Training clinical students in personality theory.

In training graduate clinical psychology students at the University of North Dakota, "Using Hall and Lindzey's Theories of Personality as a basic text, the student studies each of the major theorists and is required to write a confidential personality evaluation of himself within the framework of the theory under consideration… . Aside from making the course more meaningful personally, students are found to become more introspective and to raise questions about their role in the clinical situation without ever having been exposed to such notions as counter-transference in any formal sense. The positive transfer to the course in projective techniques is also noteworthy." The student seems to approach clinical report writing in a more mature manner; he recognizes the advantages and inadequacies of a variety of personality theories. "To us it seems that a course in personality theory is one of the most fundamental in the training of clinical psychologists and can be enriched by relating the formulations of various theorists to the personal life of the student." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical psychology in Britain: A laboratory for the American psychologist.

"The present status of the clinical psychologist in Britain may permit perspectives on problems relating to standards and curricula of graduate training in university departments and the question of legal, and therefore public, status for the practicing psychologist—chiefly the clinician." In Britain: "Conditions of appointment, standards of training, and promotion for clinical psychologists have been outlined in a series of official memoranda dating from 1951." A number of problems for the psychologist in Britain are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychologists’ attitudes and ethical concerns regarding the use of social networking web sites.

Most psychologists seek to control self-disclosures they make to patients, but the Internet’s rapid development and widespread use over the past decade have introduced new problems for psychologists trying to avoid inappropriate disclosures. A total of 695 psychology graduate students and psychologists were surveyed about their current use of social networking Web sites (SNWs), opinions regarding regulation of online activities by the American Psychological Association (APA), and interactions in clinical work as a result of online activities. Established psychologists seldom use SNWs and may lack the experience to provide relevant supervisory guidance. No consensus about the need for APA guidelines emerged. Historically, APA has not issued guidelines in technological areas of rapid change. Thus, graduate training and continuing education should address the ethics of SNWs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction.

As we continue on our journey of capturing some aspects of an oral history of professional psychology in writing, we selected three articles that address different aspects of the field. Dr. Leona Tyler, past president of the American Psychological Association and pioneer in the field of counseling psychology, shares with us how counseling psychology has changed over the years from being concerned with helping individuals understand themselves, make important choices, and plan their lives to being more concerned with issues traditionally in the realm of clinical psychology. The second article is written by Dr. Grant Dahlstrom, one of the "greats" in the field of objective testing. He reviews for us why he and George Welsh embarked on the writings of their books on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and what they used in their preparation of guides for clinicians. In the third article, Drs. Lillie and Barry Weiss, clinical psychologists who met and married while in graduate school in the late 1960s, to reflect on the uniqueness of the married couple experience in professional psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multiculturalism: Questions, Not Answers.

A reply by Richard B. Stuart regarding the comment by Stolle, Hutz, and Sommers-Flanagan (see record 2005-13212-019). The American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines on multiculturalism (APA, 2002b) exhort psychologists to recognize and control their personal biases and to strive to "apply culturally appropriate skills in clinical and other applied psychological practices" (p. 3). My article (see record 2004-10365-001) offered 12 suggestions aimed at helping psychologists follow these mandates. It was motivated by the fear that some well-intended attempts to appreciate diversity could inadvertently contribute to the very insensitivity they were intended to prevent. It is my view that group influences are extremely important in shaping individual identity, but the effect of culture on a given individual cannot be verified without consulting that person directly. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical decision-making: How prepared are we?

The importance of decision-making skills for clinical psychologists has been established. This study investigates the amount of academic instruction received by graduate students in this subject area. Courses from American Psychological Association accredited clinical psychology programs were examined, along with surveys completed by academic training directors (DCTs). Findings indicate limited formal academic instruction within the area of clinical decision-making, despite DCT importance ratings. Coverage of decision-making topics rarely occurs in stand-alone courses. Fewer than 50% of programs cover decision theory or decision improvement strategies. Suggestions are offered to address the discrepancy between essential clinical judgment capacities and amount of provided instruction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinician Variation in Rates of Legal Sanity Opinions: Implications for Self-Monitoring.

