Joint Position Stand of the ISSP, FEPSAC, ASPASP, and AASP on the Professional Accreditation Academic Article uri icon

Abstract

  • Objectives
    To situate the current status of accreditation in four key international societies, ASPASP,
    FEPSAC, AASP, and ISSP, in a historical backdrop and then to draw on these approaches to
    propose future directions and developments relating to practical standards.
    Design
    A review of the origins and current status of accreditation in four international sport
    psychology societies is utilized to situate the recent prominence of professional standards and
    the importance of these in our global professional community. This review is written
    temporally from past, to present, to future prospects.
    Method
    A presentation of societal accreditation foci is situated temporally using the following
    structure: (a) emergence and historical backdrop from each society, (b) emergence and
    reasoning for accreditation, (c) current societal standards/status of accreditation, (d) future
    developments in the society’s accreditation system, and (e) reflections and recommendations
    for global standards, with suggestions of how this might be accomplished.
    Results
    The presentation of scholarship is intended to serve as a form of advocacy for improved
    accreditation standards within the global professional community. The societal perspectives
    call for a balance between localized cultural infusion and proposed global guidelines upon
    which professionals might meet a converged reasonable practice threshold.
    Conclusions
    Sport psychology accreditation is increasingly important as the applied realm of this
    profession spans community physical activity/recreation, and developmental and
    elite/professional sport. Accredited practices must integrate universal and local approaches.

Publication Date

  • 2018-09-01