ASPPB Updates Its Continuing Professional Development Guidelines for Jurisdictions in the United States and Canada
Available for View and Download: The Continuing Evolution of the Maintenance of Competence for Licensure White Paper and Continuing Professional Development Guidelines
The Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB) Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Survey Task Force concluded a rigorous multi-year process to update the ASPPB Continuing Professional Development Guidelines for jurisdictions in the United States and Canada. The Continuing Evolution of the Maintenance of Competence for Licensure White Paper and the Continuing Professional Development Guidelines (Guidelines) outline the categories needed to maintain competence and remain current in practice areas, while providing a set of activities and experiences to support this.
Importance:
The Guidelines promote professional competence and public protection. One of the core responsibilities of licensing boards is to ensure that practitioners maintain their competence over time. The document presents a structured, research-informed approach that facilitates the alignment of Continuing Education (CE) with the broader concept of Continuing Professional Development (CPD), which encompasses knowledge, skills, judgment, and attitudes, rather than merely imparting knowledge through passive learning processes.
Additionally, the Guidelines promote standardization and consistency across jurisdictions, as licensing requirements for psychologists at the state/provincial level can vary widely. These guidelines aim to provide a model that psychology regulatory bodies can adopt or adapt to ensure greater consistency and mobility. The Guidelines also help jurisdictions that may require robust CPD/CE regulations to adopt a thoughtful, evidence-informed system. Finally, the document guides implementation with helpful forms and logs for recording CPD experiences. For psychology regulatory bodies, these guidelines represent a practical blueprint for designing or enhancing their CPD systems.
Background:
Initially developed in 2014 by ASPPB’s Task Force on the Maintenance of Competence and Licensure (MOCAL), the updates to The Continuing Evolution of the Maintenance of Competence for Licensure White Paper and Continuing Professional Development Guidelines were informed by a 2023 survey about CE/CPD in which a cross-section of licensed psychologists from the U.S. and Canada participated. Out of that survey came The Perceived Contribution of Continuing Professional Development Activities to Ongoing Professional Competence (Niemeyer, et al., 2025) and the updated CPD Guidelines.
