Prescribing and primary care psychology: Complementary paths for professional psychology.

Two paths have been suggested for the future evolution of professional psychology. Prescribing psychology has already been legally authorized in two states, the military, and the Indian Health Service. Primary care psychology does not require legal recognition and has been slowly growing as a career option for psychologists across the nation. Both paths have their obstacles and limitations, but both are also associated with great potential. This article provides a brief summary of the strengths and weaknesses of each path and suggests an integrated perspective for planning the future of the profession. Each is seen as complementary to the other and providing a basis for pursuing the other. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

It is past time: Moving psychology into primary health care.

It is past time for psychologists to expand their services into primary health care. For too long, psychological work has been limited to mental health care. Psychology also has much to offer in primary health care. One of my major initiatives during my tenure as president of the American Psychological Association (APA) was to focus on psychologists' contributions to health care in general, particularly on what psychologists are doing to help cancer patients. A great need exists for professional psychologists to expand into these areas. To illustrate the value of psychological interventions in primary health care, I focus on two major health care problems: heart disease and cancer. Both are particularly important areas for health care. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What primary care psychology has to offer the patient-centered medical home.

The Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) proposes a new model to transform the practice of primary health care to one that is patient centered, high quality, continuous, comprehensive, and compassionate. In this paper, the authors provide an updated definition of, and skills needed for, primary care psychology, focused on integrating various psychological approaches with an overarching systemic theory. With this in mind, the authors suggest that primary care psychology can be important to achieving the goals of what some professionals now call the Patient-Centered Health Care Home. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Training for the future of psychology practice.

This article responds to the Eby et al. (this issue, pp. 57–68) paper on issues and dilemmas for the future of training for psychology practice. The author addresses these issues and discusses them in regards to our identity as psychologists and changes in training needed in light of the recent passage of federal health care reform legislation. The changes in health care include the importance of training to work in integrated health care systems, primary care, using electronic health records, and dealing with health disparities. Training recommendations from the 2009 APA Presidential Task Force on the Future of Psychology Practice are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mainstreaming psychology of women with school psychology.

With the resurgence of the women's movement in the late 1960s, a new scholarly field, the psychology of women, developed within psychology. Scholarship on women continues today both as a separate area of investigation and study and as an area integrated into mainstream American psychology. Although this effort has been ongoing within psychology, school psychology has focused relatively little on women's issues and on issues of sex and gender. This is surprising given the many women in the field of school psychology and in the schools. Thus, the purpose of this special issue is to begin a process of enrichment, much as other psychology fields have already been enriched, by mainstreaming the psychology of women with school psychology. Three articles and a discussion are presented in the miniseries. Each of the authors explores a different topic relevant to women and school psychology and includes a literature review as well as discussion of the salience of the literature to professional school psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Narrative psychology and psychotherapy integration.

Bruner (1986) and Sarbin (1986) have argued that people make sense of living by actively constructing stories containing characters moving toward goals through time. Both content and structure in these narratives are understood as promoting either flexible, adaptive functioning or psychological distress. Theories of psychotherapy can also be seen as stories about human function and dysfunction that incorporate many of the same ideas about reality, human nature and change that are found in clients' personal narratives. This narrative perspective, then, suggests that the therapeutic alliance might be improved and an integrative use of different theories might be made by selecting therapeutic approaches and interventions based on the degree of similarity between the nature of the client's life story and the story of human functioning incorporated in the theory. A classification of theories, examples of classification of client stories and some issues of implementation of this integrative proposal are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A training curriculum for professional psychologists in primary care.

Primary care psychology is a growing field that requires specific training opportunities for successful practice. The knowledge and skills that practitioners need for work in this setting are outlined here in detail. This curriculum integrates literature and experience in family psychology, health psychology, and pediatric psychology; considers multiple levels of education and training; and provides illustrative examples. It is a first attempt in an evolving process of integrating historical and cutting edge literature from many areas of psychology and other disciplines to contribute to comprehensive primary care psychology training. It can be used by programs and individual practitioners alike in designing education and training experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Latino healing: The integration of ethnic psychology into psychotherapy.

