About the American Board of Examiners in Clinical Social Work

The American Board of Examiners in Clinical Social Work (ABE) is a national certification board, created by and for the profession of clinical social work. ABE’s main purposes are to issue advanced credentials to clinical social workers based on uniform national standards of practice, and to educate the public and various audiences about the value of these certifications and the services of those who hold them.

From its inception in 1987, ABE has strived to strengthen the importance of high standards in clinical social work and to advocate for their recognition in the profession and the marketplace.

ABE’s Board Certified Diplomate in Clinical Social Work (BCD) certification is available to clinical social workers who wish to be recognized for their competency in providing advanced-generalist clinical social work services. ABE’s specialty credentials are offered to advanced clinical social workers who wish to be recognized for competency in certain practice areas: Practice with Children & their Families and in Psychoanalysis. These credentials are the only national advanced-practice specialty certifications for clinical social workers. A certification in the area of Clinical Supervision is under development.

ABE conducts outreach to the public, payor systems, and the healthcare profession on behalf of its BCD certificants and all advanced clinical social workers. This national outreach includes attendance and exhibits at conventions of the healthcare industry, education of service-users, distribution of ABE's information products and services, and interventions with entities and systems that discriminate against clinical social workers. ABE also advocates for quality clinical education, interacts with professional and regulatory associations, conducts a student awards program, and occasionally lobbies at the federal level and works with other organizations to present friend-of-the-court briefs in legal cases involving matters of concern to the profession.