Why Bother to Join CCPA?

CCPA is a way to network with your colleagues and form connections with other psychologists in the community. Unlike many larger psychological associations, CCPA is a smaller community and networking events are more intimate and provide the opportunity to really get to know your colleagues. 

Regular “Members Dine Out” evenings and Annual potlucks provide a unique opportunity to socialize with like-minded professionals!  We all know how isolating it can be working as a psychologist, particularly if you are in private practice!  MDO's provide a great opportunity to unwind and enjoy a great meal while getting to know your colleagues.  We generally try to move our MDOs around so that we can learn about new venues in the North and in the South of San Luis Obispo County. Recently we opened the MDO's up to partners and spouses, as so many of our members were having difficulty attending dinners and leaving their significant others home to care for children or to fend for themselves.  Having done so the attendance at MDO's has significantly increased to the point that it often feels we are taking over the restaurants!

Over the past eight years, CCPA has significantly increased the number of Continuing Education opportunities available to members.  Besides making our CE Events extremely affordable, CCPA members get an additional discount on CE events that helps reimburse the membership dues paid.  By the Way, our annual membership dues are among the lowest in the state of California!  

If you are interested in having a say in the direction and promotion of psychology and mental health services on the Central Coast, joining CCPA is a great avenue to achieve those goals.  We invite you to joins us by attending one of our Board Meetings that are open to the entire population of CCPA members. Regardless of the level of activity in which you are interested, we have a place for you!  Whether you are just too busy and are simply interested in joining us at an MDO, or if you would like to learn about being on one of our committees, or if you are interested in a higher level of political activism, we can help you find your place. 

New to San Luis Obispo, or to private practice?  We can help you get started.  In our "Members Only" Section of this website we are collecting forms for starting a private practice, we have a section for Ethics, and Questions and Answers as well as a Classified Section advertising Office Space, sale of books and testing materials, etc...(You do have to be a CCPA Member to access the information in that section due to the confidentiality of the information contained, private phone numbers and addresses provided.) 

CCPA members are always eager to help a member starting out in practice so the use of the CCPA Listserve can also be an invaluable tool for reaching out to our membership whether you need help with a form, a billing question, or finding an appropriate referral for a client whose insurance you do not take.

CCPA also provides clinical support and potential resources for consultation through our CARE committee. See “membership benefits” for a complete list of member services.

We also publish an online newsletter (Digital Newsletter Archives are also available in the "Members Only" section of this site) to help inform you about current or upcoming events, inform you about committee activities, and help you get to know some of our members.  Our newsletter is not one of those informal, stodgy newsletters you might expect from a Psych Association, we keep it light and include art, and news from the community as well as things to see and do around town.