APPIC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

After a national search to recruit the next Executive Director of APPIC, the APPIC Board of Directors is delighted to announce the appointment of Mariella M. Self, Ph.D., ABPP. Dr. Self is currently an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital. She completed her doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Texas A&M University and her internship and fellowship training in pediatric psychology at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Self is board-certified in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) and is a fellow of the Society of Pediatric Psychology (APA Division 54). Dr. Self’s commitment to training and education in health service psychology is evident in her roles as a clinician, educator, supervisor, training director, scholar, and administrator. 

Educational leadership is truly a cornerstone of Dr. Self’s career. She has spent seven years as Training Director of the APPIC-member Pediatric/Clinical Child Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program at Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital, and she served a previous six years as Training Director of an APA-accredited doctoral psychology internship program that offered both adult- and child-focused training.  With respect to national educational leadership, Dr. Self served on the APPIC Board of Directors from 2013-2020. During this time, her Board roles included being the AAPI Coordinator for the internship application process, APPIC Treasurer, APPIC Chair, and APPIC Past Chair. Dr. Self was instrumental in the development of APPIC’s mission, vision, and values, which began during her term as APPIC Chair and represent an enduring contribution to APPIC’s organizational history. Upon completion of her service on the APPIC Board, Dr. Self continued to support APPIC endeavors as the Chair of the APPIC Standards and Review Committee (ASARC) and as a member of APPIC’s Postdoctoral Committee. Currently, Dr. Self is the Chair of the Clinical Child and Pediatric Psychology Training Council (CCaPPTC) and an active member of the Steering Committee/Task Force for the development of training guidelines in clinical child and adolescent psychology, inclusive of pediatric psychology. Dr. Self is also an active researcher and co-investigator on multiple NIH-funded projects, a co-author on more than forty peer-reviewed publications, and she has delivered dozens of presentations in various forums.  Her professional service further includes being an Associate Editor of Training and Education in Professional Psychology, a member of the editorial boards for the Journal of Pediatric Psychology, Clinical Practice in Pediatric Psychology, and Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings, a site visitor for APA’s Commission on Accreditation, and an examiner or mentor for candidates pursuing ABPP certification in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology.

We are excited to welcome Dr. Self into the role of APPIC’s Executive Director and to engage with her to collaboratively advance health service psychology training in the United States and Canada. Dr. Self assumes her new role on September 1, 2023 in a part-time capacity and will be fully established by January 1, 2024. We are grateful to Dr. Jeff Baker for his 13 years of service as APPIC Executive Director and his willingness to support this organizational transition. We wish him the best in his next chapter. Thank you, Jeff!

The APPIC Board appreciates the efforts of the Executive Director Search Committee led by Dr. Daniel Hurley and supported by Board members, APPIC professional staff, and the Chair of APPIC’s DEI Committee, Dr. Carlina Wheeler. We are excited to conclude the search with an Executive Director who will continue our strong commitment to APPIC’s mission, vision, and values.  If you wish to reach out to Dr. Self, you may email her at mariellaself@appic.org. Welcome, Mariella!