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.     

The question is: what is medicine supposed to be all about?

The Hippocratic Oath has survived, with overriding power, the test of time. Written somewhere between 600 B.C. and 100 A.D., it addresses the intrinsic nature of medicine. Even those of us who know little of it or reject parts of it acknowledge it to be a symbol of the values of medicine. Such "canonization" is unlikely to be arbitrary; it is more likely that the oath strikes some key chord of truth. I suggest that it is its drive to the heart of medicine that makes the Hippocratic Oath inspiring today.     

An Ethical Decision-Making Model for Operational Psychology

Operational psychology is an emerging subdiscipline that has enhanced the U.S. military's combat capabilities during the Global War on Terrorism. What makes this subdiscipline unique is its use of psychological principles and skills to improve a commander's decision making as it pertains to conducting combat (or related operations). Due to psychology's expanding role in combat support, psychologists are being confronted with challenges that require the application of their professional ethics in areas in which little if any guidance has been provided. Operational psychologists are at the forefront of this expansion. Accordingly, they need a decision model to assist them in this complex dynamic environment. To this end, this article reviews various decision models and ethical frameworks, selects the most appropriate, and then applies it to the challenges faced by operational psychologists. A naturalistic decision model that integrates rational and intuitive elements is recommended.     

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.     

Elucidating the Power in Empowerment and the Participation in Participatory Action Research: A Story About Research Team and Elementary School Change

Community psychologists are increasingly using Participatory Action Research (PAR) as a way to promote social justice by creating conditions that foster empowerment. Yet, little attention has been paid to the differences between the power structure that PAR advocates and the local community power structures. This paper seeks to evaluate the level of participation in a PAR project for multiple stakeholder groups, determine how PAR was adjusted to better fit community norms, and whether our research team was able to facilitate the emergence of PAR by adopting an approach that was relevant to the existing power relations. We conclude that power differences should not be seen as roadblocks to participation, but rather as moments of opportunity for the researchers to refine their methods and for the community and the community psychologist to challenge existing power structures.     

知识划界、追赶焦虑与中国本土心理学的理论建构导向

科学心理学以方法为中心的知识建构策略,内在地要求它与常识心理学划界以谋求自然科学分支的学科地位,其代价是对人类心理之情感与意义维度的隔离。在移植西方心理学体系的过程中,科学心理学的争议也内含于中国心理学的发展轨迹中,同时还附加了学术边陲地区特有的学科追赶焦虑。中国本土心理学理论应突破科学至上的观念束缚,致力于发展具有现实解释力和价值引导力的人文主义导向的心理学理论,以切实解决中国现实社会中的心理问题,并在世界心理学界发出真正的中国声音。     

A new role for psychologists--hospital ethics committees

Over the past decade psychology has begun to appreciate that it represents more than "merely mental health care" and has become increasingly involved in the generic health care arena. The participation of psychologists in Hospital Ethics Committees (HECs) is presented as a professional activity for which psychologists are particularly well suited. The clinical mission of HECs, the historical importance of ethical considerations to psychology, and the field's specific training and psycho-social expertise suggest valuable contributions that psychologists can make in this particular area. Further, as psychology actively increases its participation in HECs, other professional disciplines outside of the mental health field will systematically have the opportunity to become more familiar with psychology and its clinical and research expertise.     

The senile mind: psychology and old age in the 1930s and 1940s

In the 1930s, some psychologists began to study and discuss the normal and pathological mental abilities of old age. This paper explores this research and its implications for an emerging definition of old age in the 1930s and 1940s. The argument is that these psychologists explained old age in terms of tests they had performed on children and young adults. In addition, these professionals projected their culturally bound assumptions onto their study of old age. In the process, psychologists helped to define old age as a problem that required a professional solution.     

Reflecting on – traditions,ceremony, and the formation of bachelor-prepared nurses

In this article, we explore the ways that the traditional nursing oath ceremony might serve as a reflective transformative moment for first-year students as they take their first tentative steps in a developmental journey of being and becoming registered nurses. Traditions in professional programs act as a rite of passage and hold the promise of an invitation and a new sense of belonging. This discussion explores the possibilities that exist within reflective transformative learning moments. The discussion unfolds through our eyes as nursing faculty teaching in an undergraduate nursing program. We recall our experience of practicing with first-year nursing students, and discuss the age-old debate: is the focus of teaching delivering content, or the formation of practitioners?     

