Concerns About Professional Schools.

Comments on the article by Peterson (see record 2003-08988-002) and asserts that the professional work of clinical psychologists has many different facets, most of which are not easy to evaluate. Furthermore, it is difficult to generalize about professional schools because, as Peterson pointed out and as research affirms, they differ greatly in student quality and in the quality of their graduates. But it is exactly those differences that require closer scrutiny than they may have received so far. Peterson maintains that the effects of training must ultimately be gauged by the performance of graduates in professional work. We endorse that view and echo the urgency expressed by Peterson in his call to get on with the job. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Unintended Consequences: Ventures and Misadventures in the Education of Professional Psychologists.

Increasing professionalization of psychology, accelerated by expansion of professional schools, has evoked concern among critics, who claim that many practitioners ignore scientific research and engage in practices that are demonstrably useless or harmful. Recent data on admissions to professional schools and performance of professional school graduates show cause for concerns of the critics. If psychology is to maintain its stature as a profession, exclusionary controls as well as hortatory requirements for the practice of psychology and the education of practitioners must be established and enforced. Before more stringent standards can be imposed, convincing means for evaluating competence in professional work and quality in professional education must be developed. Local and institutional actions to advance those aims are proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Challenges to Professional Psychology Education in the 21st Century: Response to Peterson.

Professional psychology education faces many critical challenges brought about by the major changes occurring in the health care arena. This article shows that professional schools and programs have a good record of responding to these challenges and of taking proactive steps sponding to prepare their graduates for new health care roles and delivery systems. Data on admissions to psychology doctoral training programs demonstrate little support for the toral concerns raised by Donald R. Peterson (2003, this issue) about the preparation of students for graduate training in professional programs. Although quality concerns are important to investigate, such examination best resides with portant the American Psychological Association's Committee on Accreditation, which has the promotion of quality and excellence in professional psychology education and training as its major goal and responsibility. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intended Consequences.

Comments on Peterson's article (see record 2003-08988-002). The present author maintains that the National Council of Schools and Programs of Professional Psychology (NCSPP) has intentionally and systematically pursued quality and relevance in professional psychology training for nearly 30 years, and asserts that Peterson's article (2003) is a continuation of the old and unsupported claim for the superiority of professional programs based in research universities, and is particularly ill timed. It is further maintained that Schools of Education (professional schools housed primarily in research universities) are actively discussing the crisis of their growing lack of relevance to primary education in the United States, while Schools of Psychology are defining new and essential contributions to primary health care, legal and prison systems, and employment settings. It is also asserted that professional psychology programs housed in a great diversity of settings provide the best array of forums to conduct the necessary dialogues with the world regarding the relevance of psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Ethics in psychology: Professional standards and cases.

Reviews the book, Ethics in psychology: Professional standards and cases by Patricia Keith-Spiegel and Gerald P. Koocher (see record 1985-97634-000). This well written and interesting book offers comprehensive coverage of how the American Psychological Association (APA) Ethical Principles of Psychologists (1981) apply in any setting where psychologists are involved. This book should be of special interest to Canadians who are interested in the new Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) Code of Ethics. The CPA Code organized the areas of concern covered by the APA code, plus new and emerging issues, under an umbrella of four general principles and many associated standards of conduct. Both the book and the CPA Code attempt to raise the level of consciousness about ethical issues and ethical decision-making. The result? They complement each other and together provide a useful combination of philosophy, standards, and concrete examples of unethical or questionable behaviour by a psychologist. All who read this book will become aware of the complexity associated with ethics in the practice of psychology. The authors are to be congratulated on providing a scholarly work, long needed by the public and psychologists alike. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Licensing and Professional Function.

