Historical understanding and teaching in professional psychology

The teaching of the history of psychology in professional psychology training programs presents to students and teachers any number of opportunities and challenges. The increasing number of professional psychologists teaching the history of psychology coupled with advances in historical scholarship point to an ongoing evolution in the teaching of the history of psychology. In this introduction to the articles that follow, issues of content and context in teaching the history of psychology in professional psychology are discussed and affirmations offered.     

The professional identity of counselling psychologists in health care: a review and call for research

Despite (a) anecdotal evidence which suggests that it is possible to be a counselling psychologist in non-traditional settings, and (b) the potential integration of counselling psychology foci with the medical model, there has been some discussion about whether counselling psychologists who practice in health care settings might experience a change in their professional identity. Professional identity is defined here as a sense of connection to the values and emphases of counselling psychology. The retention of professional identity seems important for counselling psychologists in health care settings. This is considering that the application of counselling psychology principles has the potential to make their contributions unique among mental health professionals in the health care arena. Here, the authors describe the evolution of ‘counselling health psychology’ and address issues of professional identity. Limitations of existing literature are examined. Recommendations for future research are also made.     

Raising Our Game: The Necessity and Progression of Expertise-Based Training in Applied Sport Psychology

At present, training in applied sport psychology chiefly targets and accelerates professional competence. However, theory and evidence suggests that our clients would experience significant benefit if our training targeted and accelerated professional expertise rather than just competence. Specifically, we argue that expertise-based training can (a) help trainees to go on to break the “thinking ceiling” of competence; (b) foster a more independent, flexible, and creative form of practice; and (c) support a longer term and more practitioner-centered training philosophy. To deliver these benefits, we then conclude by outlining some key principles for the progression of expertise-based training in applied sport psychology.

Lay Summary: In light of the inconsistencies that still surround professional training in ASP, we discuss the merits that a more expertise-based agenda can bring to practitioners and, most important, our clients. We also discuss ways in which this agenda can be progressed to support an evidence-informed evolution of ASP training systems.     

Counselling psychology in the United States

Counseling psychology (CP) emerged in the US as the result of the convergence of a number of trends in early applied psychology, a number of social factors, as well as changes in the organizational structure of the American Psychological Association. We offer an overview of the history of counseling psychology in the US, focusing on key events that have helped establish and shape the profession. Struggles over the definition of CP as a specialty and its relations with clinical psychology and professional counseling are discussed, as are matters related to the licensing of CP practitioners, and the profession’s relationships with counseling-related professional organizations. The educational and professional preparation of CPs, the profession’s core values that affect both training in and the practice of counseling psychology, and the settings in which CPs work are briefly described. We close with a discussion of several of the challenges facing CP as it is organized and institutionalized in the US.     

It's the only dream I know

The decade immediately following World War II was a time of rapid growth for clinical psychology. School psychology, slightly behind chronologically, also expanded quickly. The past 30 years have in fact been an era of great excitement in our society and in our schools. Atleast that is the opinion of the author of this article, whose career as a school psychologist is chronicled here, with references to societal mores as well as professional experiences. This is the story of a practitioner, a grass roots participant in the history of school psychology.     

Reviewing psychologists' qualifications for career development practice in Australia

Vocational psychology and the practice of career development are important dimensions of the psychology discipline and profession. This paper contains an overview of Australian career development practice in light of recent trends, particularly the formalisation of career development practice among professions other than psychologists. Given the advent of professional standards for Australian career development practitioners, a review of postgraduate degrees in organisational, developmental and educational, and counselling psychology was conducted to determine their correspondence with the competencies presented in the Standards. The review found significant consistency with generic competencies. Degrees in organisational psychology provided the broadest correspondence, while degrees in counselling, developmental and educational psychology had lower levels of correspondence on specific competencies. The implications of the review are discussed in light of the evolution of the career development industry and psychologists' standing in this field.     

