Training in health psychology: An international look

With the progression of health psychology as a new field in psychology specific training programs are more and more needed. A survey of the training situation of health psychology in Northern America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand highlighted a lack of formalized training programs in most countries except the United States and Canada, as well as an enormous variety between countries on standards of training, and on the differentiation of health psychologists from clinical psychologists.

For the qualification of health psychology as an independent psychological discipline a plea is made for international standardization of quality control and suggestions for the content of formalized training programs in health psychology are given.     

PSYCHOLOGY IN HONG KONG*

Western psychology has had only a brief history in Hong Kong. However, it has grown considerably in the last two decades and is now firmly established academically and professionally. Currently, the Hong Kong Psychological Society has about 200 members and affiliates. Postgraduate training in research and in professional (clinical and educational) psychology is offered on a limited scale. Academic psychologists are active in research and in international bodies. Among practitioners, clinical psychologists number about 60 and educational psychologists about 20 - already among the largest in Asia. Two considerations are paramount in discussing future directions: to develop a psychology with indigenous roots, and to face the challenge of changing sociopolitical realities posed by the return of Hong Kong to China's sovereignty in 1997.     

Suicide assessment and evaluation strategies: a primer for counselling psychologists

Suicide is a recognized national health risk in many countries. In order to effectively intervene in suicidal crises, it is important for mental health professionals to understand facts about suicidal behaviour, procedures for assessing an individual's risk of self-harm, and the evaluation of the lethality of a client's suicidal gestures. With updated knowledge and proper training, counselling psychologists can play a vital role in suicide prevention. This paper summarizes for counselling psychologists current statistics about suicide, general and specific risk factors for suicidality, and assessment tools used to evaluate suicidal risk.     

Medical Psychology Services in Dutch General Hospitals: State of the Art Developments and Recommendations for the Future

In this article an overview is presented of the emergence of medical psychology in the care of somatically ill patients. The situation in the Netherlands can be considered as prototypical. For 60 years, clinical psychologists have been working in general, teaching and academic hospitals. Nowadays, they are an integrated non-medical specialism working in the medical setting of hospitals in the Netherlands, and are a full-member of the medical board. This paper discusses several topics: the position of the general hospital in the health care system in the Netherlands, the emergence of medical psychology in Dutch hospitals, the role of the professional association of medical psychologists, and the characteristics of patients seen by clinical psychologists. Following the discussion about the situation of medical psychology in other countries, recommendations are formulated for the further development of medical psychology in the Netherlands as well as in other countries.     

Internationalizing counselling: A Southeast Asian perspective

To learn about our Southeast Asian colleagues’ views on internationalizing counselling psychology to Asian cultures, we interviewed eight counselling psychologists who had received their doctoral training in the United States. Four of the participants were currently practicing and teaching in their native countries and four in the United States. Using the basic principles of Grounded Theory [Glaser, B., & Strauss, A. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory. Chicago, IL: Aldine.], we derived two themes from the data: (1) major assumptions in US counselling psychology that may limit its transferability to Southeast Asian cultures and (2) practices in learning, training, and cultural adjusting for future development and internationalization of counselling psychology. The participants emphasized the need for indigenization and knowledge sharing in the efforts to internationalize counselling psychology.     

Usage légal du titre de « psychothérapeute » : stratégies des acteurs concernés

The law proposal of the deputy Bernard Accoyer adopted by the National Assembly the 13th of March 1999, after many debates, finally led to a law article on use of psychotherapist title. Several consultation meetings with professional organizations in the Health Ministry took place about its future application decree, nevertheless without a consensus because of the contradictory interests for people practising psychotherapy. Are concerned two regulated professions — psychologists and physicians — and two types of non-regulated activities, psychoanalysts and “psychotherapists” which are not physicians and not psychologists. These last ones defend in France, as it's the fact in some other european countries, the creation of the independant profession of “psychotherapist”; a minority part of psychoanalysts societies support them, leant upon the principle of practice liberty. The opinion differences are focused on the training criteria in psychopathology required by the law, some organizations disputing that this training be a university monopoly. Another ambiguity deals with the law gives a miss about the actual psychotherapy training, the Senate having chosen for the minimum requirement of a psychopathology training. The subject of this paper is to come back on the strategies and the identity stakes of actors mobilized during the different drafts of this law proposal and to prepare the ground about the ideological positions underlying by these strategies.     

