Dynamic accountability in clinical training and supervision: Three orienting ideals

Despite the growing interest on making clinical practice accountable, research on how specific components of professional competence are relevant in actual training/supervision practice is as yet unspecified. This study explores this dynamic aspect of professional supervision. Three supervisory dyads, composed by an experienced supervisor and a doctoral counseling psychology student were used in the study. A qualitative, ethnomethodology-informed design was used to discursively analyze 16 significant episodes (SEs) in actual supervision meetings. This was complemented by 16 follow-up interviews. Three interpretative repertoires – ‘ideals’ – influencing participants’ accounting practices were identified: efficacy, responsiveness, and authenticity. The article discusses how structural (competency-based) and dynamic (practice-based) approaches to accountability can be combined to guide the appraisal of relevant professional competencies.     

Every Child Still Matters: interdisciplinary approaches to the spirituality of the child

Abstract

Ten years ago, I was a researcher with the Evaluation of Children’s Trusts which examined a key aspect of U.K. government policy, Every Child Matters. Every Child Matters was partly a response to Lord Laming’s 2003 report into the murder of 8-year old Victoria Climbié, which concluded that children’s services needed to be better integrated to avoid such tragedies in the future. Children’s Trusts were regional hubs, set-up across England to facilitate integrated professional practice; but Every Child Matters was bigger than this because it set out a policy vision for rethinking the child as a whole person. At the time, I was struck by the absence of any reference to spirituality in this new holistic view of the child, and this led me to write an article which was published in 2006 entitled, ‘Every Child Matters and children’s spiritual rights: does the new holistic approach to children’s care address children’s spiritual well-being?’.

This article was originally a keynote talk at the 2016 International Conference on Children’s Spirituality with the theme Spirituality and the whole child: interdisciplinary approaches, and this provided the opportunity both to see where we are now with integrated working for children and young people more generally, and to focus our attention on interdisciplinary approaches to children’s spirituality and the whole child in particular. The article begins by summarising some of the current thinking spirituality, the whole child and interdisciplinary working. The article then goes on to consider a long-standing concern of mine, and one which was highlighted in my 2006 article, which is what we intend to mean – collectively, as academics and professional practitioners concerned with children’s (and adults’) spirituality – when we use the term ‘spirituality’ in the professional context. In my view, it is time to stop stating that spirituality is hard to define, and come to an agreement about what we mean when we use it. Interdisciplinary approaches to children’s (and adults’) spirituality, and holistic approaches to the child (and adult), will not be successful unless there is a clear, shared agreement about what we mean, and the article ends with suggestions for ways forward.     

Reflections on becoming a psychologist: Professional development experiences of students in a South African psychology graduate program

This study sought to describe student psychologists’ experiences of their professional preparation activities in which they used reflective journals. The students (n =7; female = 71%, black = 86%) were enrolled in a masters training program in the clinical and the counselling psychology programmes at a reputable University in South Africa. Over a period of the ten months of their first academic year, they completed reflective journals on aspects of their professional practice preparation. The reflective journals were thematically analysed to depict how the students framed their experiences. Findings yielded four themes that defined the students’ emerging professional identities: positive feelings about the profession, commitment to high standards of practice, concerns about high work loading, and a sense of learning community. Reflective practice capabilities appear important for early professional identity development from pre-service psychology practice education.     

Sacred and secret stories in professional knowledge landscapes: learner agency in teacher professional learning

Set in a schooling practitioner research context, this article critiques instrumental forms of teacher professional development. An account of teacher professional learning and development is provided, as an inter-relational construct, where teachers reflect on practice to inquire into their students’ learning and foster their own and others specific interests and talents in creative ways. In an Aotearoa/New Zealand context, teachers are mandated to inquire into what their students need to know and understand, the strategies required for teachers to attain these learning goals, and how effective the approach implemented is in enhancing student learning. Emerging from qualitative case study research, a teacher’s narrative account of a student-initiated critical thinking episode in a secondary science classroom is analysed to demonstrate sacred, secret and cover stories of professional knowledge landscapes. Findings highlight the importance of agentic teacher-enacted forms of practitioner inquiry that support critical and collaborative reflective practice.     

