Graduate training and research funding for clinical psychology in Canada: Review and recommendations.

Graduate training programs for clinical psychologists in Canada have almost uniformly developed around variations of one model - the scientist-practitioner. Training in this model, as it is exemplified in Canadian universities, may not result in appropriate preparation for the manpower needs of the future. Some alternate models are outlined in terms of possible changes in the role of the psychologist working in applied settings. Research and research funding problems in clinical psychology are inextricably related to the same problems for other areas of psychology, and the great need for more "bridging" research between the separate areas of psychology is emphasized. Recommendations on research funding policies are proposed in respect to the research needs of psychology and to the research needs of the community at large. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Roles, functions, and training in clinical psychology: A survey of academic clinicians.

Describes a questionnaire sent to 239 academic clinical psychologists in American Psychological Association (APA)-approved clinical training programs to obtain their attitudes towards a number of critical issues in clinical psychology. 75% returned the questionnaire. A PhD degree in psychology, with equal emphasis on scientific and applied training, was endorsed by most respondents, as was the training of MA and MS clinicians. Other doctoral programs for training clinicians, including PsyD degrees, did not receive strong endorsement. Activity areas of clinical psychologist were rated from 6 reference points ranging from adequacy of present training to training emphasis expected in 7 yr. Results indicate that: (a) therapy and research were rated high by most respondents; (b) many respondents believed that consulting and teaching should be emphasized more and that their clinical training programs did not adequately train in these areas; (c) the emphasis on diagnosis was expected to decline in training and future usefulness; (d) in addition to research, respondents believed that APA should support other interest areas; and (e) clinical psychology should be more attuned to social problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical psychology and the search for identity.

Students "are not given an integrated model with which to identify but are confronted instead by 2 apparently conflicting models—the scientific-research model and the clinical-practitioner model." To resolve the dissonance "most students tend to identify with either the research or the practitioner model, and to blot out or defend… against the other." There are severe identity problems for the clinical psychologist. "… the most pressing need in clinical psychology pertains to a reorganization of training, practice, and research in our approved university settings" to help provide a sound identity for clinical psychology and for eventually allowing a worthwhile contribution to be made to problems of personality maladjustment and change. Psychology requires its own clinical facility where research and practice are intimately related and tied together. "The psychological center would not only emphasize both research and practice, but would demonstrate the mutual interaction and reciprocal relationship of the 2." (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A school psychological perspective on the consulting psychology education and training principles.

States that the "Principles for Education and Training at the Doctoral and Postdoctoral Level in Consulting Psychology/Organizational" (R. L. Lowman et al, Education and Training Committee, see record 2003-04049-003) are a welcome contribution to psychology. They will be useful to faculties in school psychology programs and will assist in the conceptualization and implementation of doctoral and postdoctoral programs. The Principles are complemented for anticipating the future evolution of the field. Formative suggestions are offered to have the competencies more fully address diversity issues. The author observes that information technology has brought powerful tools to all organizations, businesses, educational institutions, and governmental agencies. The consulting psychologist should understand the potential of these tools and their liabilities. The future consulting psychologist's capacity to address complex ethical situations is also addressed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sizes and salary schedules of agency clinical psychology programs.

Reports results from 240 questionnaires requesting information on staff size and salary schedules of agency clinical psychology programs in the United States. The median number of staff members in these clinical psychology departments was found to be 15. Of these, 6 was the median number at the PhD level. Bachelor-level technicians were found to be more extensively utilized in the South and Midwest than in the East or West. The median beginning annual salary for a PhD clinical psychologist was $13,437, and for a PhD with 10 or more yr. of experience, the median was $20,500. The median salary for interns was $7,055, and the beginning salary for employees at the master level was $8,582. The median PhD-to-patient ratio was 1:189, and the median psychology staff-to-patient ratio was 1:73. The American Psychological Association (APA)-approved departments were found to have more advantageous staff-to-patient ratios. A great increase in salaries for psychology personnel over the past years was noted. Possible reasons for the finding that salaries tended to be higher in the agencies which did not have APA-approved clinical internship programs were also presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Length of graduate training for experimental and clinical psychologists.

