Psychologists often specialize within the field. In doing so, they may undergo a voluntary examination process in a specialty area. Psychology recognizes specialty areas including: Behavioral and Cognitive Psychology, Child and Adolescent Psychology, Clinical Neuropsychology and its subspecialty Pediatric Neuropsychology, Clinical Psychology, Clinical Psychopharmacology, Counseling Psychology, Couple and Family Psychology, Forensic Psychology, Geropsychology, Group Psychology, Organizational and Business Consulting Psychology, Police and Public Safety Psychology, Psychoanalysis in Psychology, Rehabilitation Psychology, School Psychology, Serious Mental Illness Psychology, Sleep Psychology. Each requires training in the Foundational and Functional psychology competencies, yet also requires additional focused training (mostly post-doctoral) in the specialty area. Although this is a voluntary process, an increasing number of institutions such as hospitals, medical centers, and academic settings are encouraging board certification for privileges. This chapter describes the process of becoming board certified in a specialty through the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP).

This chapter will highlight one way by which to improve the mental healthcare for people with psychosis: providing enhanced, specialized professional training at the graduate and postdoctoral level. Specialized training is needed for clinical providers of all professions and disciplines, and this chapter will review the recent Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) funded Recovery to Practice Initiative, aimed at enhancing knowledge, ability, and practice among interprofessional clinicians working with individuals with serious mental illnesses. The chapter will also provide an overview of cutting-edge efforts to revolutionize psychology training, with a description of the “Serious Mental Illness Psychology” postdoctoral specialty which was recently recognized by the American Psychological Association, as well as current efforts to create a psychology board certification in serious mental illness.