The Problem of Specialization in Training.

Abstract

MAJOR problems are created in the training of psychologists by the great breadth of the field of psychology and its lack of fundamental, unifying general principles. The overworked cliche, "first a psychologist and then a clinician" undoubtedly has some residual meaning where the field of mental health is concerned since "psychologist" still stands for someone with investigative interests, even though his interests may but rarely be supported by actual research activity.If we ignore, for the moment, the investigative aspects of psychology in the mental health field, we find psychologists engaged in an amazing variety of activities, many of which are but remotely related to others. In a recent book by Rubenstein and Lorr, entitled Clinical Practice in Psychology, each of the following activities merits a separate chapter: training schools for delinquents; state hospitals for adults; community guidance centers; the government agencies including the VA, the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Public Health Service; child and adult psychiatric clinics; private practice; old-age counseling centers; clinics for alcoholics; college student counseling bureaus; industrial counseling bureaus; courts for adults and juveniles; prisons and penitentiaries; and also rehabilitation centers for the physically handicapped; school systems; and, finally, specialized clinics for the poor reader, the deaf and hard of hearing, and the speech handicapped.These, of course, are the locales in which psychologists work when trying to diagnose, treat, do research, train, and administer for children and adults with mental health problems. It would be very simple if the work could be divided into two or three categories which would meaningfully cut across all of the locales. Unfortunately, that is not quite the case, as our present lack of a well-organized and systematized knowledge of the structure of human personality, in both its normal and abnormal variations, still requires that the psychologist in a particular work locale have 41

Preparing psychology and psychologists for new health care markets.

“…The distinguished scholars who met in Boulder, Colorado in 1949 to contemplate the future of Clinical Psychology looked forward and saw, not surprisingly, people very much like themselves doing very much the kinds of things they were then doing. Although the overall achievement of the Boulder group seems to have been a kind of Maoist philosophy of “Let 100 flowers bloom” (Baker & Benjamin, 2000; Raimy, 1950), the original Boulder model found its starkest and perhaps most influential expression in Shakow's (1965) summary: Clinical Psychology is both a basic and an applied area. Because of the undeveloped state of both Psychology and Clinical Psychology, research is by far the most important responsibility of the clinical psychologist.…”

Researching what we practice—The paradigm of systemic family research: Part 2

“…Since psychotherapy is, by definition, relational, such methods should also be of great relevance for those who examine other relationships in psychotherapy, such as the client–therapist alliance or the development of relations between members attending group therapy (Kivlighan, 2021; Kivlighan et al, 2016). However, we still lack international standards for a scientific program integrating science and practice into systemic CFT training similar to the scientist–practitioner model of graduate education in psychology (Boulder Model) (Raimy, 1950). Unless more is done within training programs in respect of standards and the development of competent scientist‐practitioners, there is a risk that systemic CFT research will be conducted by other professionals with limited knowledge about the field of systemic CFT.…”

Description of Ohio State Board of Psychology hearings on ethical violations: From 1972 to the present.

“…Departments of psychology have the obligation to include in their graduate programs in clinical psychology information regarding professional responsibilities and ethical problems peculiar to the different areas of clinical practice as well as to inculcate the highest ethical principles among their staffs and students. (cited in Raimy, 1950, p. 44)…”

“…In the report on the Boulder conference held in 1949, it is stated that Departments of psychology have the obligation to include in their graduate programs in clinical psychology information regarding professional responsibilities and ethical problems peculiar to the different areas of clinical practice as well as to inculcate the highest ethical principles among their staffs and students. (cited in Raimy, 1950, p. 44) Not long thereafter, the American Psychological Association (APA) developed and published ethical standards for psychologists, which were most recently revised in 1981 and renamed the Ethical Principles of Psychologists (APA, 1981a). These ethical principles are particularly appropriate to the practice of professional psychology.…”