This article argues for the need to culzturally adapt mainstream psychotherapy to Latino populations. It discusses ethnic psychology as a cultural resilient practice. Examples of Latino ethnic psychology include cuento, dichos, and spirituality. The article introduces Latino healing as the integration of ethnic psychology into mainstream psychotherapy. A clinical vignette illustrates the application of Latino healing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Managing suicide risk in primary care: Practice recommendations for behavioral health consultants.

Psychologists working in primary care clinics can have a significant positive impact on preventing suicide. For psychologists working within the behavioral health consultant (BHC) model in primary care, however, the issue of how to appropriately manage suicide risk within this model has yet to be adequately addressed. Given the time-limited and focused nature of the BHC model, it is important to establish a framework for psychologists to provide adequate care that is practical within this model of health care. This article offers 26 empirically supported recommendations for suicide screening, accurate and time-efficient risk assessment, and effective risk management strategies, as well as suggestions for consultation with primary care physicians, all of which are consistent with the BHC model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical and counseling psychology: Some perspectives.

Both fields have similar historical roots and sources of impetus, both apply clinical methods, and both exhibit "a trend toward the relative devaluation of diagnosis." Each is "plagued by the proliferation of subspecialities"; both have been criticized recently for utilizing psychological testing; both suffer from a somewhat anemic and provincial technology. An investigation is described involving 12 major content categories in the attempt "to provide coverage for the total domain of the surface personality… ." Builders of personality tests have shown a common aversion for certain aspects of personality. "The optimal training of the counseling psychologist and of the clinical psychologist… is neither efficient nor optimal training for psychotherapy… ." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bi-directional influences between positive psychology and primary prevention.

The constructs associated with primary prevention are used to consider the tenets of positive psychology. At the same time, issues from the literature on positive psychology can help to expand and strengthen research on primary prevention. Conclusions are reached - about the potential bi-directional influences that these fields can have on each other that may serve to augment theory, research, and practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychotherapy integration in internships and counseling psychology doctoral programs.

Training directors from APA-accredited internships and counseling psychology doctoral programs reported on the status of doctoral training in psychotherapy integration. A mail survey was used to assess several areas related to psychotherapy integration, such as didactic and clinical training, faculty/staff theoretical orientation and hiring practices, student competency and evaluation, directors' beliefs about integrative/eclectic training, and internship admissions. Overall results show a positive attitude toward psychotherapy integration in predoctoral training and suggest that the foundations for further student development in psychotherapy integration exist. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The best of consulting psychology 1900-2000: Insider perspectives.

A Society of Consulting Psychology (SCP), survey, The Best of the Century (BoC) found Freud, Lewin, Maslow, and Argyris to have the "strongest influence on consulting psychology" in the 20th century. Lewin, Kelly, and Levinson were identified as having the "most influence on my practice." Organizational Diagnosis (Levinson, 1972) was considered the most significant contribution to consulting psychology literature. Modeled on the critical incident technique (Flanagan, 1954), the BoC survey asked about: (1) influences on the practice of consulting psychology (CP); (2) influences on the respondent's consulting practice; (3) books and articles that influenced CP; (4) unfinished business that will impact the future; and, (5) notable achievements or blunders of the 20th century. Personality theories and intervention methods were considered the greatest achievement. "Overestimating, overselling, overemphasizing, and overdoing of behaviorism" received resounding endorsement as the blunder of the century. The pressing future need was seen as an identity issue: What differentiates consulting psychologists from other types of consultants? How can psychologists influence public perceptions of what consulting psychologists do, and can do? The caveat for the future: avoiding cookie-cutter approaches. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of psychology in health care delivery.

There is a wealth of professional opportunities for practicing psychologists, particularly given the recent recognition of psychology as a health care profession. A number of dimensions are discussed that can be used as a heuristic to outline the participation of psychologists in the general health care arena. Dimensions include the breadth of disease categories in which psychology has been involved, the involvement of psychologists at different stages of the progression of illnesses, and the diverse roles that psychologists may play in health care. Examples are provided to exemplify the contributions psychologists have made to health care. Recommendations are made to strengthen psychology's role in the health care system. Recent challenges are also reviewed regarding the association of health care and the delivery of services that demand the participation of psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The process of mental health consultation: A systematic look within the context of community psychology.