Better Preparing Sports Psychologists for the Demands of Applied Practice: The Emotional Labor Training Gap

The aim of this article was to investigate the emotional educational–training–practice gap in the professional formation of sport and exercise psychologists in the United Kingdom through the theoretical lens of emotional labor. Twenty semistructured interviews were conducted with 4 participant groups: master’s students (n?=?5), trainees (n?=?5), neophytes (n?=?5), and experienced sport and exercise psychologists (n?=?5). Adopting an interpretive epistemology, an abductive thematic analysis was conducted in relation to the participant groups recruited. Several overarching themes were identified in each participant group: (a) master’s students (emotional labor as theory, practice), (b) trainees (emotional labor to survive, a professional development tool), (c) neophytes (emotional labor as a new professional, self-care), and (d) experienced sport and exercise psychologists (emotional labor as a professional resource, lifelong learning). A synthesized list of applied recommendations to improve the professional formation of sport and exercise psychologists was developed based on the analysis. The themes extend sport and exercise psychology professional development literature, and we make recommendations for educators, professional associations, and regulatory bodies with regard to (a) bridging the emotional labor and experiential gap when transitioning between development phases via collaborative and innovative educational provision, (b) supporting the development of skills relating to the enactment of emotional labor, and (c) considering support mechanisms for student/trainee/neophyte safeguarding and welfare issues as a result of the emotion-laden transactions in professional practice. The implications for future pedagogy, andragogy, and research are discussed.

Lay Summary

Sports psychologists need to manage their emotions when working with athletes and coaches, but this is not often taught during education or training. This study aimed to understand whether sports psychologists were aware of or prepared to manage their emotions and to identify activities that could develop education and training courses.     

Pantagruelism: A Rabelaisian inspiration for Understanding Poisoning,Euthanasia and Abortion in The Hippocratic Oath and in Contemporary Clinical Practice

Contrary to the common view, this paper suggests that the Hippocratic oath does not directly refer to the controversial subjects of euthanasia and abortion. We interpret the oath in the context of establishing trust in medicine through departure from Pantagruelism. Pantagruelism is coined after Rabelais' classic novel Gargantua and Pantagruel. His satire about a wonder herb, Pantagruelion, is actually a sophisticated model of anti-medicine in which absence of independent moral values and of properly conducted research fashion a flagrant over-medicalization of human problems. Ultimately this undermines the therapeutic core of medicine itself. We contend that PAS is a case of such over-medicalization and that its institution creates medicophobia. This article does not express an opinion about euthanasia in general. Rather, we claim that physicians should learn from the oath and from Rabelais that they should keep their practice to medical care and not to exploit their expertise and social privileges for the sake of ulterior motives, even when their patients desire those goals.     

Canaries in the Ethical Coal Mine? Case Vignettes and Empirical Findings for How Psychology Leaders Have Adopted Twitter

Twitter, an online application, allows users to post microblog statements in real time. Have psychologists in leadership positions adopted Twitter? What ethical standards are navigated in doing so? Little research has examined the adoption rate of Twitter within a sample of psychologists. This article outlines a series of case vignettes depicting ethical dilemmas encountered by psychologists who adopt Twitter. Data reviewing Twitter adoption by professional psychologists who served as president within psychology advocacy organizations reveal higher adoption rates from student group leaders than professional organization advocacy presidents. Implications for ethical standards and professional development are discussed.     

Competencies for Psychologists in Academic Health Centers (AHCs)

This paper begins by providing the landscape that undergirds the competency-based movement within professional psychology education, training, credentialing, and performance appraisal. Attention is then paid to the relevance of this culture shift for psychologists working as practitioners, educators, researchers, and administrators in AHCs. In this regard, there is an articulation of the essential subcomponents of each of the core foundational and functional competency domains that are salient for AHC psychologists. Implications of the competency-based movement for professional psychologists in AHCs are offered. This paper is based in part on the first author’s plenary address at the Association of Psychologists in Academic Health Centers Midwinter Meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, May 2007.     

