ECP Chair Welcome


Welcome to the website for the Early Career Professionals (ECP) Committee for the Society of Counseling Psychology (SCP)! We are delighted that you are here, and we hope that you will stay engaged with our ECP collective. The SCP ECP Committee is dedicated to representing and supporting ECPs within the Society of Counseling Psychology. As your Committee Chair for the 2020-2021 year, I look forward to supporting our committee and the Society in the work of serving our ECPs. Our committee strives to provide resources relevant to ECP work and life, foster a home base for ECPs within SCP, provide opportunities for ECPs to connect with each other and other society members, facilitate ECP leadership in the Society and in APA, and enhance the visibility of ECPs in the Society and APA.

The ECP Committee Chair is now a voting member of the SCP Executive Board, so ECP perspectives are represented as part of the functioning of the Society. As we confront anti-Blackness, Covid-19 pandemic, atrocities performed by ICE at detention camps, and transphobic and xenophobic policies (just to name a few of the oppressive systems we are navigating), we hope to be instrumental in bringing awareness to how this violence against marginalized communities affect ECPs within SCP.

The ECP Committee has nine members that represent a range of identities and specializations. We are practitioners, activists, scholars, and community members who are all working towards that elusive work-life balance and trying to keep our field moving towards more equity, inclusion, justice, and liberation. I encourage you to read more about our committee members by visiting our “Committee Members” page. Members serve a 3-year term, and we accept new applications every April. We encourage you to consider serving as a member of the ECP Committee! We want you! We need your voice! You belong in our group!

We have several ongoing projects to help support ECPs in the society. We oversee travel grants to aid with travel to the APA Annual Convention (and other conventions, depending on the year). In the past we have hosted a Social Hour at convention where ECPs have had a chance network and connect with each other amidst conferencing. We also work each year to submit programming for convention that is relevant to our needs, such as advocacy as an ECP, leadership development, grant writing, salary negotiation, accessing mentorship, and licensure issues. To stay up to date on the activities of the committee, be sure to join our ECP listserv and join our Early Career Professionals Facebook Community!

In addition to our ongoing projects, we also like to select a few initiatives to prioritize each year. This year we have identified three major initiatives to focus on. The first is connecting regularly with ECPs through informal webinars where ECPs have a chance to get to know the ECP committee better and be in community. Second, we are committed to ongoing collaborations with SCP Executive Board in affirming #BlackLivesMatter and working toward daily acts of reparations. Currently, we are working with the SAS committee to build a coalition dedicated to addressing anti-Blackness and dismantling white supremacy. Third, we are identifying ways to build community among ECPs in the Society in meaningful ways despite the current pandemic. If you are interested in learning more about any of these initiates, sharing your thoughts, and/or providing feedback about the work of the Committee, please reach out and I will be glad to discuss with you further ([email protected]).

I am honored to support this committee and represent ECPs on the SCP Executive Board. I look forward to working with you all during this next year! 

Sincerely,

Roberto L. Abreu, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Counseling Psychology
Department of Psychology
University of Florida
945 Center Dr.
P.O. Box 112250
Gainesville, FL 32611
Email