Engagement and Diversity in Accredited Training in Psychology- The Committee on Diversity and Outreach in Psychology (CDOP)

LSU’s doctoral program recognizes the importance of training in cultural and individual differences and diversity for doctoral level education in psychology. The importance of this training is reflected in the standards for accreditation developed by the American Psychological Association (https://www.apa.org/ed/accreditation/standards-of-accreditation.pdf).

In the accreditation Standard I.B.2. Administrative Responsibilities Related to Cultural and Individual Differences and Diversity, accreditation requirements state that an accredited program:

“must recognize the importance of cultural and individual differences and diversity in the training of psychologists. The Commission on Accreditation defines cultural and individual differences and diversity as including, but not limited to, age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, language, national origin, race, religion, culture, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. The program must make systematic, coherent, and long-term efforts to attract and retain students and faculty from diverse backgrounds into the program. Consistent with such efforts, it acts to ensure a supportive and encouraging learning environment appropriate for the training of individuals who are diverse and the provision of training opportunities for a broad spectrum of individuals. Further, the program avoids any actions that would restrict program access on grounds that are irrelevant to success in graduate training, either directly or by imposing significant and disproportionate burdens on the basis of the personal and demographic characteristics set forth in the definition of cultural diversity.”

Further, to ensure that this standard is met, accredited programs must demonstrate that all students in an accredited program show competence related to individual and cultural diversity in their course work, research, and practical training. According to Standard II.B.1 b., students in accredited programs must:

Demonstrate an understanding of how their own personal/cultural history, attitudes, and biases may affect how they understand and interact with people different from themselves.
Demonstrate knowledge of the current theoretical and empirical knowledge base as it relates to addressing diversity in all professional activities including research, training, supervision/consultation, and service.
Demonstrate the ability to integrate awareness and knowledge of individual and cultural differences, including intersectionality, in articulating an approach to working effectively with diverse individuals and groups.
Demonstrate the ability to work effectively with individuals whose group membership, demographic characteristics, or worldviews differ with their own.

In order to effectively meet these training standards, APA accreditation guidelines recognize that it is necessary to recruit and retain students and faculty that come from diverse backgrounds. In Standard III.A.1 Student Selection Processes and Criteria, APA states that:

The program must implement specific activities, approaches, and initiatives to increase diversity among its students. It may participate in institutional-level initiatives aimed toward achieving diversity, but these alone are not sufficient.
The program should document the concrete actions it is taking to achieve diversity, identifying the areas of diversity recruitment in which it excels as well as the areas in which it is working to improve. The program should demonstrate that it examines the effectiveness of its efforts to attract students who are diverse and document any steps needed to revise/enhance its strategies.

In Standard IV.B.5.a Recruitment of Faculty who are Diverse, APA requires that

“Each accredited program is responsible for making systematic, coherent, and long-term efforts to attract (i.e., recruit) and retain faculty from differing backgrounds. The program has developed a systematic, long-term plan to attract faculty from a range of diverse backgrounds and implemented it when possible (i.e., when there have been faculty openings). The program may participate in institutional-level initiatives aimed toward achieving diversity, but these alone are not sufficient. The program should document concrete actions it has taken to achieve diversity, addressing the areas of diversity recruitment in which it excels as well as the areas in which it is working to improve. It should demonstrate that it examines the effectiveness of its efforts to attract faculty who are diverse and document any steps needed to revise/enhance its strategies.”

In Standard IV.B.5.b, Retention of Faculty who are Diverse, APA requires that:

“The program has program specific activities, approaches, and initiatives it implements to maintain diversity among its faculty. A program may include institutional-level initiatives aimed toward retaining faculty who are diverse, but these alone are not sufficient. The program demonstrates that it examines the effectiveness of its efforts to maintain faculty who are diverse and documents any steps needed to revise/enhance its strategies.

LSU’s Clinical Psychology doctoral program has consistently met these requirements and been proudly accredited by the American Psychological Association since 1956. It is the only accredited doctoral program in the State of Louisiana. The School Psychology doctoral program has been accredited since 2000 and is the only accredited doctoral program in school psychology among public universities in the state.

The Louisiana Legislature also recognizes the critical nature of training in individual and cultural diversity in the training of psychologists. It recently passed LA Administrative Code, Title 46, Part LXIII (updated May 2023) https://lsbep.org/wp-content/uploads/46v63-rev-5-2023.pdf) requiring that for a psychologist to be licensed to practice in the state of Louisiana, they must be trained in:

“Individual and Cultural Diversity. For example, individuals are sensitive to cultural and individual diversity of clients and committed to providing culturally sensitive services. Individuals are aware of how one’s background impacts clinical work and are committed to continuing to explore their own cultural identity issues and how they relate to clinical practice.”

LSU’s Department of Psychology recognizes that the majority of Louisiana parishes are experiencing a shortage of behavioral health providers and is committed to training psychologists to work in the state to address this critical need. Thus, it is committed to meeting these state licensing requirements.

The Committee on Diversity and Outreach in Psychology (CDOP)

Based on the importance of individual and cultural diversity to doctoral level training in psychology in order to have adequately trained psychologists who can work effectively with all persons and to conduct research that is applicable to all persons, as well as to meet accreditation standards and state licensing requirements, the Psychology Department formed the Committee on Diversity and Outreach in Psychology to help it fulfill this critical part of its training mission.

DOP organizes and facilitates departmental workgroups in which students, faculty, and staff work together on specific topic areas to achieve meaningful changes to departmental activities. CDOP also serves as the liaison between these workgroups and departmental faculty to ensure activities and changes are promoted beyond the workgroups themselves and to translate words into actions. Learn more about our workgroups and workgroup members here.

CDOP encourages feedback about ways we can best serve the Department to meet our training goals. Ideas for training, speakers, events, and other opportunities may be shared with the CDOP Chairs who will pass this information along to the appropriate CDOP Workgroup.

CDOP Membership

Co-Chairs

CDOP is organized around three main areas, that correspond to the training requirements for accredited doctoral training in psychology and the requirements for the practice of psychology in the State of Louisiana that are summarized above. First, CDOP is dedicated to the active recruitment of a diverse group of students and faculty. We do this by recruiting top scholars from all segments of society to be on the faculty or to be students in our doctoral training programs, by providing high quality training in areas that appeal to prospective students from a wide variety of backgrounds, by having top faculty scholars who are teaching classes and conducting research on topics that increase psychology’s benefit to traditionally underserved populations, and by providing competitive funding in doctoral student stipends that prevents educational costs from excluding persons that are economically disadvantaged. Learn more about the current student fellowship recipients in our department. Second, our faculty are committed to supporting multiculturalism and diversity in their research labs and practices (e.g., research team composition, purposive sampling, methodology, reporting) and to involve students in this research. For many of our faculty, there is an explicit focus on diversity in their research, centering on the needs and lived experiences of marginalized communities. For instance, some faculty in the department are working to improve health outcomes among minoritized groups, understand the process of institutional racial bias on psychological experiences, and explore the differential impact of stigma and adversity on minoritized children and adults. Learn more about the specific diversity-focused research being conducted in our department. Third, our faculty are also committed to community engagement and decreasing barriers to psychological services to reduce health disparities and to address the critical need in the state of Louisiana to have more trained behavioral health providers to meet the mental health needs of all Louisianians. Learn more about our work in the community.

Please do not hesitate to contact the CDOP chairs or workgroup members with any questions or concerns you may have.