The Silence of Psychologists

Unlike certain Israeli historians or sociologists who have developed a critical "post-Zionist" approach, Israeli psychologists display few signs of this critical trend. This is especially disquieting in light of the latest back and forth movement between warfare to the peace process—a movement that created many new social and individual dilemmas that would benefit from an open debate within social and clinical psychology. This paper tries to account for this deficiency by looking at its possible historical, political, and cultural roots. The historical aspects relate to the influence of European and American psychological traditions. Two political aspects are presented: (1) Israeli psychologists, through their involvement in the military and their acceptance of the Zionist claim for security, tend to belong to the political mainstream (Gergen, 1973, 1989); and (2) a hyper-political atmosphere scared Israeli psychologists into neutrality and objectivism. This provided a convenient rationale for apoliticism, especially when Israeli political polarization in the 1980s and 1990s was perceived as threatening psychologists' professional authority. Culturally, the psychologists, like the European social strata from which most of them originated, tended to adopt the American tradition of individualism as a reaction to the strong collectivist trend that dominated Israeli society during its early years. This may account for their weak and delayed social response of humanism, feminism, and constructivism. Exceptions to this general trend are highlighted, and the question of how Israeli psychology might become more politically sensitive and critical is explored. This discussion may have relevance for the development of political psychology in other societies, especially those going through transition of values or suffering from long, violent conflicts.     

Medical school oath-taking: the moral controversy

Professions typically formulate codes of ethics. Medical students are exposed to various codes and often are expected to recite some code or oath at their graduation. This article reports the findings of a study of one large medical class, asked upon entry to medical school and again at the beginning of their fourth term, which of 13 specified professional, religious, and secular codes of ethics they would turn to for moral guidance in their practice of medicine. The study finds great diversity in the students' choices and no clear pattern of change by their fourth term. Very few students chose the oath they would be asked to recite at their graduation. The article probes the problems this creates for school administrators and professors as well as students. It asks the implications for professional oath-taking at graduation and in the practice of the profession.     

Professional education of psychologists using online problem‐based learning methods: Experience at Charles Sturt University

Abstract: Problem‐based learning (PBL) is a pedagogical approach to professional training that emphasises the development of clinical reasoning skills and self‐directed learning. In contrast to more traditional lecture‐based approaches that focus upon the linear acquisition of course content, PBL is undertaken in the context of actual case presentations. Although PBL has been adopted widely in the professional training of medical practitioners and nurses, it is only just beginning to be used in the professional education of psychologists. This paper examines the nature and benefits of PBL for education in clinical and forensic psychology by outlining its implementation and development at Charles Sturt University, located in a rural area of Australia. Although a full and independent evaluation of PBL for education in clinical or forensic psychology is yet to be undertaken, this paper argues that PBL can make a significant contribution to professional training in psychology.     

Training and Consultation in Psychological Assessment With Professional Psychologists: Suggestions for Enhancing the Profession and Individual Practices

Once central to the identity and practice of clinical psychology, psychological assessment (PA) is currently more limited in professional practice and generally less emphasized in graduate training programs than in the past. Performance-based personality tests especially are taught and used less, even though scientific evidence of their utility and validity has never been stronger. We review research on training in PA and discuss challenges that contributed to its decreased popularity. We then review continuing education requirements for ethical practice in PA and recommend that PA should be reconceptualized as a specialty best practiced by psychologists who have the resources and time to maintain competency. We offer recommendations about how professional organizations concerned with PA can promote its practice and how individual expert clinicians can assist. We conclude by describing a collaborative model for providing group consultation in PA to practicing psychologists. If implemented widely, this model could help promote PA and raise its standard of practice.     

The Psychology of Referencing in Psychology Journal Articles

ABSTRACT— Citation statistics can affect major professional decisions, but little is known about how important a particular reference is to the citing document. We asked 49 psychologists to rate the importance of every reference in their own empirical paper and to indicate the primary citation reason. References cited for conceptual ideas or to justify methods and data analyses were regarded as more important than references cited for general background, limitations, or future research. The location, frequency, and length of a citation predicted its importance, but such relationships were weaker for self-citations. We make suggestions about referencing for authors, editors, and bibliographic database designers.     

Rehabilitation. Psychology's greatest opportunity?

Rehabilitation is one of the fastest growing areas in the health industry. Supported by several key pieces of legislation, psychologists have established themselves as integral health care providers in rehabilitation. Although psychologists have benefited from legislated membership in rehabilitation, most individual psychologists and the psychological associations have failed to recognize the importance of public policy for the practice of psychology. Escalating health care costs have resulted in major revisions in the manner in which health insurers reimburse treatment. Medicare, the major federal health insurance provider, increasingly has been viewed as a model for the provision of all health care. The historic exclusion of psychologists from Medicare has limited the scope of psychologists' practice and the growth of professional psychology. The recent inclusion of psychologists in Medicare improves but does not solve practice and policy issues confronting psychology. Knowledge of national health policy formulation and greater participation by psychologists in health policy is necessary to secure the scope of professional practice most psychologists expect.