Tabulations of data on Division 3 (experimental) and Division 12 (clinical) members listed in the 1959 "American Psychological Association Directory" are reported. It "takes the average experimental psychologist slightly over 2 years to receive the MA after he receives the BA, but over 3.25 years are spent by the average clinical psychologist… . It also takes the average clinical psychologist much longer to progress from the MA to the PhD degree"—about 3.5 years for the experimental psychologist and over 6 years for the clinical psychologist. From Psyc Abstracts 36:02:2AM78V. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of the master's degree in doctoral training.

The committee "would attempt to produce a scholarly psychologist well grounded in scientific method, theory, knowledge, and critique, as these pertain to the pursuit of a career in either scientific or applied psychology." They believe that "psychology can serve society best by reducing the amount of specialization at the predoctoral level and by training the PhD… . A psychologist so trained will be able to adapt to the changing situation in a dynamic society." Major sections are: Implications for Psychology, Articulation of Nondoctoral and Doctoral Graduate Programs, and Recommendations. The APA Education and Training Board should have an annual article in the "American Psychologist" providing pertinent information on graduate training programs, graduate selection standards, and philosophy of graduate training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The roles of the psychologist in a devlopmental center.

A case study is used to illustrate 5 of the roles: therapist-counselor, psychometrician-diagnostician, behavioral-programmatic consultant, community psychologist, and parent counselor and advocate. Implications for revisions in graduate programs in clinical, school, or community psychology include adding courses oriented toward evaluation and treatment of the retarded and the focusing of internship experiences on role rather than setting diversification. (4 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Therapy and self-actualization in the later years via nontraditional approaches.

A substantial minority of older people have mental health problems, but several studies agree that less than 5% seek treatment from private practitioners or community clinics. Nontraditional therapists have devised various new approaches to circumvent this resistance: groups for the widowed, assertiveness training courses, and peer counseling programs. It is noted that few clinical psychologists have been trained to work with the aging. Training should include life-span development and community psychology. Older people are not likely to make up a large part of a psychologist's private practice, but an expressed interest in the over-50 age group could bring in referrals. Nontraditional approaches can aid the psychologist in reaching and helping older people. Psychologists can also function as trainers of volunteers, as consultants to agencies for seniors, as teachers and speakers, and as key persons in research studies of work with the aging. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology in Mexico.

Describes the growth and changes that have occurred in the development of psychology in Mexico since 1964. Universities offering training in psychology have increased from 5-20. The orientation which had previously been strictly psychoanalytic and philosophical is now including experimental and applied psychology, based on a behavioral orientation. The University of Veracruz is initiating behaviorally oriented research programs and an international invitation exchange program. It is hoped that this program will eventually lead to graduate programs for the MA and PhD degrees since a "Psychologist" degree, which is earned in a 5-yr program, has been the only one previously offered. The University has recently instituted a program giving partial financial support to those who wish to study abroad for advanced degrees. A Mexican Psychological Society has been formed with the aim of publishing the 1st Mexican journal of psychological research as soon as possible. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Application of the competency model to clinical health psychology.

In response to the growing emphasis on defining professional competence within applied psychology (e.g., clinical, neuropsychology, counseling, school), in 2007 American Psychological Association Division 38 (Health Psychology) sponsored a summit meeting with a specific focus on revisiting the standards of graduate curricula and training in clinical health psychology. Using the cube model of core competency domains of professional psychology as a framework, summit participants were charged with identifying the foundational and functional competencies expected of a well-trained, entry-level clinical health psychologist. As a product of these discussions, the present article is presented as an initial effort to identify the competencies and begin the discussion in clinical health psychology. As such it is likely to be of interest to a wide audience, including clinical training programs with an existing or planned emphasis in clinical health psychology, practitioners interested in acquiring the competencies required to practice as a clinical health psychologist, and students evaluating potential graduate and postgraduate training options in clinical health psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The future for industrial and organizational psychology: Oblivion or millennium?

Deplores the decline of industrial psychology programs in graduate schools in the face of a growing need for help in solving intensifying human problems in industry. Although there has been an explosive growth in related graduate training programs in business schools in the last decade, graduates of such programs have not had much exposure to fundamental areas of psychology. It is suggested that masters degree programs in psychology be revived to train practitioners, and programs be initiated to train psychologists at the doctoral level for applied roles in industry. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

MA Psychologists Speak.

