“Being human”: A grounded theory approach to exploring how trainers on clinical psychology doctorate programmes decide whether or not to disclose personal experiences of psychological distress to clinical psychology doctorate trainees

Objective

Recent research and guidelines recommend that trainers on clinical psychology doctorate training programmes consider disclosing personal experiences of psychological distress to trainees. Disclosure is thought to promote cultures of openness, validate and normalise trainee distress, encourage trainee disclosure and help-seeking and challenge stigmatising narratives. However, little is known about how trainers decide whether, what or how to disclose. This study aims to address that gap by exploring the processes and factors involved in trainers deciding whether or not to disclose personal experiences of psychological distress to trainees, generating findings of relevance across counselling, psychotherapy and psychology training courses.

Methods

In-depth interviews were conducted with nine trainers on UK clinical psychology doctorate programmes from around the country and analysed in accordance with constructivist grounded theory methods.

Results

Findings indicated that participants valued disclosure personally and professionally but were wary of the dangers of disclosure. Disclosure decisions were made by judging the context against internally held criteria. If criteria were not met, then disclosures were not made. Outcomes, whether positive or negative, served to reinforce the value of disclosure and the importance of managing risks, creating a positive feedback loop.

Conclusions

The findings of this study suggest factors that are important for trainers to consider when deciding whether or not to disclose. The six-factor framework developed may be useful for trainers to consider within reflective practice, supervision or during guided self-reflection in order to make safe, helpful and ethical decisions.     

Psychologist qualifications in Europe: Common standard for quality and mobility

Abstract: Over the past 10 years a European standard for psychology education and training (EuroPsy) in Europe has been developed through two European Union (EU)‐funded projects. This development has been supported by political initiatives within Europe, in particular the so‐called Bologna process and the new EU Directive on qualifications, which is intended to facilitate professional mobility. The EuroPsy standard applies to professional psychologists at the initial qualification level, namely, independent practice. It requires 6 years of education and training, which include 1 year of supervised practice. The article describes these developments and some critical issues.     

日本的学校心理士制度及对构建我国学校心理学的启示

本文对日本学校心理学的构建背景、学科性质和宗旨作了介绍后,详细阐述了日本学校心理士的资格认定、培养要求、群体类型及发挥的主要作用、承担的主要工作等,并对当前日本学校心理士制度运作中存在的两个主要问题作了述评,指出日本学校心理士制度如完善资格认证体系、注重理论与实际结合、加强同行之间的交流学习等做法对于建设中国的学校心理学具有较大借鉴价值。     

La gestion de la souffrance par le psychologue clinicien. Étude des impacts et des stratégies de coping

We focus in this study on strategies used by clinical psychologists to cope with their own or patient psychological distress in the framework of help relationship. A self-administered form was sent to listings of professionals by e-mail. The sample is made of 187 French clinical psychologists. To cope with patients’ suffering, psychologists use mostly avoidance coping style. And the strategies they prefer are “supervision”, “personal therapy” and “speaking with colleagues” (problem focused coping strategies). To cope with their own distress, which has a lot of negative impacts on help relationship, psychologists have most frequently a problem focused coping style but their favourite strategy is to “lighten their schedules”. And almost a quarter of the sample presents a significant level of distress. In conclusion, results show that psychological distress management by psychologists is an important question with a lot of ethical questions.     

Clinical supervisor training in Australia: A review of current problems and possible solutions

Clinical supervision cuts to the heart of professional psychology training. It is the most expensive single investment of staff time in the training of the psychology practitioner, and it appears to be the single most important contributor to training effectiveness, repaying that investment. Now there are changes afoot internationally which may change its pivotal role. For example, the Psychology Board of Australia has recently proposed that supervisors undergo approved supervisor training; in the USA, a competence‐based emphasis is gaining ground; while in the UK, supervisors within the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies initiative are receiving unprecedented training and support. It is therefore timely to clarify the need for such training and to consider promising options for its effective delivery. Following a summary of the changes within Australia, we next address these emergent problems and promising solutions by examining the available scientific evidence and by considering professional consensus statements.     

Exploring the perceptions of Greek counsellors’ and counselling psychologists’ professional identity and training experience,through the lens of the first alumni graduates of a Greek state University

The field of Counselling as a profession and that of Counselling Psychology is a relatively new and developing discipline in Greece. As in other European countries, it is only in recent years that this postgraduate training started to be delivered by a state/national University Institution in Greece. The present study focused on attempting to capture the qualitative experience of the first two cohorts of graduates from the first postgraduate programme in Counselling and Counselling Psychology delivered by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in collaboration with the Democritus University of Thrace. This data was collected via two focused group interviews using a thematic analysis approach which facilitated the immersion of the following main themes: motivating factors (for choosing such discipline), reflections on placements, the role of personal development, the evolving professional identity, issues of professional recognition, opportunities for employment, vision for the future. In conclusion, the participants expressed the opinion that the provision of such a postgraduate programme by a Greek University was delivered in a rigorous way with high standards and has equipped them with the reflexivity and critical thinking required to build their professional identity and influence the developments still to come.     

Best professional practices when approaching religiosity/spirituality in psychotherapy in Brazil

The religiosity/spirituality (R/S) dimension is recognised as an important component of the concept of health advocated by the World Health Organization; however, it does not appear in the undergraduate Psychology curricula in the Brazilian context, revealing a gap in the way this theme has been covered. In order to identify the professional reality of Brazilian psychotherapists in relation to this theme, this study aimed to identify what constitutes the best professional practices when approaching R/S in psychotherapy. We interviewed 24 psychotherapists of both sexes, with a mean age of 36.43, from two medium‐sized cities of two Brazilian states. According to the interviewees, the best practices considered when addressing R/S, that is, the most appropriate actions/attitudes, are as follows: (a) Respect; (b) Knowing how to separate what is from the psychotherapist and from the patient/client; (c) Recognising the theme as an integrative dimension of the human being; (d) Knowing how to listen; (e) Questioning the role of R/S in the life of the patients/clients; (f) Knowledge about the subject matter; and (g) Not imposing knowledge, practices or doctrine. These practices were revealed as the skills, competencies and knowledge needed to deal with the subject and highlight important references to think about the theme in psychotherapy, guiding the formation of new professionals and updating practising psychotherapists.     

Community Psychology in Zimbabwe: Past,Present and Future

The study describes and evaluates community psychology in Zimbabwe. We distinguish between a professional with the title ‘community psychologist’ and the practice of the field of community psychology in Zimbabwe. Community psychology services in Zimbabwe include the provision of education to all school- going age children, and free health services and housing for all. We also consider community psychology applications in the context of the HIV and AIDS pandemic, rising unemployment, homelessness, child abuse, disabilities, disasters and other hardships from urbanization, economics, and other challenges. Psychologists and other professionals offer community psychology services in the context of these challenges.