On the manpower problem and graduate training in clinical psychology.

Discusses the problems of manpower shortage and the nature of clinical graduate education and proposes strategies for dealing with them. It is suggested that there be (1) movement away from the scientist-professional or V. C. Raimy's Boulder model still often considered the most appropriate for clinical psychology to more emphasis on a professional psychologist model, and (2) development of specialist-oriented subdoctoral programs in clinical psychology. The 1st priority in the development of professionally oriented masters programs would be extensive analyses of the needs of various agencies utilizing psychologists, and the resources of present masters programs, i.e., requiring the high standards of performance for the MA and subjecting MA programs to accreditation by the American Psychological Association. Such an MA program is exemplified. The recommended approach "offers no nirvana" for the PhD clinical psychologist. 5 major benefits from the approach are presented. The greatest problem involved in the approach would be "convincing the agencies concerned of the competency of the MA-level people. It is concluded that the problems and pressures have resulted in tolerance of the ideas that the MA programs should be professionally oriented." (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The older psychologist; his potentials and his problems.

The report of a committee set up by the APA Division of Maturity and Age "… for study of the problems of and possible opportunities for the older psychologist… " is summarized. Returned forms from 123 heads of departments and 180 psychologists 60 years of age and older are analyzed. Findings are discussed and five recommendations are made. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Retarding Effects of Institutionalization upon the Clinical Psychologist.

Reports on a count of the psychological reports--and the average number of words per report--completed by the author, a civil service staff psychologist working within a state school for the mentally retarded, over a period of 4 years. The work of the clinical psychologist in this setting involves primarily testing and evaluation. The neatly descending hierarchy of both number of reports and average quantity per report testifies to the insidious effects of institutional rut, at least upon assessment procedures. (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)     

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)     

Review of Breaking free of managed care: A step-by-step guide to regaining control of your practice.

Reviews the book, Breaking free of managed care: A step-by-step guide to regaining control of your practice by Dana C. Ackley (see record 1997-97500-000). This book provides a practitioner's blueprint for moving from dependent (on managed care) to independent practice. It is organized around three major themes: 1) dealing with managed care; 2) the business of managed care-free therapy; and 3) the array of psychotherapists' services. The reviewer points out that the author tends to overlook some problem areas in psychotherapy. In addition, he takes some of his own skills as a doctoral-level clinical psychologist for granted and fails to appeal to practitioners with minimal training or expertise. However, overall, the reviewer believes that this is a highly enjoyable and practically useful book which provides some guidance to practitioners wanting to "break free from managed care." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Obituaries: Robert Val Guthrie (1930-2005).

Presents an obituary for Robert Val "Bob" Guthrie, once called one of the most "influential and multifaceted African American scholars of the century." Dr. Guthrie's groundbreaking book Even the Rat Was White: A Historical View of Psychology (1976) was a catalyst in bringing into the mainstream of psychology the rich heritage of African American psychologists who were for the most part invisible in psychology. In a long and distinguished career, Dr. Guthrie functioned effectively in all the major roles of a psychologist. He was professor and chair of the Behavioral Sciences Department at San Diego Mesa College, associate professor of psychology and director of the Urban Psychology Program at the University of Pittsburgh, a research psychologist for the National Institute of Education in Washington, DC, and a supervising research psychologist at the Naval Research and Development Center in San Diego. He also spent time as a psychologist in independent practice. Dr. Guthrie enjoyed a career that spanned over 40 years, and he died on November 6, 2005. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When more is less: Quantity versus quality of publications in the evaluation of academic vitae.

244 clinical and 276 experimental psychologists were asked to rate their opinion of a hypothetical psychologist based on 1 of 17 vitae containing a list of the number of publications the psychologist achieved over the previous 3 yrs and the journals in which they appeared. Results show that adding what are perceived to be low-quality publications to a vita will usually hurt, may at times be neutral, and will rarely help academic peer ratings of achievement. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A national survey of APA-affiliated master-level clinicians: Description and comparison.

