A survey of group psychotherapy training during predoctoral psychology internship.

Do psychologists receive sufficient training in group psychotherapy? Existing literature indicates that comprehensive training standards have not been universally or rigorously followed within the field of psychology. Results of this study indicate that, much like graduate school programs, predoctoral clinical psychology internships also do not routinely provide adequate group therapy training. This deficit in training undermines the proficiency and competency of psychologists who will increasingly be called upon to lead psychotherapy groups in clinical practice. Specific recommendations are provided to training directors who are interested in expanding their group therapy training opportunities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Training in medical psychology: A survey of graduate and internship training programs.

Surveyed American Psychological Association-approved doctoral and internship programs in clinical and counseling psychology regarding training opportunities in medical psychology. 42 graduate and 65 internship programs responded. Results indicate that the majority of both types of programs offered didactic and experiential training, including diagnostic and therapeutic activities with a wide variety of medical/surgical patients. There appears to be a sufficient number of faculty psychologists with special interest and/or expertise in this area to adequately prepare new psychologists for employment in medical centers and other types of medical settings. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology training related to AIDS: Survey of doctoral graduate programs and predoctoral internship programs.

Surveyed all APA-approved graduate programs in clinical and counseling psychology and predoctoral internship programs to assess the extent of student training in areas related to acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). The survey found that 75% of graduate programs do not cover AIDS at any point in their curricula and that less than half train students in human sexuality. Other foundation topics pertinent to AIDS prevention and clinical service provision receive little attention in most graduate and internship programs. The authors discuss reasons why greatly increased prevalence of AIDS and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) conditions will require more substantial training and research among psychologists, and they outline some possible mechanisms to provide this training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Law-related courses and programs in graduate psychology departments.

Three surveys were undertaken to determine whether graduate programs in psychology were offering courses, programs, or opportunities for specialization in law and psychology, what these offerings consisted of, and whether new offerings were planned for the future. Many courses being offered appear extremely narrow in focus and of questionable value in training psychologists. Several graduate programs in law/psychology are described, including joint-degree law and psychology programs and specialized doctoral and masters programs. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychologists and rehabilitation: New roles and old training models.

The role of psychologists in physical rehabilitation settings has expanded considerably over the past decades. Unfortunately, the lack of clarity regarding roles, functions, and research of psychologists in inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation settings has hampered efforts to establish guidelines for training graduate students to work in rehabilitative settings. Despite ongoing debate since the Princeton Conference in 1958, no guidelines have been recommended by Division 22 of the American Psychological Association (Division of Rehabilitation Psychology) for training doctoral students in clinical and counseling psychology programs for work in rehabilitation. This article asserts that psychology graduate students who want to work in physical rehabilitation settings should (a) have core training in psychology and (b) receive coursework and practica in working with persons who have chronic illnesses and injuries. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical psychology training: A history of ideas and practices prior to 1946.

Focuses on the field of clinical psychology and specifically on early developments in the training of clinical psychologists from the period of 1896–1946. The author discusses graduate school curriculum and the 1st university training and internship in clinical psychology. Eight universities that provided graduate training in clinical psychology prior to 1946 are examined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Forensic psychology opportunities in Canadian graduate programs: An update of Simourd and Wormith's (1995) survey.

Forensic psychology has gained momentum in North America in recent decades, and Canadian psychologists have made considerable contributions to the field. Strong student interest and a high demand for professionals, however, have not been sufficiently matched with the availability of formal forensic psychology graduate training, nor with sufficient scholarly discussion of this issue. The purpose of the current study was to update Simourd and Wormith's (1995) survey of forensic psychology training available in Canadian psychology graduate programs. Of the 39 universities with psychology graduate programs, 36 (92%) responded to the survey. Twenty-four universities (67%) offered some forensic opportunities for students, although there was considerable variability in the number of courses, students, and faculty members in the forensic psychology programs. Since Simourd and Wormith's (1995) survey, forensic training is available at 10 new universities. Of the 14 programs with forensic psychology content in 1995 and in the current study, however, more than half of them reported a decrease in the number of faculty and students working with forensic issues. Considering the continued demand for trained forensic psychologists in applied settings, further attention to the availability of both education and training in forensic psychology is therefore still needed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Education and training in health psychology: Boulder or Bolder.

