Potential clients' beliefs about the relative competency and caring of psychologists: Implications for the profession

Abstract

To assess the extent to which the results reported by Warner and Bradley (1991) can be generalized beyond the population of undergraduate psychology students, 132 adults in the metropolitan Harrisburg area were asked to evaluate the competency and traits of clinical psychologists, licensed professional counselors, and psychiatrists. Results indicated that the general public believed counselors to be more caring than psychologists and psychiatrists. All three professional groups were perceived to be comparable in their ability to treat the least severe disorders. Licensed counselors were perceived to be most competent to treat disorders rated by the subjects as moderately severe, comparable in competence to clinical psychologists for adjustment disorders, and comparable to psychiatrists for marital problems. Psychiatrists and psychologists were considered the most competent to treat the most severe disorder, major depression. The results indicate that while clinical psychologists often were viewed as competent, they were not viewed as the single practitioner of choice for any diagnostic classification, nor were they noted to have positive character traits.

The Psychological Services in Schools of Kuwait (The Tasks and Duties of a Psychologist)

“…This results agree with (Alsaboh 2002 ; Bremer et al, 2001) in the importance of linking the barriers to the suggestions by working and fixing the mental problems and giving guidance for the students.…”

Das Image von Psychologen, Psychotherapeuten und Psychiatern in der Öffentlichkeit

“…schwerer Stö-rungen (z. B. Major-Depression) und beide Gruppen sowie Berater als gleichermaßen kompetent bei der Behandlung leichterer Störungen (Bremer et al 2001;Richardson u. Handal 1995). In den Medien (z.…”

Informed consent revisited: An updated written question format.

“…This is attributable to numerous factors, including the sheer proliferation of such drugs (it is now far more likely that a contemporary client personally knows someone who is taking drugs such as Paxil, Zoloft, or Prozac) and the millions of dollars spent in recent years on direct-to-consumer advertising of these drugs (Rosenthal, Berndt, Donohue, Frank, & Epstein, 2002). Second, this increased public awareness of available drugs is combined with what may be an unclear distinction between psychiatrists and psychologists in the public eye (Bremer et al, 2001; Warner & Bradley, 1991); thus, the likelihood of a client arriving in a psychologist's office with the expectation that the psychologist has the capacity to prescribe medicine is considerable. Third, there is a greater likelihood that clients will be taking medications and will want to know if their therapist is knowledgeable about the drugs they are taking.…”