International school psychology: psychology's worldwide portal to children and youth

International school psychology is discussed in reference to scholarly and professional development within psychology, the emergence of an international association of school psychology, its efforts to promote school psychology, prevailing characteristics of school psychologists, and additional efforts needed to further enhance its development. Nine issues that will help shape the future of international school psychology are also identified. The importance of psychology, including school psychology, in promoting children's needs and rights is underscored.     

Psychologists in (Neoliberal) Schools – What Kind of Marriage?

The paper aims to discuss how school psychology broadly is influenced by neoliberalism. Neoliberalism has attracted great attention among sociologists and economist, but less so among psychologists. This is a paradox since the psychological reach of neoliberalism is massive. The paper analyzes how new (neoliberal) school reforms place new professional demands on schools and therefore also new kinds of professional demands on school psychologists. Among other things, it is discussed whether the notion of resilience can act as a future guiding principle for school psychologists. The paper concludes with three suggestions as to how school psychologists can cope with some of the challenges imposed by neoliberalism. I suggest that school psychologists; 1) have to start asking educational questions to educational matters, 2) that they have to be aware of the political aspects of school psychology and 3) that they start acting against the corrosion of professional identity.     

Health Psychology in Catalonia in 2000: Current View and Future Perspective

This report describes the current status of health psychology in the nation of Catalonia (Spain). Emphasis is placed upon autonomy and self-governance, which have progressively influenced the structure and functioning of the health care system and the professional colleges. The current university educational model of training and practice in health psychology is reviewed. The most important characteristics of professional psychologists are presented. A critical view of health psychology research in medical settings and future perspectives of health psychology in Catalonia are also discussed.     

Job Opportunities/Issues for Health Care Psychologists: The Coming of the Millennium

Job opportunities for psychology for the next decade are being influenced by ongoing shifts in our economic system and resultant general employment practices. As with many burgeoning fields, psychology is experiencing increasing diversification into subspecialities. Professionals in other fields are acquiring supplementary degrees in psychology to heighten their psychological knowledge and professional/organization skills. Thus, psychology is beginning to be viewed, like the MBA, as an important professional degree for many fields, not just mental health or teaching. Training programs are reflecting these diversification trends. Further, as professional applications at the doctoral level expand, there is increasing need for the master's-level technical competence to support the increasing specialities at the doctoral level. These changes represent the creative response of a young and vigorous profession to the challenges of changing market dynamics.     

A call for dialogue: psychotherapists and psychologists specialising in psychotherapy

The development of psychotherapy as an independent discipline in many countries in Europe has stimulated debate within the field of psychology as to what constitutes psychotherapy as a specialism of psychology. The authors, both clinical psychologists who pursued further training in psychotherapy, offer a reflection in this paper on the historical battle between psychiatry and psychology for ‘ownership’ of psychotherapy, describe recent developments in Europe to clarify this specialism within psychology and discuss the distinctive contributions that psychologists offer in developing psychotherapy as a specialism within the discipline. The aim of the paper is to begin a dialogue both within the profession of psychology and outside the profession, with our psychotherapy colleagues, that can develop into an interdisciplinary discourse and a more mutually respectful professional environment.     

2001 SEYMOUR B. SARASON AWARD ADDRESS: The Spirit of Community Psychology

Community psychology as a field may have lost some of its original spirit; a spirit dominant at the founding of the field. Spirit is a difficult concept to discuss since it is a concept beyond usual discourse in psychology as a denotative, measurable and verifiable concept. Taking the lead from William James, Spirit, however elusive, is most essential to a sense of self. I offer three suggestions to enhance and to make our individual and collective spirit more vital: (1) Continuing education in the history of community psychology; (2) Creating time to share stories about our work; (3) Creating safe settings to enlarge our spirit. These ideas are offered as pragmatic suggestions to enable us to create more coherence between our personal and professional selves.     