The process of mental health consultation has been generally defined in terms of the techniques which the psychologist uses, "the how" of the consultant's role. The content, "the what" of this process is now being considered. The issues raised are partly based on the analysis of all consultation - contacts (N-56) collected during the first nine operational months of a project serving a sample population previously not reached by traditional clinical settings. Specifically this paper discusses the way in which a record-keeping method, devised specifically to account for "what" happens during a consultation, yields findings clarifying, complementing and at times diverging from what has been impressionistically reported to be content of the consultation process: a focus on psychopathology and intrapsychic conflicts of the consultee's charges. This pilot project in its attempt to systematically record all consultant's activities, has methodological implications for valid functional definitions of the mental health consultant within the context of community psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Islands of health: Implications of academic psychology for psychotherapy technique and integration.

Recent research in academic psychology, particularly in areas pertaining to healthy illusion, has significant relevance to integrative psychotherapy, on both a technical and a conceptual level. The concept of healthy illusion can help us conceptually integrate--find common threads between--apparently disparate schools of psychotherapy. The cognitive-behavioral techniques of collaborative empiricism, manageable goal setting, and changes in self-talk; many of the dialectical-behavioral techniques used to balance acceptance and change, and to embrace paradox; the psychoanalytic concepts, and related techniques, of sublimation, self-object, internalization, transitional phenomena, and idealization have important links to the nourishing of positive illusion in therapy. The concept of healthy illusion also lends us some new integrative techniques, such as searching out, broadening, and even creating idealized figures and internalized objects, aside from the therapist. This research, in fact, challenges some of our most fixed and favorite beliefs about the process of therapy--particularly about the paramount importance of facing and accepting reality. Finally, the positive illusion research sheds some light on the difficulties of defining psychological health, hope, and resiliency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The psychology of health and health care: A Canadian perspective.

Reviews the book, The psychology of health and health care: A Canadian perspective by Gary Poole, Deborah Hunt Matheson, and David N. Cox (2001). This book is a timely introductory text that aims to situate the rapidly expanding field of health psychology within the geographic, socio-demographic, and empirical landscape of Canada. This textbook would be appropriate for beginning and intermediate undergraduate students across a range of disciplines, including psychology, public health, and nursing. As such, it has a number of features to commend it. It is written in a clear and concise style, with explanatory tracks guiding the reader step by step through each new concept. In keeping with health psychology's applied focus, web sites for important resources are provided and sample case studies are integrated with key concepts throughout each chapter. Finally, the up-to-date coverage of Canadian health statistics and research publications is a delight for those of us who have been struggling to find texts that reflect the unique ways in which we view, structure, fund, administer, and research health psychology and health care in this country. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Being fit: The ethics of practice diversification in performance psychology.

The ethics of practice diversification in the field generically described as performance psychology--including sport psychology, organizational consulting, and performing arts psychology--is examined. Since the field is in the process of development and psychologists come to this type of practice from a variety of paths, ethical issues in this type of practice bear particularly careful attention. This article reviews the primary ethical issues involved, including preparation for diversified practice; competence; interpersonal and relational issues; and presentation to the public. Currently emerging concerns are also discussed. The article concludes with specific suggestions for the practitioner interested in this field. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Treatment of Department of Veterans Affairs primary care patients with posttraumatic stress disorder.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is common among Veterans Affairs (VA) primary care patients and may be managed via multiple treatment pathways. Using the Behavioral Model of Health Service Use (Anderson, 1995), this retrospective study based on medical chart review examined factors associated with three types of mental health treatment: intervention by a 1) primary care provider (PCP), 2) primary care-mental health integration (PC-MHI) provider, and 3) specialty mental health (SMH) provider. A second goal was to describe PTSD treatment services for patients not receiving SMH by detailing the content of mental health treatment provided by PCPs and PC-MHI providers. Electronic medical record data for a five year time period for 133 Veterans were randomly selected for review from a population 6,637 primary care patients with PTSD. Results indicated that the evaluated needs of participants (i.e., number of unique medical and psychiatric disorders) were associated with Veterans receiving more intensive services (i.e., SMH). PCPs commonly addressed patients' mental health concerns, but patients often declined referrals for mental health treatment. PC-MHI consultations most often focused on medication management and supportive psychotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)