LibGuides: Psychology Resources: Professional Associations and Organizations

Professional Associations and Organizations

American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP)
The mission of AACAP is to promote the healthy development of children, adolescents, and families through advocacy, education, and research, and to meet the professional needs of child and adolescent psychiatrists throughout their careers.
American Counseling Association (ACA)
ACA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the growth and enhancement of the counseling profession. They provide education, community and professional development opportunities for more than 60,000 members, including counselors in various practice settings and counselors in training.
American Mental Health Counselors Association (AMHCA)
The AMHCA vision is to position clinical mental health counselors to meet the health care needs of those we serve while advancing the profession.
American Psychiatric Association (APA)
The mission of the American Psychiatric Association is to promote universal and equitable access to high quality care for all people affected by mental disorders, including substance use disorders; promote psychiatric education and research; advance and represent the profession of psychiatry; and serve the professional needs of its membership.
American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA)
APsA is a professional membership organization for psychoanalysts, psychoanalytic psychotherapists, academics, researchers, students, and other interested people – all whose work is profoundly informed by psychoanalytic theory and values, and to supporting their education and continuing professional development.
American Psychological Association (APA)
APA is a scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States, with 172,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students as its members. Their mission is to promote the advancement, communication, and application of psychological science and knowledge to benefit society and improve lives.
Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP)
AASP wants every performer to have the resources to strengthen their inner edge through the advancement and application of excellence in mental performance and mental health. They cultivate an inclusive ﬁeld of Certiﬁed Mental Performance Consultants® (CMPCs), licensed mental health professionals, educators, and researchers. Researching, training, and serving performers’ complete mental needs, elevating their ability to perform and thrive.
Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy places emphasis on changing a person's cognitions (thoughts) or behaviors (actions) in order to effect change in how they feel. These approaches help people in achieving specific changes or goals.
Association for Humanistic Psychology (AHP)
The Association for Humanistic Psychology translates new knowledge and science into humanistic applications and approaches to further the wisdom, purpose, and consciousness of individuals and communities. AHP seeks to influence other fields so that Humanistic Psychology becomes the lens through which humanity can understand and shape an evolving world.
Association for Psychological Science (APS)
APS is an international organization advancing scientific psychology across disciplinary and geographic borders. Their members study some of life’s biggest questions and help solve some of society’s most difficult problems. Trying to better understand and improve the human condition, their members study all facets of behavior, from neurons to neighborhoods.
Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS)
The Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) is committed to the development of mind and brain research aimed at investigating the psychological, computational, and neuroscientific bases of cognition.
Cognitive Science Society (CSS)
The Cognitive Science Society brings together researchers from around the world with a common goal: understanding the nature of the human mind. The Society promotes Cognitive Science as a discipline, and fosters scientific interchange among researchers in various areas of study, including Artificial Intelligence, Linguistics, Anthropology, Psychology, Neuroscience, Philosophy, and Education. The Society publishes the journals Cognitive Science and TopiCS.
National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis (NAAP)
The National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis (NAAP) pursues a mission to unite the various schools of psychoanalytic thought and to ensure the independence, advancement, recognition, and sustainability of the profession of psychoanalysis.
National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)
The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) is a professional association of more than 24,000 school psychologists, graduate students, and related professionals in the United States and around the world. NASP works to advance effective practices to improve students' learning, behavior, and mental health, and maintains essential standards for ethics and practice.
Psychonomic Society (PS)
The Psychonomic Society advocates for the experimental study of cognition. Members of the Society - cognitive psychologists - conduct research on questions including memory, learning, problem solving, decision making, language, attention, and perception. Many are concerned with the application of psychology to health, technology, and education, and they study the basic, fundamental properties of how the mind works by using behavioral techniques to better understand mental functioning.
Society for Neuroscience (SfN)
The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) has over 30,000 members in more than 95 countries. Year-round programming includes the publishing of two highly regarded scientific journals, JNeurosci and eNeuro; professional development resources and career training through Neuronline¸ the Society’s home for learning and discussion.
Society for Personality Assessment (SPA)
The Society for Personality Assessment is the largest organization in the world focused on advancing the practice, science, and impact of the field of personality assessment. Their membership is varied and includes clinicians in private practice, forensic assessors, researchers in private and public setting, undergraduate and graduate students interested in personality assessment, and educators in academic settings.