Reflecting on self-care practices during clinical psychology training and beyond

In this paper, I will discuss the concept of self-care and its importance for clinical psychologists, both during training and post-qualification. I will review the pertinent literature in this area covering the concept of self-care and its meaning, the personal and professional impact of a lack of self-care for clinical psychologists, and discuss some of the barriers to implementing self-care practices. Throughout the discussion of barriers to self-care, I will intersperse three reflective pieces on my own experiences throughout clinical psychology training, which will allow for a more in-depth exploration of the issues. My conclusion will highlight the personal, professional and systemic barriers to self-care in clinical psychologists, and in other helping professionals, and suggest possible ways of tackling these barriers and promoting greater utilisation of self-care during clinical training and beyond and across different professional groups.     

How are recent changes to primary care mental health provision within the NHS affecting psychodynamic counsellors’ construction and management of their professional identities? A Foucauldian perspective

The research used Foucauldian techniques to explore how counsellors currently working for the NHS construct and manage their professional identities in the face of changes imposed on them by the institution. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with four counsellors and one doctoral student, all with substantial experience working for the NHS. A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis revealed four main subjectivities that were made available; feeling like part of a process at times; the NHS imposes limitations on their practice; feeling able to retain their professional standards despite the limitations and lack of influence; feeling proud of, and satisfied with the work they do. Places in which the participants explored ways of constructing a professional identity were also explored.     

师范生职业认同感的效能—价值双维核心模型的构建

以师范生职业认同感研究的"职业能力"和"职业价值"两大取向为基础,根据其单维评估的不足,将职业效能感和职业价值感指标联合,提出师范生职业认同感的效能—价值双维核心模型,并考察该模型在3所部属师范大学的1237名免费师范生中是否存在及其效用。研究表明:(1)模型能有效将免费师范生分组,其中低效能—低价值占31.69%、低效能—高价值占6.63%、高效能—低价值占40.01%、高效能—高价值仅占21.67%,克服了单维评估存在的高估或低估问题;(2)模型在职业认同结果(职业意志感、职业意愿与期望感)、学业满意度、总体生活满意度及未来担忧上的分组效应显著,同时拥有高职业效能感和高职业价值感的免费师范生具有最佳的职业认同感、学业满意度、总体生活满意度和最少的未来担忧。     

Do We Need Berlin Walls or Chinese Walls between Research, Public Consultation, and Advice? New Public Responsibilities for Life Scientists

During the coming decades, life scientists will become involved more than ever in the public and private lives of patients and consumers, as health and food sciences shift from a collective approach towards individualization, from a curative to a preventive approach, and from being driven by desires rather than by technology. This means that the traditional relationships between the activities of life scientists – conducting research, advising industry, governments, and patients/consumers, consulting the public, and prescribing products, be it patents, drugs or food products, information, or advice – are getting blurred. Traditional concepts of the individual, role, task, and collective responsibility have to be revised. This paper argues, from a pragmatic point of view, that the concept of public responsibility can contribute considerably in delineating new gray zones between the various roles of the life scientist: conducting research for governments or industry, giving advice, prescribing and selling products, and doing public consultation. The main issues are where new Chinese walls (not Berlin walls) need to be built between these activities, thereby increasing trust between life scientists and the public at large, and how to organize research agendas and to decide upon research topics. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Gender Differences in the Influence of Professional Tenure on Work Attitudes

In this study we examined gender differences in the influence of professional tenure on 3 work attitudes: career salience, organizational commitment, and job involvement. In total, 220 men and 125 women working in high-level jobs in a large multinational organization completed a written questionnaire. Using hierarchical regression analyses, and controlling for differences between men and women in age, the presence of children, and number of working hours, we found no significant gender differences in the 3 work attitudes. The results further show that although career salience, job involvement, and organizational commitment increase with age, these work attitudes decrease with professional tenure. In terms of organizational commitment, the negative influence of professional tenure was significantly stronger for women than for men. Finally, the implications for future studies and for organizational practice are discussed.     

The Social Responsibility of Professional Societies

A consistent position for professional societies with respect to social and moral issues is difficult to forge. The most consistent position is that professional societies qua professional societies should avoid getting involved in any and all social or moral issues. Professional societies should be praised or blamed only on the basis of their success or failure to achieve their professional goals. If, however, we do think that professional societies deserve moral praise and blame with respect to broader moral issues, then the situation gets much more complicated. One contrast explored in this article is between scientific and philosophical societies getting involved in social and moral issues. A second contrast is between individual and group responsibility. If groups are to be praised or blamed, smaller well–integrated groups are the most likely candidates.