Reviews previous conferences on graduate education and training in health psychology (HP) as background for a 1983 conference on career and training issues in the field. Criteria characterizing professions are presented. Expected topics at the conference include societal need for orderly development of HP, work functions and roles of health psychologists, predoctoral specialty training, appropriateness of specializing in HP, official sanctioning, education and training settings, model doctoral programs emphasizing HP within a clinical psychology track, apprenticeship, and pre- vs postdoctoral training in HP. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical psychologists reflect on the usefulness of various components of graduate training.

Graduates of clinical training programs were surveyed to determine the degree to which they have found various graduate school experiences useful in their professional work. Samples of academic clinical psychologists and practicing clinical psychologists reported time allocation and preference for various professional activities, perceived usefulness of various theoretical orientations, and the influence on their current professional work of 19 different graduate training topics. Results suggest that where differences exist, academic clinical psychologists are generally more satisfied with Boulder-model-inspired scientific training than are clinical practitioners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

APA-approved doctoral programs in clinical, counseling, and school psychology: 1974.

The Committee on Accreditation has approved the doctoral training programs in clinical, counseling, and school psychology that are conducted by the institutions listed below. In the institutions listed, the approved programs are directed by the department of psychology unless otherwise indicated. Programs that have not requested evaluation, and programs that have been evaluated but not approved, are not included in the list. The criteria for evaluating these programs can be obtained from the Educational Affairs Office. The Committee on Accreditation has dropped the "initial" category of accreditation. Therefore, programs that meet all of the criteria, including newly approved programs, are classified as fully approved. Inclusion of an institution in this list indicates approval of doctoral programs in clinical, counseling, and school psychology only. Inclusion or noninclusion carries no implications for other graduate programs in psychology or for programs of graduate education in other disciplines. The institutions listed below have been reported to the United States Public Health Service, to the Veterans Administration, and to the Surgeon General's Office, Department of the Army, as conducting at the present time approved programs of doctoral training in the areas indicated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Demise of the 3rd-year internship: The changing role of the internship in graduate training.

Current training in PhD clinical psychology stems from the 1949 Boulder conference on graduate education in clinical psychology. Among the detailed recommendations made by that committee were specific guidelines and goals for a clinical internship that was deeply embedded within the graduate training experience. Since that time, the academic and practical training of PhD clinical psychologists has become increasingly separated, to the point at which the clinical internship year almost universally occurs after the completion of graduate training. In this article the development of the current-day internship and the probable factors involved in the demise of the original 3rd-year model are examined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preparing psychologists for evidence-based school practice: Lessons learned and challenges ahead.

The evidence-based practice (EBP) movement has the potential to significantly advance the quality of psychological and educational services provided by psychologists working in schools. Training psychologists in EBP has challenged the profession and caused faculty in graduate programs to reevaluate and retool professional training curricula and instructional practices. Four domains of challenges in graduate training are identified: (a) integrating the EBP knowledge base into the curriculum, (b) expanding models of research training, (c) expanding training in prevention science, and (d) expanding training in problem-solving consultation and school contextual issues. For each of these, the author discusses the range and scope of the challenge and possible solutions for advancing graduate training in psychology relevant to school practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

APA approved doctoral programs in clinical, counseling, and school psychology: 1972.

The Committee on Accreditation has approved the doctoral training programs in clinical, counseling, and school psychology that are conducted by the institutions listed in this article. In the institutions listed, the approved programs are directed by the department of psychology unless otherwise indicated. Programs that have not requested evaluation and programs that have been evaluated but not approved are not included in the list. The criteria for evaluating these programs can be obtained from the Educational Affairs Office. The Committee on Accreditation has dropped the "initial" category of accreditation. Therefore, programs which meet all of the criteria, including newly approved programs, are classified as fully approved. Inclusion of an institution in this list indicates approval of doctoral programs in clinical, counseling, and school psychology only. Inclusion or noninclusion carries no implications for other graduate programs in psychology or for programs of graduate education in other disciplines. The institutions listed below have been reported to the United States Public Health Service, to the Veterans Administration, and to the Surgeon General's Office, Department of the Army, as conducting at the present time approved programs of doctoral training in the areas indicated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Work preferences of clinical psychologists.