How often do forensic psychologists find that a defendant meets criteria for legal sanity? Do clinicians vary in terms of how frequently they offer opinions supportive of insanity? If so, how might a conscientious clinician determine whether unusually high or low rates of insanity opinions reflect bias? The authors present the first available data regarding how individual clinicians vary in rates of insanity opinions, drawing from 59 clinicians who conducted 4,498 evaluations. Most clinicians found 5%-25% of defendants met criteria for legal insanity. However, some clinicians opined that no defendants met criteria for legal insanity, whereas others opined that as many as 50% of defendants did. The authors (a) provide suggestions to help practicing clinical-forensic psychologists monitor their patterns of psycho-legal opinions and (b) examine carefully whether unusual rates may reflect clinician bias. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinicians' theoretical orientations: Selection, utilization, and efficacy.

479 clinical psychologists were surveyed regarding their use of and satisfaction with their theoretical orientations, reasons for the selection of their orientations, and the relative influence of their chosen orientations on psychotherapy practice. Contrary to suggestions that clinicians select an orientation largely on inexplicable or accidental grounds, adoption of an orientation was attributed to personal, deliberate choices primarily predicated on clinical experience, personal values, and graduate training. Of 18 possible influences on therapeutic practice, theoretical orientation was rated the most influential and theory of pathology/personality the 2nd most influential, which suggests that clinical psychologists perceive their orientations as pervasive and efficacious therapeutic variables. (37 ref) (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)     

Child custody evaluations when one divorcing parent has a physical disability.

Objective: To explore how parents' physical disability status might impact the process of divorce-related child custody evaluations and custody decisions, the level of training received by psychologists regarding assessment of parents with physical disabilities, and whether psychologists recognize that testing persons with physical disabilities requires specialized knowledge. Study Design: Survey mailed in 4 waves. Participants: 206 child custody evaluators (31% response rate). Outcome Measures: A survey regarding custody evaluations, a custody questionnaire, evaluation practices, education and training regarding disability, demographics, and a question about the purpose of the study. Results: Almost 70% had performed ≥1 child custody evaluation involving a parent with a physical disability. Over 85% of participants reported no training with regard to such evaluations, and 49% reported no training regarding any disability issues. 65% stated they would use the same tests without modifications, regardless of disability status of the parent. Conclusions: Recommendations include mandated training on disability for child custody evaluators, graduate training on disability accommodations in assessment, specifying conditions when evaluating parents with disabilities, more information regarding accommodations in custody evaluations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Graduate training in clinical psychology and the study of suicide.

Assessed the current level of training in the study of suicide in member departments (N?=?115) of the Council of University Directors of Clinical Psychology Programs. Of the 80% (92) of the departments that responded, only 35% offered any formal training in the study of suicide. If training occurred, it was usually offered as part of another course. In addition, the training directors did not feel that faculty should be required to have formal training in managing suicidal patients. We also found that 80% of the clinical faculty had treated or assessed suicidal patients; 35% were highly experienced with this population; 9.5% had actually lost a patient to suicide. Futhermore, the study of suicide was seen as relatively important to the graduate education of clinical psychologists, and graduate training was viewed as the most appropriate place for this training to occur. Reasons for this lack of formal training in the graduate curriculum are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Needs of Clinical Students.

Comments that the existence of the so-called "scientist-professional" model in clinical psychology is rooted in the fact that graduate education must inevitably be based on a fundamental imbalance between the number of students to be taught and the number of professors to teach them. It is asserted that experimental psychologists must teach their material to graduate classes and clinical students are required to take these experimental courses and the author hopes that the new humanistic departments of psychology may be more receptive the needs of clinical students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Implications of 'Psychological Injuries' for Clinical Psychology Training Programs.

This paper uses the psychological and legal concept of "psychological injury" as an illustration of the evolving market for psychological knowledge and of necessary changes in the graduate and internship training of clinical psychologists. Our current graduate and internship training fails many of our students through neglecting important areas of knowledge and experience. In this paper, I discuss the importance of exposing graduate students to: a) the economics of mental health; b) professional roles involving knowledge dissemination outside traditional academia; c) information needs of direct and indirect consumers of psychological knowledge; and, d) communication skills necessary when interacting with nonpsychologists. Suggestions are made for the improvement of our graduate training programs, including more explicit acknowledgement of the likely career paths of most of our graduates. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical Psychology in Medical Education.