It is shocking to summarize the ongoing debates on licensing of psychologists and on the relations between psychologists and psychiatrists. We psychologists seem chiefly to place the blame on the psychiatrists for the slow progress in gaining recognition of the professional function of psychologists. I offer a dissent which declares that a restrictive block must be removed from the thinking of psychologists before we are going to get anywhere on the problems of licensing and recognition of professional function. The block is manifested by the efforts of psychologists to imitate psychiatrists and beat them at their own game. This game is the diagnosis and treatment of mental and emotional disorders, illnesses, aberrations, etc. Such diagnosis and treatment involves a mechanistic and concretistic thinking which is proving itself powerless to deal with the behavioral functioning of human individuals in interactive contexts. I am tempted to say "has proven," but there is a sad lack of experimental evidence, for which psychologists must shoulder their share of the blame. For my part, I don't blame psychiatrists for opposing the licensing of psychologists to treat "mental and emotional illnesses." Without realizing it, the psychiatrists are doing us a big favor in warning us away from this fruitless endeavor in which they are themselves experiencing so much heartbreak. We are wasting our time in seeking to crowd with them into a theoretical structure which will not support intense scientific effort. No psychologist should discuss with any citizen the relief of symptoms which are now manifest in the citizen's organic functioning. The psychologist's function should be to teach his interested fellow human beings how to perceive an interpersonal world and interact within that social realm on a more efficient and harmonious basis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Committee on the Scientific and Professional Aims of Psychology: Preliminary Report.

"This report concerns some of the issues involved in the increasing diversification of psychology." Focus was "on problems of professionalization in clinical psychology in order: (a) to deal with the problems involving the largest number of psychologists, and (b) to make it possible to speak more specifically about issues." The "training of clinical psychologists for the practice of psychotherapy should be established as a new doctoral program within the university." Interdisciplinary training is encouraged. "Generally we favor awarding a degree other than the PhD at the end of such doctoral training." "None of the present models for training of psychotherapists, whether within clinical psychology, medicine, or social work, are satisfactory means for developing competent practitioners able to meet the needs or expectations of society." Guidelines for legislation are suggested. It was suggested that "perhaps as much as 50% of the [APA Convention] program should be composed of invited talks and papers which would be either integrative in their nature or which would open up new areas in which significant advances are being made." The Committee has proposed suggestions rather than solutions to problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethics and the Advertising of Professional Services: Blame Canada.

Shead and Dobson (see record 2004-14467-001) provide an excellent historical review of policies concerning self-advertising by psychologists in the United States and Canada. They conclude that psychologists can become considerably more aggressive in their professional advertising practices, while still adhering to appropriate ethical constraints. Whether such practices will truly benefit either consumers or psychologists remains an open question. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions: Carl N. Zimet.

Recognizing the diversity of roles and activities in which many professional psychologists are engaged, beginning in 1979, Professional Awards have been presented to individual members of the Association whose distinguished contributions have served to advance psychology as a profession in the areas of knowledge, public service, and professional practice. Carl N. Zimet was a recipient of the 1987 Distinguished Professional Contributions to Applied Psychology as a Professional Practice award. Zimet is cited for his devotion to high standards of education and training and professional practice in psychology. As a trustee on the American Board of Professional Psychology, he was charged to develop a plan which eventually became the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology. Through key leadership positions on APA governance bodies, and other professional organizations, he has dedicated himself to setting high standards and promoting the recognition of psychologists in the health care arena. In addition to the citation, a biography and selected bibliography of his works are included. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparisons between psychologists and other professional groups.

It is estimated that as of 1953, there were 22,000 persons working as psychologists in the United States; 95,000 living persons have obtained bachelor's degrees with majors in psychology; 5,000 living persons have the Ph.D. degrees in psychology. About 12% of the students who have received a bachelor's degree in psychology have become professional psychologists; this accounts for approximately half of all the people in the country who are working as psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Professional psychology in California responds to the special issue on peer review.

The recent Special Issue of Professional Psychology (February 1982) raises serious questions about our profession's involvement in programs of peer review and quality assurance. You can be sure that it was read with great interest by clinical psychologists here in California. We call on you, as the editor of Professional Psychology, to continue and to expand your exploration of the issues involved in peer review and quality assurance programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On Psychologists and Phonies.

The current author states that he would like to dispute Henry David's conclusion that "the public showcase of professional psychology has become more respectable...the growing competition from APA members has made the market place of the Classified Telephone Directories less attractive for enterprising 'phonies'?" (Amer. Psychologist, 1954, 9, 240, see record 1955-01864-001). The author further adds that his own feeling is that the presence of so many APA psychologists in the classified section would have a "spread of effect" to others in the classified section and therefore might prove particularly attractive to the alleged phonies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology in the Theological Schools.