Presents data on activities and characteristics of 399 American Psychological Association (APA)-affiliated master-level clinicians (mean age 45.8 yrs) in order to compare them with a doctoral APA Division 12 sample of 475 Ss derived from research conducted by J. C. Norcross and J. O. Prochaska (see PA, Vol 68:1987; 6571; and 13544). Master-level clinicians have the professional identity of a clinical practitioner and work in a variety of service-delivery settings engaged in professional clinical activities. Areas exist in which these roles overlap with those of the doctoral-level clinical psychologist. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Graduate training for community clinical psychology.

"In this paper we will review some of the basic principles which seem to underlie the training of psychologists for professional careers in the field of mental health, examine these principles in relation to the developments that have occurred in this field since World War II, explore the implications of these factors for graduate training in psychology in general and clinical psychology in particular, and describe a training program in which we are attempting to apply these principles." The program at the University of Nebraska "has developed over the last 13 years." In it there has been a shift from "teaching psychological tests to teaching the use of psychologist tests as an aid to understanding people's problems." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A history of Division 13 initiatives on education and training in consulting psychology.

Arguably, the Division of Consulting Psychology (Division 13) holds seniority status among the growing numbers of American Psychological Association (APA) divisions. Moreover Division 13 inherits a specific challenge from APA founders: to identify and ascertain which psychologists are qualified to perform as consulting psychologists. APA's 1915 Whiple Resolution first called attention to the need to differentiate professionally qualified psychological examiners and experts from consultants without scientific psychological knowledge and experience who were offering services and opinions for public consumption. The process involved identifying salient knowledge and literature, conducting demographic surveys, determining important training experiences and career settings, and cataloging types of clients and services. Interest in working as a consulting psychologist intensified division efforts to complete and disseminate guidelines for doctoral programs in consulting psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Obituary: Nathaniel N. Wagner (1930-1978).

Nathaniel N. Wagner was born in Brooklyn, New York, on January 31, 1930. He received a BA from Long Island University in 1951 and completed his MA and PhD at Columbia University. From 1956 to 1962, Wagner held various short-term and part-time appointments: Clinical psychologist in the U.S. Army and instructor at the University of Georgia, Pennsylvania State University, Dutchess Community College in New York, and Bard College. His main position during this period was as a clinical psychologist at the Astor Home for Children. In 1962 Wagner came to the University of Washington, where he served as professor of psychology and obstetrics/gynecology and as director of the Clinical Psychology Training Program from 1970 until his death. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is psychologists' involvement in the prescribing of psychotropic medication really a new activity?

How involved in the process of prescribing psychotropic drugs is the average practicing professional psychologist today? The answer is "far more than most people realize." Five hundred ninety-six practicing psychologists responded to a survey reporting the types of professional activities in which they regularly engage. Virtually all responding psychologists reported they were involved in making recommendations for medication evaluations, consulting with physicians about which medications to use with specific patients, and discussing medication-related issues with patients. A generally agreed-on model of psychopharmacology training for professional psychologists should emerge over the next 5 to 10 years. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 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 Psychologist in community mental health.

It is "our belief that the field of community mental health is a challenging and stimulating field for research oriented psychologists. We feel strongly that the identity of the psychologist may be best maintained through a scientist-professional model." Recommendations are made for the future training of psychologists in this field. The individual psychologist "must be assisted by adequate post-doctoral interdisciplinary training in a university setting." Major sections are: Maintenance of an Identity, Scientist and Professional, and Training the Scientist-Professional. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The psychologist of the future: Scientist, professional, or both.

A familiar issue in psychology is the "relation between our science and its applications." As the goal of doctoral training, the present explicit model of the psychologist as the combination scientist-professional is considered. 3 alternative conceptions are considered: (a) to train psychologists exclusively as scientists; (b) exclusively as professionals; (c) to "train two brands, one for scientific work only, the other for professional work only." Each proposal is considered. Criteria proposed "lead me to prefer our present models for training psychologists to any of the alternatives available." Major topic headings are: the scientist-professional conception of the psychologist in practice, alternative conceptions of the psychologist, re-examination of the scientist-professional model, training the scientist-professional, the psychologist of the future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between Psychology and Psychiatry.