Greenfield's excellent appraisal (Amer. Psychologist, 1960, 15, 624-625) of the role of clinical psychology in medical education deserves commendation. Despite its brevity, it offers a great deal. In fact, it reads so well and makes such good sense, I was hopeful, as I neared the end, that Greenfield might have an answer to the question he raises implicitly: "What is the unique role of psychology in medical education?" To be sure, this question has plagued the now respectable number of psychologists in medical schools for some time. In my view, the clinical psychologist's "identity as psychologist" is related to his having a PhD which, in turn, is related to his unique contribution to a medical school. To me, the uniqueness is his research role. He may be a teacher, clinician, administrator, jack-of-all-trades. But, to his colleagues, though not always to himself, he is unique because he (supposedly) is prepared as an investigator in human behavior. To our medical school colleagues in the basic sciences (and also to others) the PhD degree represents scholarship, scientific background, and preparation for research. The question must remain: "What is psychology's unique role in medical education?" It happens that the greatest number of psychologists in medical schools are clinical psychologists. But, to look for the answer to the question in terms of the needs and interests of the clinician would be taking a far more narrow view of the problem than it deserves. I think Greenfield would agree. (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)     

Practicing clinical psychologists’ provision of sexual health care services.

Practicing clinical psychologists are likely to work with sexual health concerns as part of their clinical practice because of high prevalence rates and sexual problems as symptoms of mental or physical health problems and their pharmacological treatment. However, the majority of clinicians do not receive didactic or supervised clinical training. This survey of 188 practicing clinical psychologists in one Canadian city confirmed that, despite lack of training, many clinicians discussed sexual health concerns with their clients and used a variety of sex therapy techniques. This survey also revealed, however, that 60% of clinicians did not ask, or very infrequently asked, clients about sexual health. In general, lack of training affected level of comfort, and both may result in inadequate application of sex therapy techniques and treatment. The results of this survey indicate an ethical imperative to included sexuality training in current graduate curricula to adequately prepare psychologists to assess, refer, and treat sexual health concerns. The inclusion of sexuality-related topics in existing clinical graduate courses, an increase in sexuality-specific courses focused on assessment and intervention in graduate curricula, and broader options for continuing education for practicing clinical psychologists are recommended. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An Exploratory Examination of Student Attitudes Toward "Impaired" Peers in Clinical Psychology Training Programs.

Do psychology students view their training programs as doing enough to appropriately identify, accommodate, and possibly dismiss students who manifest significant impairment? This study reports the general findings of an exploratory survey distributed to clinical psychology graduate students. Overall, students viewed impairment as a highly sensitive and inadequately addressed issue. Students commonly reported frustration with and concern for impaired colleagues. A few respondents indicated that the terms impaired and problem student were insensitive and that greater attention needed to be given to "impaired" training contexts. Implications regarding formal standards for interpersonal functioning and programmatic supports for students are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Training in Psychotherapy for Psychologists: Recommendations of Clinical Psychologists.

This article discusses the current debate on the subject of psychotherapy training for psychologists and how it tends to concern itself with rather broad philosophical issues and matters of role definition. As part of a larger study, data not previously reported were derived from three questions which asked for opinions about ideal patterns of psychotherapy training for psychologists. This brief report suggests the desirability of careful stratification of the group of clinical psychologists in future opinion sampling and when policy recommendations are being developed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some impressions of a visit to Soviet psychologists.

Piaget and two colleagues, Fraisse and Zazzo, visited psychologists in Moscow and Leningrad and mention "three general impressions which struck us with increasing force." "The first is the importance enjoyed in Moscow by men (and women) of science, independently of their position in the party." "The second is the diversity of individual opinions on a great number of essential questions… ." "Our third general impression relates to the objectivity and frankness of our colleagues on the questions we submitted to them for discussion." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)