This information is more than 10 year's old and occurred in the the early stages of the inception of the American Psychotherapy Association. Since then, they have grown into a reputable organization that has had world renowned behavioral health professionals as part of their organization such as Aaron Beck, William Glasser, William O'Hanlon, et.al. Before making light of the organization, check out its professional organ and determine the quality of the organization. As a disclaimer, I am a member of the association and have been since its inception. I allowed my membership to lapse for a number of years because of some concerns but they have, in essence, become more circumspect regarding membership.
Hopefully, with her new PhD she can find sufficient employment so that she can buy a sweater or some kind of coat. OMG! :scared:
JWC: "This information is more than 10 year's [sic] old and occurred in the the early stages of the inception of the American Psychotherapy Association. I cannot read the exact date on the cat's diploma, but it definitely starts with a "2" so if it is more than ten years old, it can't be much more.
OK. I looked up the "Annals of the American Psychotherapy Association" at MELVYL, which is the online library catalog covering all campuses of University of California system -- the largest research university system in the United States. UC systemwide holdings of the "Annals of the American Psychotherapy Association": zero ***** For comparison, I also looked up "American Psychologist", which is the official journal of the American Psychological Association. UC campuses with holdings of the "American Psychologist": Berkeley, Davis, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Merced, Santa Barbara, UCLA, Irvine, Riverside, and San Diego. Basically, every UC campus (except for the Hastings campus, which is a law school).
I didn't suggest you do that; I suggested you read the Annals and determine its quality, that's all. I can give you a whole list of psychotherapy publications that won't make the MELVYL list and some are by very credible and reputable organizations. Also, I am always amazed at the displeasure of an association that in its genesis may make some unsound decisions until a system of checks and balances is in place yet those who commit fraud by applying for credentials under spurious conditions get off "Scot free."
I have no background in psychology or psychotherapy. So how am I in a position to judge the quality of a psychotherapy journal? I freely acknowledge that the (numerous) psychology programs in the UC system are much better qualified to do so. And none of them seem to regard this particular journal as worth subscribing to. OK, post the list and we'll see if that is true. My impression is that there are a large number of psychotherapy journals in MELVYL, just not the "Annals of the APA".
Most people would find it obvious that Zoe -- as a cat -- was in no position to offer any psychological services, despite her impressive-sounding APA credential. So it was impossible for Zoe or her owner to profit in any way whatsoever from this credential, or to harm potential clients. No harm, no foul.