8 Hours / 8 CEs

On Demand | Self-Paced Professional Training

This on-demand professional training program on Foundational & Functional Competencies in Police & Public Safety Psychology is presented by David M. Corey, Ph.D., ABPP & Heather McElroy, Ph.D., ABPP, in partnership with The American Board of Police and Public Safety Psychology (ABPPSP).

This program provides an overview of the competencies required of all psychologists seeking board certification and detailed information about how those are demonstrated specifically in Police & Public Safety Psychology. It also describes the history and development of competencies in psychology, including inter-organizational adoption of the competencies, use of the competencies in articulating educational and training guidelines within and across specialties, and utilization of competencies as a basis for board certification.

Specific to Police & Public Safety Psychology, this program addresses the ten foundational competencies required of psychologists seeking board certification specifically in the specialty of Police and Public Safety Psychology. Each competency area will be defined, and examples of how psychologists can demonstrate those competencies are discussed. In addition, the program reviews the four domains of the specialty and includes a discussion of how to demonstrate functional competency in those areas.

 

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this training, participants will be able to:

  • 1 Describe the Foundational and Functional Competencies
  • 2 Describe the difference between Foundational and Functional Competencies
  • 3 Describe the general process of becoming board certified through the American Board of Professional Psychology
  • 4 Describe how Foundational and Functional Competencies may be demonstrated in the process of a board certification examination in Police & Public Safety Psychology
  • 5 Describe functional competency domains in Police & Public Safety Psychology and how they are evaluated through the ABPPSP board certification process.

  • Intended Audience

    This training is designed for mental health and allied professionals who are interested in or currently working in police and public safety psychology. The program focuses on building and demonstrating core competencies in this specialty, including assessment, intervention, operational support, and organizational consultation. It is suitable for those seeking to enhance their expertise in supporting police and public safety personnel.

    • Mental Health Professional
    • Psychologist
    • Social Worker
    • Counselor
    • Marriage and Family Therapist
    • Other Allied Mental Health Professional
    • Professionals working in or consulting with law enforcement and public safety organizations

  • Experience Level

    This program is designed for licensed and pre-licensed mental health professionals at various stages of familiarity with board certification competencies in Police & Public Safety Psychology.

    Beginner:
    Participants new to board certification processes or the specialty of Police & Public Safety Psychology, seeking foundational knowledge of competency requirements, the history and development of competencies, and the distinction between foundational and functional competencies.

    Intermediate:
    Participants with some experience or prior exposure to board certification or specialty practice, looking to deepen their understanding of how competencies are demonstrated and evaluated, and how they inform educational and training guidelines.

    Advanced:
    Participants with substantial experience in Police & Public Safety Psychology or board certification, aiming to refine their demonstration of competencies across the four functional domains and contribute to the development or evaluation of competency-based training and certification processes.

  • Practice Setting

    Professionals who complete this training typically work in environments that support the mental health and operational effectiveness of police officers, first responders, and public safety personnel. These settings often involve collaboration with law enforcement agencies, fire departments, emergency medical services, correctional facilities, and other public safety organizations. The work environment may be within government agencies, private practices, consulting firms, or embedded directly within public safety organizations. Practitioners may provide services such as psychological assessment, crisis intervention, consultation on organizational wellness, and operational support during critical incidents.

    • Police department wellness or behavioral health units
    • Fire department or EMS mental health support teams
    • Correctional facility mental health services
    • Private practice specializing in public safety clients
    • Consulting roles with municipal, state, or federal law enforcement agencies
    • Employee assistance programs (EAPs) for public safety personnel
    • Academic or training institutions providing education to public safety professionals
    • Crisis response teams supporting first responders during critical incidents

Presented By

David M. Corey, PhD, ABPP, Psychologist

David M. Corey, Ph.D., ABPP is a licensed psychologist with nearly 40 years of experience performing high-stakes evaluations of candidates and employees in public safety positions (e.g., police officers, firefighters, emergency dispatchers, corrections officers, parole and probation officers, federal law enforcement personnel) and other safety-sensitive positions, including physicians, nurses, and pilots. He is the founding president of the American Board of Police & Public Safety Psychology, and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (Division 18). He is an ABPP board certified specialist in both forensic psychology and in police and public safety psychology.

View More Programs from this Presenter
David M. Corey, PhD, ABPP

Presented By

Heather McElroy, PhD., ABPP, Board Certified Police and Public Safety Psychologist

Dr. Heather McElroy is a Board Certified Police and Public Safety Psychologist with over 15 years of experience working exclusively with public safety agencies conducting psychological pre-employment screening, fitness for duty evaluations, critical incident debriefing, hostage negotiation, and wellness training. She has been POST certified as a Peace Officer since 2011, and she served as chair of the International Association of Chiefs Of Police Psychological Services Section. She is currently the Education Chair of the Police and Public Safety Section of the Public Service Division of the American Psychological Association and currently serves on the Ethics Committee of the IACP. She serves as a mentor in the early career minority police psychology mentorship group to encourage minority development into leadership positions within the field of police psychology. Her course instruction experience includes training for the National Internal Affairs Investigator’s Association, Georgia Internal Affairs Investigator’s Association, the Georgia Association of Chief’s of Police, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police. She has also published articles in Police Chief magazine related to psychological fitness for duty and co-authored a book chapter titled, Social Climate Change and the Modern Police Department: Millennials, Marijuana, and Mass Media.

View More Programs from this Presenter
Heather McElroy, PhD., ABPP

Training Outline

Key topics covered in this training include:

  • The competencies required of all psychologists seeking board certification

  • The history and development of competencies in psychology will be explained

  • The inter-organizational adoption of the competencies

  • Use of the competencies in articulating educational

  • Training guidelines within and across specialties

  • The utilization of competencies as a basis for board certification with a specialty

  • The 10 foundational competencies required of psychologists seeking board certification

We are proud to partner with

American Board of Police and Public Safety Psychology

American Board of Police and Public Safety Psychology

We are proud to partner with The American Board of Police and Public Safety Psychology (ABPPSP) for this training. ABPPSP became a fully affiliated specialty board of the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) on October 21, 2011. Police and Public Safety Psychology is concerned with assisting law enforcement and other public safety personnel and agencies in carrying out their missions and societal functions with optimal effectiveness, safety, health, and conformity to laws and ethics. It consists of the application of the science and profession of psychology in four primary domains of practice: assessment, clinical intervention, operational support, and organizational consultation.

Learn More About Our Partner

CE Sponsorship Information

Palo Alto University, Continuing & Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by, recognized by, or maintains sponsorship provider status with the following boards and agencies. We maintain responsibility for all content in our CE/CPD programs. For more information, visit here. 

  1. American Psychological Association (APA): Approved sponsor of continuing education for psychologists.

  2. Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB): Approved continuing education provider (ACE program, Provider #1480), 11/22/2023–11/22/2026.

  3. Canadian Psychological Association (CPA): Approved to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.

  4. National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC): Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP No. 7190).



Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT), is approved by the Canadian Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT), SW CPE is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0356 and the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0073. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6811. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. CONCEPT Professional Training, #1480, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. CONCEPT Professional Training maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 11/22/23-11/22/26. Social workers completing this course receive (clinical or social work ethics) continuing education credits.