PSYCHOLOGISTS IN INDEPENDENT PRACTICE
A Division of the American Psychological Association
919 W. Marshall Ave • Phoenix AZ 85013 • 85013-9848
Thank you for your interest in becoming an initial Fellow of APA through Division 42.
As practitioners sometimes feel disadvantaged in meeting the criteria for Fellow status in
APA, we would like to offer you some guidance in the application process.
Let us suggest three steps that you might take, after requesting an initial Fellows
application from the Division 42 Central Office, 919 W. Marshall Ave., Phoenix, AZ
85013, Phone: 602-284-6219, E-mail: div42apa@cox.net. First, we suggest you look at
your c.v., both to make sure it is up to date and to ensure it completely reflects all the
things you have done professionally. This includes offices in organizations, awards,
papers presented at regional or national meetings, as well as publications, whether
refereed or not. Many practitioners use a stripped-down c.v. but for this purpose that will
not be helpful.
Having made sure that your c.v. is complete and accurate, the next step is to evaluate it
yourself in terms of any themes represented, and then relating those to the scene in
professional practice over the last few years. The crucial question is, what part of your
work has had an impact beyond the local level?
Following this, structure your self-nomination letter along the line of the themes that you
wish to develop. Remember that the emphasis is on the things you have done, or in
other, words the work that you did and its visibility. Then select your endorsers, and
instruct them as far as necessary on what aspects of your work you wish for them to
comment on.
Send each endorser a copy of your c.v, the Fellows Status Worksheet and your selfnomination letter, with a brief statement of your intent for their endorsement.
The endorsement letters should be sent back to Central Office through you, so do not
hesitate to read them, or at least read a copy. Many applicants in the past have selected
more than the minimum of three endorsers, in order to cull any letters that are not
sufficiently on target or that are not worded properly. Remember, the key element here is
endorsement of your work, not you as a person. In other words, it will not matter to the
APA Membership Committee that you are knowledgeable, a skilled teacher, an
accomplished practitioner, or the like. What does matter is that you have received
recognition for excellence, such as awards or offices in which you have accomplished
various things, and that your work has received recognition. The job of your endorsers
is to drive home the point of what you have accomplished and how they know your work.
It may be somewhat helpful to select endorsers who do not live in your local area, and it
probably helps to have endorsers who themselves are likely to be known to the APA
Membership Committee members. Please note: your letters of endorsement must be
from APA Fellows and at least two must be from Division 42 Fellows. Also, you
endorsers must complete the Fellows Status Worksheet – or their endorsement will not
be accepted.
We have set a deadline of December 15, 2012 for receipt of your application by the
Division 42 Central Office. As a review, then, the steps that are necessary for this
process: (1) Ensure that your c.v. is in good professional form, making sure that you
have included nationally important offices or professional activities in which you
have participated, together with both refereed and non-refereed publications, paper
presentations, and the like. (2) Contact a minimum of three endorsers (who must be
Fellows of APA and at least two of which must be from Division 42). It helps to
have more than three endorsers. (3) Send a copy of your c.v. and your selfnomination letter to your endorsers and the Fellows Status Worksheet., with a brief
cover letter directing their attention to the aspects of your work that you want them
to mention specifically.
If you would like to have a Fellows Mentor help you with this process, please contact
Jeannie Beeaff (div42apa@cox.net) 602 284-6219 and we’ll put you in contact with a
current Fellow who has agreed to help. You may use their expertise in any way you wish
and we hope this is a helpful addition to the process. Above all, we hope to offer you
whatever support you find necessary in your application process.
Very truly yours,
Division 42 Fellows Committee