Comments on the recent joint report of the APA and CSPA committees on legislation. The committees recommend, among other things, that the title "psychologist" be reserved for the PhD alone. The author does not believe that the PhD training is either so relevant or so crucial that the non-PhD should be excluded from the opportunity to compete on an equal level (i.e., in a position as a "psychologist"). PhD training is too varied and inconsistent from institution to institution to consider it to be the "key" to the understanding of human behavior. It is argued that the proposed legislation is based on the unwarranted assumption that a "good psychologist" is a person with a PhD degree in psychology. The author makes his own suggestions for inclusion of MA level psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Survey of graduate education in psychology: Some trends for the last decade.

In 1963, 182 of 186 psychology departments responded to a questionnaire in the endeavor to develop a contemporary picture of graduate training in psychology. 880 doctoral degrees were granted by 99 departments and 1796 masters degrees were granted by 158 departments. "At the doctoral level, the 13 largest departments produced 36% of all psychology doctorates granted in academic year 1962-63. At the doctoral level, clinical and experimental psychology dominated the areas of specialization with 36% and 29%, respectively, of the degrees granted. "In 1954, 37 or 77% of the 48 psychology doctoral programs in clinical were APA approved; in 1963, 60 or 76% of the 79 programs were approved." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Artificial intelligence or artificial psychologist? Conceptual issues in clinical microcomputer use.

The benefits and boundaries of microcomputer use within clinical psychology are discussed. Psychological software is conceptualized along a continuum of how completely the duties of the clinician are assumed. Record keeping, test scoring, interviewing, test interpretation, integrated report writing, and expert decision-making functions are reviewed for their utility and limitations in the present generation of microcomputer hardware and software. Advantages of personal computer use are most clear in those applications that save time for the psychologist. Other applications that are supposed to substitute for the psychologist in a decision-making, diagnostic, or therapeutic capacity may be more advanced in appearance than in actuality. Software simulation of the expert psychologist remains rudimentary; serious information processing and conceptual obstacles impede future development. Proposed guidelines would increase programmer and provider accountability for the consequences of computer use and would limit the domain of current psychological software to adjunctive capacities. An argument is made for "visible" software in which diagnostic logic and decision rules are explicitly displayed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

MA versus PhD for psychologists.

Comments on the article by F. O. Volle entitled MA Psychologists Speak (see record 2005-08100-005). The current author expresses sympathy for Volle's point of view regarding the MA degree as fully qualifying for the title and privilege of psychologist. However, at a time when every profession is seeking to assure the public of the adequate training of its members, it would not behoove psychology to lower its standards. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Proposals for state department of education certification of school psychologists.

"School psychologists are dually oriented professionals who need to be well educated in both psychology and education… . The development of competencies needed by a fully qualified school psychologist requires at least the education represented by a doctoral degree or 3 years of graduate training." Suggested standards for full ceritfication and for provisional certification are outlined. The requirements for a certified psychological assistant are also specified. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Military psychology in the United States of America.

"Between World War I and World War II, there was almost no interest of American psychologists in military problems, perhaps because there was almost no interest of the military in gaining the assistance of psychologists." The 1948 APA Directory identifies 98 psychologists as working for the Departments of Defense, Army, Air Force, or Navy. "This represents about 2% of the 5,047 members of the APA at that time. In the 1957 APA Directory, I have counted 729 psychologists who are listed as working for agencies of the military departments." This represents "almost 5% of the 15,000 members listed in the 1957 APA Directory." Various branches of military psychology within the Army, the Navy, and the Air Forces are indicated "to give appropriate emphasis to the great diversity of uses to which psychologists are put and to the consequently great variety of projects these agencies must, by their very titles and associations, engender." It also provides a statement "about how military psychology is organized within the Armed Forces in the States." The roles of the psychologist in military personnel management and in weapons development are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

David Shakow: Distinguished Professional Contribution Award.

Recognizes the receipt of the American Psychological Association's 1976 Distinguished Professional Contribution Award by David Shakow. The award citation reads: "In a career that spans almost five decades, his activities reflect his abiding concern with psychology's historical antecedents, his leadership in creating a training model for clinical psychology that would retain the unique quality that characterizes a psychologist, and his research contributions in the psychological study of schizophrenia. David Shakow by his imagination, by his influence on his many students--graduate and postdoctoral--as teacher and mentor, by his dedication to important scientific studies, by his advocacy of the coordinate role of researcher and practitioner for the clinical psychologist, and by his broad knowledge and commitment to humanistic values has indeed made a distinguished contribution to professional psychology." A biography and a listing of the recipient's scientific writings are also included. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)