A global portrait of counselling psychologists’ characteristics,perspectives, and professional behaviors

Counseling psychologists in eight countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States) responded to survey questions that focused on their demographics as well as their professional identities, roles, settings, and activities. As well, they were asked about satisfaction with the specialty and the extent to which they endorsed 10 core counseling psychology values. This article reports those results, focusing both on areas in which there were between-country similarities as well as on those for which there were differences. These data provide a snapshot of counseling psychology globally and establish a foundation for the other articles in this special issue of the journal.     

Educational psychology in England and Wales

This paper describes the work of educational psychologists in England and Wales, within the context of the educational system in this part of the United Kingdom. The school system and its relationship to local national control is discussed. The development of psychological services is considered from their origin in 1913 to the present day, and data are given concerning the demographic aspects of the profession and current patterns of training. Current major contributions of educational psychologists are reviewed in a context of change consequent upon development from within the profession and that forced upon the profession by recent legislation, in particular the 1981 Education Act which, for the first time, gives educational psychologists a statuary role, in the assessment of children's special educational needs.     

Pediatrician/Psychologist Collaboration: Opportunities for Clinical Child Psychologists

In the United States, pediatricians prescribe the majority of medications used to treat children with psychological disorders, such as ADHD. However, because pediatricians have limited background in psychology or psychiatry, opportunities exist for properly trained clinical child psychologists to assist pediatricians in assessing and treating youngsters with psychological disorders. Psychologists with additional training in psychopharmacology can make even greater contributions by helping pediatricians select and monitor appropriate medications. This paper reviews models of consultation that are especially relevant to psychologists who seek to expand their practice by consulting with pediatricians. Consultant-centered models seem most appropriate in private practice settings, but institutionally employed psychologists have opportunities to also utilize some system-centered approaches. Examples of methods in which pediatric clinical psychologists and child psychologists with psychopharmacology training can assist pediatricians in treating a child with ADHD are discussed.     

Testing Practices and Attitudes Toward Tests and Testing: An International Survey

On behalf of the International Test Commission and the European Federation of Psychologists' Associations a world-wide survey on the opinions of professional psychologists on testing practices was carried out. The main objective of this study was to collect data for a better understanding of the state of psychological testing worldwide. These data could guide the actions and measures taken by ITC, EFPA, and other stakeholders. A questionnaire was administered to 20,467 professional psychologists from 29 countries. Five scales were constructed relating to: concern over incorrect test use, regulations on tests and testing, internet and computerized testing, appreciation of tests, and knowledge and training relating to test use. Equivalence across countries was evaluated using the alignment method, four scales demonstrated acceptable levels of invariance. Multilevel analysis was used to determine how scores were related to age, gender, and specialization, as well as how scores varied between countries. Although the results show a high appreciation of tests in general, the appreciation of internet and computerized testing is much lower. These scales show low variability over countries, whereas differences between countries on the other reported scales are much greater. This implies the need for some overarching improvements as well as country-specific actions.     

Survey of School Psychologists' Attitudes,Feelings, and Exposure to Gay and Lesbian Parents and Their Children

Abstract

School psychologists' attitudes and feelings toward gay and lesbian parents were surveyed in relation to their training and exposure, and professional services offered to gay and lesbian parents and their children. The relationship between attitudes, feelings, training, exposure, and demographic characteristics was explored as well. A stratified random sample of 500 school psychologists who were members of NASP was surveyed using a 30-item questionnaire. Out of the 500 surveys sent, 267 school psychologists (53.4%) returned them. Overall, school psychologists have positive attitudes and feelings toward gay and/or lesbian parents. More specifically, school psychologists who were female, homosexual/bisexual, or living in the Western region of the United States had significantly more positive attitudes and feelings toward gay and/or lesbian parents. Although few school psychologists (30%) received any formalized training, those who had some training indicated more positive attitudes. The majority of school psychologists (89.4%) reported having personal associations with homosexual individuals. More exposure to homosexual individuals by a school psychologist indicated more positive attitudes as well as feelings. Implications of the findings and future research directions are discussed.     

Psychologists versus psychologists: evaluating the claims of psychologists who publicly criticize their profession

Since the 1990s, 7 psychologists have written books for a public audience expressing great dissatisfaction with mental health practitioners. These critics represent 4 English-speaking countries: Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Those psychologists make 3 basic arguments: (a) any improvements attributed to psychotherapy are due to placebo effect, (b) psychological assessments have little value, and (c) clinicians do not meet the legal standards to qualify as experts in a court of law. The present author examines these arguments and concludes that these concerns are unfounded. The exception is that several forensic psychologists had been using tests that were invalid for legal purposes, but this situation has shown gradual improvement in the past 15 years.     

