A survey of APA- and non-APA-approved internship programs.

A survey questionnaire eliciting information on the number of internships offered, average salary of interns, selection criteria, and percentages of work time was sent to 294 American Psychological Association (APA)- and non-APA-approved internship sites. Results of this study and the new criteria for accreditation indicate that students from approved doctoral programs have a definite advantage in the internship marketplace. Sufficient evidence exists, however, to conclude that students from non-APA-approved programs may be encouraged to risk competing for APA-approved internships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Practicum training hours: Fact and fantasy.

Over the past five years, practicum experience has received increased attention as an important element in the sequence of training. Questions have arisen about the number of hours being counted and the activities occurring in practicum. This study examined the number of practicum hours accrued by comparing the actual number of direct service hours and total hours to an estimated length of time to complete those hours. Based on self-reports, it was estimated that graduate students spend between 2 and 7 years to accrue their practicum hours with 37.5 to 69.6% of that time in direct service. Implications for the profession, faculty, and students are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex therapy for the spinal cord injured client: Suggestions for professionals.

Reviews the literature that discusses the treatment of sexual problems experienced by spinal-cord-injured (SCI) persons. The effects of SCIs on sexual response and performance are described. Sex therapy interventions including support, education, behavioral and couple modifications, and intrapsychic changes are outlined. Suggestions for helping SCI clients express their sexuality are offered. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Internship selection: Inclusion and exclusion criteria.

As an internship applicant, do you know what internship agencies look for to select or exclude you from further consideration? In a survey, the authors examined exclusion and inclusion criteria used at 402 internship sites accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA). The 249 respondents (62%) rated fit between applicant goals and site opportunities as the most important inclusion criteria. Four exclusion criteria (lack of completion of orals, lack of APA status of doctoral program, poor fit between applicant goals and site opportunities, and incomplete doctoral course work) were most commonly used to eliminate applicants from consideration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Life-long learning for psychologists: Current status and a vision for the future.

As a profession we are committed to maintaining and enhancing our competence as psychologists in order to most effectively serve the public throughout our careers. While this is a widely shared commitment among psychologists, there is considerably less consensus regarding how best to accomplish this goal. This dilemma is examined from the ethical, educational and legal perspectives. The American Psychological Association (APA) Ethics Code clearly articulates that competence is an ethical duty, although there is little guidance provided in the code as to how to meet this standard. As a profession we have tended to focus on the construct of life-long learning and we have incorporated this principle into our education and training standards. In fact, APA accreditation requires that doctoral programs inculcate this value into our foundational training. The majority of Psychology Licensing Boards have addressed this issue through the endorsement of mandatory continuing education requirements that primarily focus on hours and the content or structure of approved programs. Potential limitations to our ability to effectively self-assess our professional training needs are discussed and several innovative models are presented for integrating effective self-assessment and continuing education. Three invited experts provide commentaries that further explore the challenges and dilemmas posed by the ethical, legal and professional duty to maintain and enhance competence throughout our professional careers. These commentaries broaden the considerations, provide practical suggestions from other professions and provide a vision for the future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Forests, grazing areas, water supplies, and the internship imbalance problem: Redefining the paradigm to implement effective change.