American Psychiatric Association: District Branches & State Associations (U.S. & Canada)
Members in the United States and Canada belong to the district branch as defined by a work or home address. Find your district branch or state association at this site. Each district branch and state association is organized alphabetically and by location.
Eastern Psychological Association (EPA)
The Eastern Psychological Association has as its purpose the advancement of the science of Psychology through Meetings for the presentation of reports and discussions of scientific work having theoretical and practical significance.
Midwestern Psychological Association (MPA)
The Midwestern Psychological Association (MPA) is a regional psychological association affiliated with the American Psychological Association. The mission of MPA is to advance the science, teaching, and application of psychology with a special focus on the Midwestern region of the United States
New England Psychological Association (NEPA)
The New England Psychological Association (NEPA) is a regional association for psychological science. NEPA is dedicated to the advancement of psychology as a science, as a profession, and as a means of promoting human welfare.
Rocky Mountain Psychological Association (RMPA)
The Rocky Mountain Psychological Association was founded for the purpose of advancing psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting human welfare in the States of Colorado, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.
Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA)
The Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA) is comprised of psychologists in the southeastern states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Puerto Rico. SEPA’s purpose is to advance psychology as a science, as a profession, and as a means of promoting human welfare.
Southwestern Psychological Association (SWPA)
SWPA, the Southwestern Psychological Association, is the official APA affiliate for the Southwestern region of the United States. SWPA works to promote and strengthen psychology’s scientific, professional and educational facets, and by providing access to scientific advances and professional development within a collegial atmosphere. Students are welcomed and are active and valued participants in the discipline. SWPA strives to maintain diversity in its membership, its leadership and its program.
State, Provincial & Territorial Affairs (SPTA, Div. 31)
Div. 31 is the APA home for all State, Provincial, and Territorial, Psychological Associations. SPTA provides psychological associations with resources, services, and benefits as well as being a voice for psychological associations within APA, as well as facilitating communications among SPTAs their staffs and members; promoting and recognizing the activities of individual SPTAs and their representatives.
Western Psychological Association (WPA)
The Western Psychological Association was founded to stimulate the exchange of scientific and professional ideas, as well as research and scholarship in the behavioral sciences. Membership in the Western Psychological Association is open to both students and professionals.

Global Psychology Alliance
Actively addressing global issues using psychological science to elevate the field and enhance human well-being around the world.

Asian American Psychological Association (AAPA)
The Asian American Psychological Association (AAPA) was founded by a group of Asian American psychologists and other mental health professionals, educators, social workers, and master’s level psychologists in the San Francisco Bay Area. The AAPA is vitally interested in Asian American psychology and mental health issues, in the training and education of Asian American mental health professionals, and in collaborating and networking with their peers.
Association for Women in Psychology (AWP)
The Association for Women in Psychology (AWP) is a nonprofit scientific and educational organization encouraging feminist psychological research, theory, and activism.
Association of Black Psychologists (ABPsi)
The Association of Black Psychologists (ABPsi) has been at the forefront of African-centered cultural competence and scholarly activism since its inception in 1968.
Society of Indian Psychologists - American Indian/Alaska Native (SIP)
The mission of SIP is to advocate for the psychological well-being of American Indians and other Indigenous peoples, and to advance knowledge pertaining to Indigenous psychology.

American Psychological Association of Graduate Students (APAGS)
The American Psychological Association of Graduate Students (APAGS) builds a better future for psychology by serving as a united voice to enrich and advocate for graduate student development. APAGS aspires to achieve the highest quality graduate training experience for the next generation of scientific innovators, expert practitioners and visionary leaders in psychology.
Psi Chi - International Honor Society in Psychology
Psi Chi is an international honor society that encourages, stimulates, and maintains excellence in scholarship of the individual members in all fields, particularly in psychology, and to advance the science of psychology.
Psi Beta - National Honor Society in Psychology for Community and Junior Colleges
Psi Beta’s mission is to encourage professional development and psychological literacy of all students at two-year colleges through promotion and recognition of excellence in scholarship, leadership, research, and community service.