Psychotherapy training in the Northwest – a survey

Abstract

Improving working lives Rafey Faruqui is quite right that appropriate workloads and good working conditions are essential ingredients for maintaining good recruitment and retention of consultant psychiatrists (Psychiatric Bulletin, November 2003 correspondence, 27, 437). The question that my editorial, 'Locums-and the light at the end of the tunnel', tried to address is: how can those things be achieved when there is such an imbalance in supply and demand, causing work overload for many psychiatrists (Psychiatric Bulletin, August 2003, 27, 281^282)? Dr Faruqui agrees that reliance on a locum workforce is 'pathological', and no kind of a solution. In that respect, the letter by Skudder, of Psyche UK Ltd (Psychiatric Bulletin, November 2003 correspondence, 27, 437), which grossly misrepresents what I wrote, invites the question of whether a declaration of interest of a locum agency should have been made. The recent expansion of medical schools will not be felt for more than a decade at consultant level. Meanwhile, demands on psychiatrists working in traditional ways will very likely continue to grow. It is hopeful, therefore, to see so many items appearing in the Bulletin about how roles and working practices of psychiatrists can change to reduce their case-loads and improve working conditions. The College is addressing this complex issue, and consulting its members on the options through the College website (www.rcpsych.ac.uk) and the Bulletin. It is an issue of crucial importance to the future of the profession and mental health services. Therefore, the views of specialist registrars will be particularly important.

A National Survey of Canadian Psychiatry Residents' Perceptions of Psychotherapy Training

“…However, our 63% response rate compares favourably with previous surveys of Canadian residents, in which 42% to 52% replied, [31][32][33][34] and to surveys of psychiatry residents in other countries. [15][16][17][18] Also, given the distribution of responders across levels of training, age, and sex, the results are likely representative of Canadian psychiatry residents. However, we are unsure about how well these findings reflect trainees' perspectives in other countries.…”

“…30 Data from the United Kingdom indicate that official psychotherapy training recommendations are often not fully met. [16][17][18] Few studies have explored residents' perspectives on their psychotherapy training experience or how they view psychotherapy in terms of their prospective careers. [15][16][17][18]31,32 When it comes to psychotherapy, are psychiatry training programs in step with residents?…”

“…14 Surveys from countries other than the United States, such as the United Kingdom and Australia, have also raised concerns about psychiatrists' potentially decreasing willingness or ability to offer psychological services. [15][16][17][18] Although there are also some more favourable data on psychiatrists' use of psychotherapy, a sense that it has been diminishing remains. 1 For instance, a recent survey found that about 90% of Canadian psychiatrists spent just under one-half of their clinical time practising psychotherapy of some kind, with about one-half of their patients receiving a combination of psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy.…”

Next year in Jerusalem: psychotherapy training for tomorrow's consultants

“…But in the Northwestern Deanery (the Northwest) a third of SHOs surveyed had not undertaken any super vised therapy (Duddu & Brown, 2004). Although the delivery of the 2004 training requirements has not been systematically studied, a survey in late 2004 elicited responses from six regions: Mersey, Oxford, North West Thames, the North West, the Northeast and the Southwest (A. Clark, 2005, personal communication).…”

Psychotherapy requirements as recommended by the College: awareness and achievement by senior house officers

“…In this study, 95% of the trainees were attending or had attended only a Balint-type group in the first year of their training, which is also evident in other schemes (Das et al, 2003;Duddu & Brown, 2004). This leaves them with only 2 years to meet the other four psychotherapy requirements.…”