We are frustrated with the internship imbalance. Twenty years ago, those of us involved in academic training programs prepared students in our doctoral programs for the internship application process by meeting with them for an hour and giving them a few pointers. Now, the focus on securing an internship seems to pervade all aspects of doctoral education. We listen to students worry that they don’t have sufficient hours, assessment experience, or diverse practicum placements. As the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) Match approaches, we meet with students more frequently, helping them to prepare their applications and carefully construct their list of internship sites. We devote time helping students to complete the APPIC Application for Psychology Internship (AAPI), prepare for interviews, and rank sites. Those of us who are involved in internship training programs spend extensive hours reviewing hundreds of applications in Phase I and Phase II of the APPIC Match. We respond to applicant concerns, questions, and anxiety. And all of us try to provide support and consolation, as well as some understanding about “what went wrong” to those students who aren’t matched. When we have a moment, we look beyond the students in front of us and worry about the future of our profession. How is it possible that we’ve gotten ourselves into this mess? Hatcher’s (this issue, pp. 126 –140) article (a manifesto, if you will) has the potential to point us in a new direction. Our hope is that each of you, like us, will view Hatcher’s article as the beginning of a paradigm shift in terms of how we characterize this problem and its potential solutions. His innovative and bold view of how the professional training community can work collaboratively to reorganize has the potential to effectively impact the internship imbalance and the quality of the profession as a whole. By likening the internship imbalance to a resource management issue similar to what has been encountered in regard to other resources such as crops and forests, Hatcher provides us with an opportunity to rise above our own positions to draw upon existing, evidence-based approaches to cooperative solutions that can benefit all involved. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Examining the balance of internship supply and demand: 1999 Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers' match implications.

Over the past several years, students, academic program faculty, and internship training directors have become increasingly concerned about the inequity between the demand for predoctoral internship slots and the limited supply of those placements. This article presents data from the 1999 Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers' (APPIC) Match, along with the results of 2 studies conducted by the authors. Results indicate that the number of internship positions available in the U.S. and Canada may be nearly balanced with the number of first-time internship applicants and that the current imbalance may result, in large part, from a carryover of unplaced applicants from previous selection processes. Furthermore, approximately ? of unmatched applicants are able to find internship positions subsequent to the conclusion of the matching process, although many of these positions are in non-American Psychological Association-accredited and non-APPIC-member programs. Implications of these findings for the profession and for student applicants are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Variables related to premature terminations in a university counseling service: A reply to Saltzman's (1984) comment.

The authors respond to comments by C. Saltzman (see record 1984-30126-001) regarding their (see record 1983-11046-001) examination of variables related to premature termination in a university counseling service. Specifically discussed are Saltzman's concerns regarding the meaningfulness of the results, the citation of previous research, the definition of premature termination, and the operational definitions and procedures used. Issues involved in undertaking research using an existing data base and the influence of organizational/administrative factors on counseling process are also considered. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Empirical search for psychotherapists' gender competence in psychotherapy.

Over the past half century, psychotherapy research has demonstrated that psychotherapy outcomes do not vary based on clients’ gender (Clarkin & Levy, 2004; Garfield, 1994; Wierzbicki & Pekarik, 1993). However, most studies assumed that all psychotherapists are equally competent to treat men and women, thus potentially missing essential information about variations in psychotherapy outcomes. In fact, there is a paucity of studies that have examined if psychotherapists’ gender competence truly exists. We propose that psychotherapists’ gender competence should be defined as the psychotherapist’s ability to achieve positive psychotherapy outcomes with either female or male clients. This study examined the relationship between clients’ gender and psychotherapy outcomes and if psychotherapists varied in their abilities to produce positive psychotherapy outcomes for female and male clients. The sample included 93 male and 229 female clients treated by 31 psychotherapists. Consistent with previous research, the results demonstrated that clients’ gender was not related to psychotherapy outcomes. However, compared to other psychotherapists, some psychotherapists were better at treating men, whereas others were better at treating women. The results of this study demonstrate that psychotherapists’ gender competence exists and relates directly to the psychotherapy outcomes (i.e., psychological well-being) of clients. Implications for psychotherapy practice, training, and research are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Variables related to premature terminations in a university counseling service.

Investigated the influence of sex and experience level of intaker and assigned counselor, sex of client, and administrative variables (length of initial interview, days from intake to assignment, and days from intake to 1st session) on premature terminations of counseling. Ss were 359 students receiving individual therapy at a university counseling center. Administrative variables were the major factors related to premature terminations. Neither client's nor counselor's sex had any effect on terminations, but lower levels of counselor experience were associated with higher numbers of nonreturning clients. The smaller percentage of clients who terminated prematurely in this study compared to previous studies (e.g., D. Epperson, 1981) may have resulted from the different definition of premature terminations used. (4 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)