Comments that there seems to be some general agreement among American psychologists that psychology can and should make a significant contribution to professional education. In 1952, the APA Education and Training Board asked some pertinent questions (American Psychologist, 1952, 7, 3-6) relative to psychology's relationship to the other professions. In a recent analysis of 80 theological school catalogues, it was found that over 400 courses were offered which were strongly psychological in nature. These courses ranged all the way from courses in the psychology of religion to clinical pastoral training in general and mental hospitals. Certainly for those psychologists who honestly believe that their discipline has an important contribution to make to all other professions, the contemporary interest in psychology manifested by theological schools is a real challenge and a significantly potential opportunity for American psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

More on Professional Schools.

Provides additional information relevant to an article by the current authors (see record 1978-04088-001) that described the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP), with some historical notes on the professional school movement. This article notes the many "firsts" in this new movement, including developments at Adelphi University, the University of Montreal's Institute of Psychology, the University of Denver School of Professional Psychology, and the South Florida School of Professional Psychology in addition to California School of Professional Psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problematic Students: Gatekeeping Practices of Academic Professional Psychology Programs.

When the topic of problematic students arises, there are often more questions than answers. Professional psychology programs may serve as gatekeepers for the profession, yet there is little guidance on intervening with problematic students. This study surveyed training directors (TDs) of American Psychological Association-accredited academic psychology programs regarding problematic student behaviors. Over half of the programs that responded had terminated at least 1 student during a 3-year period, with TDs citing inadequate clinical skills as the major reason. Despite accreditation policies, 54% of the programs did not have written guidelines for intervening with problematic students. Recommendations to promote consistent evaluation and intervention at the faculty, student, program, and national-policy level are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some observations on the ideology of professional psychologists.

"Analysis of the value position of psychologists starts with an examination of certain of the intellectual postulates and biases of modern psychology. These contribute to what I call the ideology of professional psychologists… . Modern psychology derives its particular orientations in good measure from the social context of American life. The ideology of professional psychology, I shall argue, is linked to the antiphilosophical, antihistorical, narrowly means-oriented and optimistic character of much American thought and culture." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology for Sale: The Ethics of Advertising Professional Services.

Policies regarding advertising of professional services by psychologists have become somewhat less restrictive over time; however, there remains a tradition within the discipline to avoid any semblance of competitive advertising practices. This paper presents an historic review of policies concerning self-advertising by psychologists in the United States and Canada. Although not currently prohibited by Canadian guidelines, three advertising practices are still generally regarded as failing to meet expectations of professional integrity: 1) claims of unique abilities; 2) claims of comparative desirability; and 3) appeals to a client's fear and anxiety. The position is taken that psychologists can stay within their ethical boundaries using these types of advertising practices while promoting the welfare of clients and maintaining the profession's ethical standards. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of the American Board of Professional Psychology in professional mobility.

This article describes the role of certification by the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) in easing the process by which psychologists move beyond their original jurisdictional boundaries to practice psychology. Meeting the requirements for licensure or certification in the various jurisdictions can be a difficult task because these requirements vary considerably from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Other mechanisms that are available to facilitate this process include the Certificate of Professional Qualification in Psychology issued by the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards and certification by the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology. The ABPP certificate/diploma has been regarded by many state psychological associations and state boards of psychology as an appropriate way in which to recognize psychologists who are eligible for licensure/certification in a jurisdiction because of the examination requirements for board certification. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Research psychologist' roles in the genetic revolution.

Comments on the article by A. F. Patenaude et al (see record 2002-12457-022) that discusses advances in genetics and genetic testing and the role of psychology and psychologists in this field. Goldsmith et al present their thoughts on the role of psychologists in the genetic revolution. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Committee on Professional Liability Insurance. Professional liability insurance for psychologists.

Professional liability insurance for psychologists is obtainable through the Smith-Hoggatt-Dawson Insurance Agency of Champaign, Illinois. Coverage is described and premiums specified. Insurance is granted automatically to an APA member if he is an ABEPP diplomate "… or if he is a regular member of the staff of a recognized college, university, school or school system, firm of industrial or clinical practitioners' clinic, hospital, or church" and to others. Non-ABEPP diplomates "… in completely independent private practice… " must be sponsored in writing by two ABEPP diplomates. The "… insurance now available is written in such a way as to cover research workers as well as… " practitioners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)