An interest inventory that described 25 functions of clinical psychologists was administered to 104 students in 3 clinical psychology graduate programs and 246 members of the American Psychological Association Division of Clinical Psychology. Principal component analyses revealed 2 statistically independent factors, one of interest in clinical practice, the other of interest in research, which were reflected by the employment or training conditions of Ss. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Graduate training of scientist–practitioner-oriented clinical psychologists: Where we can improve.

To improve psychology graduate programs, the training provided by scientist- or practitioner-oriented graduate programs in clinical psychology is evaluated from the perspective of a director of clinical training in an American Psychological Association-approved internship. Areas in which graduate training may be improved are divided into knowledge, supervision, research, and professional development. Specific training deficits are enumerated, and suggestions for their remediation are offered. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychologists' roles and opportunities in rehabilitation and recovery for serious mental illness: A survey of Council of University Directors of Clinical Psychology (CUDCP) clinical psychology training and doctoral education.

The emergence of psychiatric rehabilitation and the recovery movement generate new and expanded roles for psychologists in services for people with serious mental illness (SMI). However, the proportion of psychologists working in SMI services today is substantially less than previous decades. This article reviews the roles of psychologists in various mental health systems and outlines the contributions that psychologists can make in implementing evidence based approaches for people with SMI. A survey of American Psychology Association (APA)-accredited Council of University Directors of Clinical Psychology (CUDCP) Clinical Psychology doctoral programs was conducted. The results of the survey indicate an increase, since the early 1990s, in clinical faculty with SMI interests, and suggest that many graduate programs provide opportunities for SMI-relevant research and practicum training. However, the survey also indicates a lack of coursework on topics relevant to SMI and a lack of coursework relevant to assuming administrative and leadership roles in the mental health system. Despite training opportunities in graduate school, production of new PhDs who choose the SMI field is unlikely to meet the demand. According to the present study, the limiting factor is not availability of training, but student career choice. The opportunities and challenges that psychologists face in SMI recovery-oriented service delivery are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A student looks at graduate training.

Two problems face many of the 2,000 graduate students in psychology in Canada. As the academic job market continues to provide relatively fewer openings for the increasing number of new Ph.D.'s, the new graduate is faced with seeking employment in areas for which he has no training. The idealistic graduate student who wishes to engage in "relevant" research is forced by the type of graduate training he is receiving to do conservative research and to become more and more like his teachers in attitudes and values. The question is raised as to whether or not we wish tomorrow's psychologists to be identical to todays psychologists. Suggestions for changes are offered for consideration by the planners of graduate programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An investigation of early research experience and research self-efficacy.

Graduate students in psychology typically report that they either love research or hate research. Despite the fact that most doctoral students in psychology enter some type of clinical practice upon graduation, research is a requirement for all students enrolled in scientist-practitioner programs regardless of their career aspirations beyond graduation. Research advances knowledge in the field of psychology and often guides clinical practice, yet very few psychologists conduct research after graduate school (C. J. Gelso, 1993). Efforts have been undertaken to determine factors that contribute to graduate students' research productivity. One such factor may be research self-efficacy. This study examined the influence of early research experience as a factor to bolster research self-efficacy. Results indicated that supportive peers and mentors contributed to positive research experiences. Additionally, positive team research experiences significantly predicted research self-efficacy. Implications for training programs and students are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Graduate training...in Canada": Comment.

Comments on the original article by Dr. Park O. Davidson (see record 2007-02137-003) on "Graduate training and research funding for clinical psychology in Canada." Davidson has made some excellent recommendations regarding the nature of graduate training and research funding in psychology, and then has negated the effectiveness of such recommendations for social relevancy in community services by ignoring the spectrum of psychological services required and by restricting himself to a rather sterile Eysenckian model. Dr. Davidson's general recommendations regarding graduate training in clinical psychology are sensible and long overdue--less extreme specialization in Ph.D. programs, greater knowledge of problems of applied settings for research, more interdisciplinary training, broader methodology, more effective internship and practicum training, a community psychology program, and more effective bridging research. However when the needed spectrum of services for people is considered, there is an obvious need for psychologists who can share in the assessment and treatment of problems in human functioning beyond the technician level. Manpower needs will never be adequately met until service personnel and University personnel can share in the what, why and how of professional training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)