In a recent issue of this journal (February 1956), some pertinent factors underlying the relationship between psychiatry and (clinical) psychology were discussed. The principle of "one-way locomotion" can be used to describe the present situation. This freedom to trespass with impunity is a sore spot to many psychologists since there are no legal restraints prohibiting a psychiatrist (or any physician) from performing the recognized functions of a clinical psychologist. The concept of the clinical team, with the hierarchical arrangement of psychiatrist, psychologist, and social worker, deserves further scrutiny. Whether the bulk of psychiatry is willing to support research which might threaten medical pre-eminence remains to be seen. Much depends upon how sincere we all are in the common goals expressed by Brody (Amer. Psychologist, 1956, 11, 105-112): "understanding and helping emotionally and intellectually disturbed people." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Obituary: Bruce Victor Moore (1891-1977).

Bruce Victor Moore was the first person to receive the PhD in industrial psychology in America. It was awarded to him in 1921 by the Carnegie Institute of Technology, now Carnegie-Mellon University. Moore was born in Kokomo, Indiana, on September 9, 1891. Prior to his work at Carnegie Tech, he received an AB and an MA in psychology from Indiana University, taught high school for two years, and started further graduate work at Columbia University. This was interrupted by World War I. He was one of the first enlisted men in the U.S. Army's Division of Psychology, where he was assigned as a psychologist at Walter Reed Hospital. Following the war he went on to Carnegie Tech, which quickly became a center for industrial psychology. In 1920, while completing his graduate work, Moore was made assistant professor of psychology at the Pennsylvania State College (now University). By 1928 he had attained the rank of professor and had been appointed head of the Psychology Department. He served very efficiently as an administrator until his first retirement in 1952. Following his retirement from Penn State in 1952, Moore joined the central office staff of the American Psychological Association, where he served for seven years as the Executive Officer for the Education and Training Board. His excellent work there was a measure of his outstanding administrative talents. Next he was invited to be a visiting professor of psychology at the University of Miami, specifically to assist in the development of the graduate program. He remained at Miami for three years, 1959-1962; during the final year he served as department head. His last 15 years were spent in State College, Pennsylvania, where he died on November 14, 1977. Moore was moderately tall, slight of build, quiet in manner, persistent in his motivation, steadfast in meeting his responsibilities, and universally respected. His two marriages were very successful and brought him security and happiness. The first, to Elsie Kohler in 1924, terminated in her death in 1967 and gave him one daughter, Mary Ellen Moore Kinnaird. The second was in 1969 to Winona Morgan, a fellow child psychologist who still resides in State College. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction: Psychology's view of managed care.

This introduction to the series of surveys on psychologist reactions to managed care presents an overview of the topics, findings, and conclusions of these surveys done through the American Psychological Association's Practice Directorate, Division 42, and the New Jersey Psychological Association. The results of these studies give a meaningful base for references to psychologist attitudes and reactions to the force of managed care on the profession. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology and the mental health movement.

The following points are elaborated: "1. Among many other things, mental health is a vast social movement which, for better or for worse, will carry us all along with it. 2. Psychologists, for a number of reasons, have not been enthusiastic participators in this social movement. 3. Psychologists have a great deal to contribute to the mental health movement, and they can contribute mightily without loss of identity." Mental health as a social movement seems due to three factors: (a) The tendency to conceive human behavior in naturalistic terms. (b) The American belief in the almost infinite improvability of almost anything. (c) The rising level of aspiration for health and well-being. The scientific humility of the psychologist "can become maladaptive diffidence, and diffidence sometimes becomes irresponsibility." 6 suggestions for dealing with diffidence are indicated. The psychologists perceptions of mental health, the orientation of the movement toward the "pathological," and the focus on the clinical may have discouraged the interests of psychologists in mental health. The unique contribution of the psychologist to mental health is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)