Distinguished Psychologist Award for Contributions to Psychology and Psychotherapy

Description

The APA Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy (APA Division 29) invites nominations for its Distinguished Psychologist Award, which recognizes lifetime contributions to psychotherapy, psychology, and the Society. This award was established in 1970 as the Distinguished Professional Award in Psychology and Psychotherapy. At the Mid Winter meeting in 1984, the Board of Directors changed its name to Distinguished Psychologist Award for Contributions to Psychology and Psychotherapy.

Funding Specifics

The awardee will receive a certificate and award of $500 as well as up to $500 reimbursement for qualified expenses to attend the Society’s Awards Ceremony to be held at the annual APA Convention.

Nomination Requirements

A nomination letter outlining the nominee’s career contributions (self-nominations are welcomed)
A current Curriculum Vitae.

Submission Process & Deadline

Submission Process: All items must be sent as electronic files in PDF format. Letters of nomination outlining the nominee’s credentials and contributions (along with the nominee’s CV) should be emailed to the Chair of the Professional Awards Committee at SAP.AwardsCommittee@gmail.com Submission Deadline: December 31 (annually)

2025 Recipient

Kokkwang Lim

Dr Kokkwang Lim is the Senior Consultant Clinical Psychologist at the Center for Effective Living in Singapore. His far-ranging contributions over three decades are recognized by the British Psychological Society, which endorses him as a Fellow, Senior Practitioner on the Register of Psychologists Specializing in Psychotherapy, member of the Faculty for Oncology and Palliative Care, Editorial Board member of the Psychology Teaching Review, Chartered Psychologist, and recipient of the Distinguished Contribution to Practice Award. He is also a Fellow/Psychosomatic Specialist of the International College of Psychosomatic Medicine (Europe) and Fellow of the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (US). Further, his work as an Editorial Board Member extends to the peer-reviewed journals of Advances in Integrative Medicine and International Journal of Psychology and Behavior Analysis. The Singapore Psychological Society (SPS) conferred on him the Fellow status and Award for Outstanding Contribution to Psychology in Singapore. As the SPS President for three consecutively elected terms (1999-2005), he provided leadership for major contributions that included the following:

The creation of the Singapore Register of Psychologists (SRP), i.e., the first and sole registration system recognized by the Singapore government for the regulation of professional psychologists
The creation and dissemination of five multimedia publications for persons with chronic diseases to manage their symptoms with evidence-based, psychotherapeutic methods. These pioneering publications were produced in collaboration with the Singapore Society of Clinical Hypnosis, of which he had also served as the President for four consecutively elected terms (2004-2008). The publications were especially impactful, because they supported not only the English-speaking community, but also the underserved Mandarin-speaking population for psychotherapeutic services.

In particular, the SRP was created from extensive collaborations with faculty members from universities as well as representatives from government ministries, legal advisors, medical authorities, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and the private sector. It produced a far-reaching and nationwide impact on educational pathways, employee selection, and career progression for the psychological profession. The foundation of his essentially experiential approach to psychotherapy was training in brief psychodynamic psychotherapy and clinical hypnosis from the clinical psychology program at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and his doctoral internship at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. In the same vein, he had undergone compact but direct training from the late originator of intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy (ISTDP), Habib Davanloo, MD, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at McGill University, Canada. In 2006, 127 recognized experts in psychotherapy in Singapore selected him as one of the only nine “master therapists” (the “best of the best” psychotherapists), for a pioneering and landmark qualitative study on psychotherapy expertise in Singapore. This peer-reviewed and published research was conducted by the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University (ranked by the Times Higher Education Young University Rankings as the world’s best young university in 2023 and 2024). Moreover, as one of the leading practitioners in Singapore, Dr Lim was formerly selected to provide psychotherapy and clinical hypnosis to the President and first family of the Asian country of the Republic of Maldives at that time. 2024– J. Christopher Muran 2023– Danny Wedding 2022 – Dennis Martin Kivlighan, Jr., PhD 2021 – Mark J. Hilsenroth 2020 – Jean Carter 2019 – Armand Cerbone 2018 – Jacques Barber 2017 – William B. Stiles 2016 – Jeffrey J. Magnavita 2015 – Douglas Snyder 2014 – Lorna Smith Benjamin 2013 – Les Greenberg 2012 – Paul L. Wachtel 2011 – Jack C. Anchin 2010 – Jeffrey E. Barnett & Judith Jordan 2009 – Norine Johnson & Jon Carlson 2008 – Bruce E. Wampold 2007 – Gary VandenBos & Carol Goodheart 2006 – Louis Castonguay 2005 – Gerald Koocher