Professional beliefs related to the practice of pediatric medicine and school psychology

This article proposes that pediatric medicine and school psychology are complementary fields. Five professional beliefs are reviewed: (a) the importance of classification, (b) a preference for evidence-based interventions, (c) an endorsement of advocacy in public policy, (d) the importance of working with the whole child including his/her parents, and (e) an assertion of team leadership. Each belief is discussed as a core value of pediatric medicine and considered for points of connection with school psychology. Some of these beliefs are widely shared by school psychologists, others are rejected because of historical and situational factors, and all warrant consideration in light of school psychology's continuing evolution.     

Evidence-Based Practice in Psychology: An Ethical Framework for Graduate Education,Clinical Training,and Maintaining Professional Competence

Evidence-based practice is often acknowledged as the future state of psychology, yet those graduate students who will soon be applying such practices tend to hold several misconceptions about the major components within this framework. This review highlights implications for graduate education, clinical training, and professional competence in light of the movement toward evidence-based practice in psychology. These implications are discussed in relation to the close parallel between the major components of the evidence-based framework and the current Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. The evidence-based framework is discussed as an ideology that promotes lifelong learning and best prepares graduate students for ethical clinical practice throughout their careers as psychologists.     

Sport psychology service delivery: staying ethical while keeping loose

Although the parent discipline of sport psychology is psychology, the delivery of sport psychology services has its main roots in physical education and sports science (motor learning and control, skill acquisition). Thus, sport psychologists may look more like coaches than they look like clinicians or counselors. In this article, the authors trace the evolution of sport psychology services and contrast the temporal, spatial, and delivery issues of applied sport psychology with more mainstream counseling and clinical psychology. The looser boundaries of sport psychologist practice have both benefits and dangers, and the authors offer some examples to professional psychologists who are thinking of expanding their delivery of service to athletes and coaches.     

Advocacy Versus Scholarship Revisited: Issues in the Psychology of Women

The apparently contradictory relationship between advocacy and scholarship is examined in this article, which attempts to determine how much of the dilemma is due to the nature of the psychology of women itself and how much is a result of interaction with the social institutions of academia and the structure of psychology as a scientific discipline. Factors which impede the legitimization of new paradigms are discussed from a sociology of knowledge perspective. The additional dilemmas of women as scientists, women as a content area, and feminism as a theoretical conception are also considered. It is suggested that professional legitimacy is a property largely conferred by those outside the field and that collective rather than personal activities will determine the extent to which the psychology of women will affect the field as a whole.     

Teaching history and systems from a clinical perspective

There is a need to make the teaching of the history and systems of psychology course more relevant for students in professional training programs. Most typical courses and textbooks are oriented around the history of the science of psychology, giving scant and generally passing attention to the development of the profession of psychology. The author draws on his experience teaching a history and systems course in PsyD programs and provides a structure for enhancing the relevancy of such courses in professional training programs. Two frameworks are used. The author develops a conceptualization of 4 archetypes as defining of the range of roles, activities, contexts, and justification of professional psychologists: (a) the shaman/priest, (b) the physician, (c) the teacher, and (d) the scientist. Stephen Pepper's (1942) world hypothesis theory, which characterizes the epistemic approaches underlying modern science and philosophy, is used to organize the development of the science of psychology. The integration of these 2 frameworks is discussed, and the circular modifications that flow from it are outlined.     

Historically grounding the practice of psychology: implications for professional training

The author explores 3 ways the history of psychology can be made relevant to professional training in clinical psychology. Focusing on the practitioner-scholar model of clinical professional training, he argues that 3 central facets of historical understanding can be wedded to existing goals of professional training: (a) providing an interdisciplinary context for psychology, (b) addressing concerns about humans in the field, and (c) mediating theory-practice tensions that often exist in professional training. Suggestions are also made for encouraging historical understanding as essential to fostering critical self-reflection among students preparing for careers in professional psychology.