PCSAS: Improving Public Health Through Accreditation

The PCSAS mission is to advance and improve public health by using the accreditation process to promote the training of psychological clinical scientists. PCSAS programs train clinical psychologists who can widely disseminate the best clinical knowledge we now have about mental health, who can generate new knowledge related to mental health at both a basic and applied level, and who can use this knowledge to advance public health for all. The PCSAS mission is supported by five inter-related goals:

1. To advance the field of scientific clinical psychology by promoting the highest standards of education and training in psychological clinical science.
2. To increase the number of well-trained psychological clinical scientists who actively contribute to the dissemination and advancement of knowledge and methods related to the origins, nature, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental and behavioral health problems for all, in a manner sensitive to context and diversity.
3. To produce a new cadre of integrative and trans-disciplinary psychological clinical scientists who, in their research and application, employ scientific methods and theories from across a broad range of scientific perspectives to help advance our knowledge about public health problems; and to develop, deliver, and evaluate cost-effective and accessible solutions for such problems.
4. To promote education and training aimed at enhancing the quality, availability, and reliability of up to date, evidence-based, efficacious, cost-effective, safe, and equitable services in mental and behavioral health care for people from all walks of life.
5. To contribute to the development and dissemination of knowledge and services that will help reduce the incidence of mental health problems for all people; promote adaptive functioning; improve the quality, availability, safety, and impact of mental and behavioral health-care delivery; and improve the public’s general health and well-being.