Healthcare reform will allow for more treatment of individuals with problems related to addiction. As such, it is vital that licensed psychologists maintain useful and fairly accessible credentials to support their work. To maintain the vitality to addiction psychology more broadly, fair access to credentials supporting such work is also vital to future psychologists in addiction - those in training now and recently licensed.

To this end, we the undersigned, who are licensed psychologists and students intending to be licensed psychologists, respectfully request your action on the following items.

1. Immediately reinstate the certificate for the recognition of the Proficiency in the Psychological Treatment of Alcohol and Other Psychoactive Substance Use Disorders;

2. Work collaboratively with the Society of Addiction Psychology (Division 50) to develop a long term plan to maintain the utility of the certificate for licensed psychologists;

3. Work collaborative with all current and future licensed psychologists to insure access to an appropriate credential for psychologists in addiction so that they are not at risk for having their teaching, training, and clinical work inappropriately impinged upon by standards of other professional groups;

4. Work collaboratively with the APA Council to insure that no certificate for proficiency is ever again retired without thorough discussion by all stakeholders.