PSYCHOLOGY IN A NON-WESTERN COUNTRY*

Most psychological phenomena are intrinsically culture bound. Psychological theories developed in one culture may not automatically be generalizable to the behavior of the people of another culture. The psychology as a science primarily developed in Europe and America, based on the behavioral data of Western people studied by the psychologists grew in the Western culture. This obviously limits the applicability of psychology as it is to developing countries. This does not mean, however, that there should be as many psychologies as there are cultures. More generally valid psychology will emerge by identifying what is culturally specific in the main stream psychology and adopting new concepts of general applicability from other cultures. In the article below, stages of interaction between Western psychology and indigenous thought are described based on the history of psychology in Japan.     

The Future of Psychology in Medical Specialities: Introduction to the Special Issue

The continuing evolution of the health care delivery system in the United States presents threats and opportunities to psychologists in medical settings. This special issue explores the future of psychology in psychiatry, family medicine, rehabilitation, geriatric medicine, and pediatric medicine. The challenges facing neuropsychology and pain management are explored also. Finally, the professional issues of ethics in managed care, psychology in the public sector, and training future psychologists are addressed. Each paper summarizes concerns and provides recommendations for clinical practice, research, and training.     

Systemic Considerations: Factors Facilitating and Impeding the Development of Psychology in Developing Countries

Systemic factors that influence the development of psychology in developing countries are explored. Such factors include socio-political considerations, influences from other countries, public perceptions of psychology, relationships with other disciplines, training of psychologists, economic constraints, and research orientations. Because of the scarcity of resources and the widespread desire to modernize, the perceived applied value of psychology in developing countries has a major impact on its development. Student preference for choosing psychology as a major, the allocation of funding to psychology departments, and the status of psychology in relation to other disciplines partly depend on the applied value of the discipline. Thus, to facilitate its development, psychology must be seen as useful, and applied research should be emphasized. However, applied research should be backed up by the necessary basic research. Indigenization is also necessary so that psychological research is effective in addressing local problems.     

Report of the Working Group on Education and Training

Prepared by the Working Group on Education and Training from the November 1995 Georgetown conference sponsored by the Association of Medical School Psychologists, this paper focuses upon the education and training of psychologists and education and training of other health care professionals about psychology in academic medical settings. Seven specific topic recommendations are offered that help psychologists define their educational and training missions into the next century.     

A Cross-National Study of Family Therapy Training: A Collaborative Pilot Project

We examine family therapy training from the perspective of a sample of 99 family therapists from the United States and another 101 from a total of six countries (Colombia, India, Iran, Indonesia, the Philippines, and two regions of China, mainland China and Taiwan). We compared the responses of the United States sample to that of the other countries, both individually (for trends) and as a combined group. We found differences in training experiences both within and between countries, and discuss the implications of our findings for the continued development of family therapy training and the professionalization of the field in the countries studied.     

Closing the gaps: developmental psychopathology as a training model for clinical child psychology

Espouses developmental psychopathology as a framework for training our future leaders due to its emphasis on an ecological, transactional lifespan perspective, as well as interdisciplinary bridging and policy focus. This perspective, used as a framework for questioning and thinking about the complex interplay of psychological and social phenomena, provides a method for closing the gaps in training future psychologists as it allows for the development of niche expertise under an umbrella of the broader, ecological perspective. In an increasingly complex world of shrinking mental health dollars and growing severity of mental health problems for families and youth, clinical psychologists are needed more than ever to solve social problems. The current training paradigms in clinical child psychology programs need redirection and clarification for future psychologists to contribute meaningfully to science, practice, and policy. This article provides background in the history and influence of the developmental psychopathology perspective, as well as future implications for doctoral training programs in clinical psychology.     

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN PSYCHOLOGY WITHIN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

The state of psychology in China at the present time is discussed in the context of trends, continuities, and discontinuities in development of the discipline over the last 60 years. The work of psychologists was severely disrupted between 1966 and 1976 by the activities of the ‘gang of four’. Although there is in effect a lost generation of psychologists, teaching and research have been vigorously re-established in the colleges and universities. In the Institute of Psychology, which forms part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 90 psychologists are carrying out research primarily in developmental psychology, perception, physiological and pathological psychology, and psychological theories and systems. The Chinese Psychological. Society resumed activities in 1977, and Acta Psychologica Sinica reappeared in 1979 with a circulation of 10,000 copies. Psychology in China is international in its perspective, and Chinese psychologists have welcomed many recent opportunities to establish contacts with colleagues in other countries.