Access - Disability Rights. 

Two awards will be given: one to a collective based primarily in the US and another to a collective based primarily outside of the US. The character of the work that each collective is engaged in must be international in nature and scope.


CRITERIA: 

  1. The SCP International Award for the Advancement of Counseling Psychology Values seeks to recognize and bring attention to notable collective work focused on international matters, actions, or endeavors that are congruent with the values embraced by counseling psychology.
  2. Examples of Counseling Psychology values that these awards seek to affirm and celebrate include but are not limited to the overlapping ones of Social-Restorative-Distributive-Environmental Justice, Reparations and beyond, Emancipation, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Intersectionality, Pluralism, Advocacy, Wellness, Humanism and Human Rights, Peace, Sustainability, Prevention, Developmental and Strength-Based Perspectives, Open Access to Knowledge, and Universal Access - Disability Rights. 
  3. The Award recognizes teams, groups, programs, civic and community organizations, communities, causes, or movements that are congruent with Counseling Psychology values and that have a clear, international identity. Nominees’ work must patently reflect one or more values affirmed by Counseling Psychology and be international in nature and scope. While the nominees may be psychologists and/or psychological teams, groups, programs, organizations, causes and the like, they could well be from other disciplines. 
    1. The awards are intended to augment the visibility of international matters, actions, or endeavors within and outside of SCP. Congruent with collectivism, these awards are also intended to affirm the valuing of team-work, community, groups, causes, and collaboration. While nominations of individuals would be considered, strong preference will be given to teams, programs, groups, agencies, organizations, collectives, causes, and the like. This preference is congruent with the collectivistic, communal values these awards seek to affirm. To reduce the likelihood of conflict of interests, no officers of SCP or ICP Section will be eligible for the awards while serving.
  4. Each award includes a monetary recognition that is equal to each of the other SCP-wide awards and those allocated funds will be included in SCP’s annual budget.
  5. Although the Award ordinarily will be voted annually, the Executive Board may elect not to make an Award in any given year.

PROCEDURES:

  1. A Call for Nominations for the SCP International Award for the Advancement of Counseling Psychology Values will appear in the Fall issue of the Society/Division 17 Newsletter or the currently used publication medium. 
  2. Nominations for the Award are to be in the form of a letter that makes the nomination (from self or other) and articulate in detail how the nominee meets the criteria for the award. In total, the nomination packet should include no more than three letters, one of which should be the letter of nomination (from self or other) and no more than two additional letters of support. All letters should discuss the significance of the nominee’s contributions in the international arena and relate them directly to one or more Counseling Psychology values. 
  3. The Chair of the Awards and Recognition Committee (or the Chair’s designee) will be responsible for collecting nominations. The VP for IA, the ICP co-chairs, and the ICP Section awards committee will serve as consultants for these two awards while honoring SCP’s Awards Committee independent process. 
    1. The Chair of the Awards and Recognition Committee will obtain evaluations of the nominations from the Committee members. Each reviewer will rate and then rank the nominee and send both ratings and rankings to the Chair (or the Chair’s designee). The Committee will confer and seek to establish consensus on the ranking of nominees. The Chair will submit a rank ordered list of nominees together with a rationale for the rankings to the Society/Division 17 Executive Board prior to the mid-year meeting. 
  4. Election of the Award winner will be decided by written or verbal ballot at the mid-year meeting by majority vote of the voting members of the Executive Board of Society/Division 17 who are present. The Award winner will be notified by the President following this mid-year meeting but no public announcement of the winner will be made until the Society/Division’s business meeting at the APA Convention. 
  5. The Chair of the Awards and Recognition Committee will provide the winner’s name and contact information, social security number (if applicable), and the name of the award won to the Society/Division 17 treasurer by June 1st. The treasurer will prepare the check and give it to the Society/Division 17 President for presentation at the Annual Business Meeting in August. 
  6. After the APA Convention, an announcement of the winner will be published in the fall issue of the Society/Division 17 Newsletter or currently used publication medium, and The Counseling Psychologist

Note: SCP’s most recent strategic plan (2019-2024) includes goals such as elevating impact of counseling psychology and supporting counseling psychologists’ advocacy to promote client and community wellbeing, equity, and justice. Our current President Reynolds stated, “Every day we strive to build a more inclusive, just, and equitable profession and ensure that our work is centered in liberation and healing to dismantle oppression in all its forms, uplift all communities who are marginalized, erased, and harmed, and transform our policies, structures, and practices so that we may all one day be free.” This work is particularly important now given multiple pandemics experienced in recent years and our continued fight to support marginalized communities.
Therefore, we invite all nominations to address the ways your nominees strived to make this change. The submission materials should address how the nominee aligns with and/or applies counseling psychology values, particularly as it relates to counseling psychology’s focus on Liberation Anti-Black Racism, Advocacy and Engagement.