Market and Mission

Abstract

The focus of this article is how the market forces in the field of professional psychology affect the Christian training programs. After a brief review of some of the changes in the field over the past three decades, current national and Christian community trends are presented. Although market forces affect the manner in which the Christian training programs move forward, they do not change the mission of these programs. The mission has not been accomplished. Therefore, the task of training Christian professional psychologists continues.

Apa Accreditation of Doctoral Psychology Programs in Christian Universities

“…Just as there has been more openness within academic and professional psychology to accept religion as a diversity variable and spirituality as an acceptable way of knowing, there have been changes in the Christian community to accept psychological explanations and interventions. Pike, McMinn, and Campbell (1997) articulate some of these changes stating, "Many members of the evangelical Christian community have changed from a deep suspicion of psychology and counseling to a hearty embracing of such" (p. 280). With a more accepting stance between psychology and religion, Jones (1994) argued for a meaningful dialogue between religion and psychology that could have profound implications for graduate training.…”

Thirty Years of Integrative Doctoral Training: Historic Developments, Assessment of Outcomes, and Recommendations for the Future

“…Based on an analysis of managed care models, Robiner and Crew (2000) predict a surplus of between 27,000 and 60,000 psychologists in the next few years, and call for "rightsizing" (p. 258) the psychology workforce as necessary. Though there is currently no accurate mechanism for predicting the demand for graduates of integrative doctoral programs in the near and distant future, we suspect that the dual effects of changes in the marketplace and expansion in the number of doctoral programs (Pike et al, 1997) raise oversupply concerns for these programs that are largely equivalent to those faced by their secular counterparts.…”

“…Integrative doctoral programs faced an uphill battle in attempts to win acceptance from both the academic psychology and Christian communities (Malony, 1995;Pike, McMinn, & Campbell, 1997):…”

“…Integrative programs fill a clear niche in the doctoral training environment. Students enrolled in these programs are typically highly committed to both a personal faith, and to the professional goal of becoming a first-rate clinical psychologist (Jones et al, 1992;Pike et al, 1997). Though explicitly religious students may be disadvantaged in gaining admission to some secular programs (Gartner, 1986), this is not the case in integrative programs where applicant faith is considered an asset.…”