The public's knowledge about psychologists and other mental health professionals.

Abstract

A random sample of New London County, CT, residents received a questionnaire about nine mental health professions or professionals (MHPs): clergyperson, marriage and family counselor, nonpsychiatric physician, psychiatrist, psychiatric nurse, psychologist, psychotherapist, social worker, and telephone crisis counselor. Respondents defined each MHP and reported their satisfaction with treatment, which MHP they would recommend, their referral source(s), licensure requirements, and fees. A mixed-design analysis of variance was computed, with comfortableness as the dependent variable; age, sex, saw an MHP, and education, the between-subjects variables; and the nine MHPs, the within-subjects variable. A significant MHP effect showed that physicians were perceived as slightly more comfortable than were psychologists (nonsignificant), who, nevertheless, were perceived as exceeding all other trained MHPs in the comfortableness experienced by their clients.

Profiling a Profession: A Victorian Survey Assessing Lay Attitudes Toward and Knowledge of Counselling Psychologists

“…Only 6% of respondents correctly identified that the APS‐recommended fee for a 45‐ to 60‐min consultation was $206, whereas 69% and 78% failed to acknowledge the centrality of the therapeutic relationship and discussions on thoughts and feelings, respectively, during a typical consultation with a counselling psychologist. Taken together, these findings are consistent with previous research that has shown that the general public “has some knowledge but lacks one or more essential facts” (Murstein & Fontaine, 1993; pp. 840–84).…”

“…The consistent finding that clients or individuals with a previous client history with a psychologist exhibit greater knowledge of the profession (Hopson & Cunningham, 1995; Murstein & Fontaine, 1993) was supported by the results of the present study. Responses to the open‐ended question concerning perceived differences between counselling and clinical psychologists supported previous research that revealed that while overlap exists (Osipow, Cohen, Jenkins, & Dostal, 1979; Watkins, Schneider, Hap Cox, & Reinberg, 1987), the primary distinction made between the professions concerned relative activities associated with the normality–pathology continuum (Tipton, 1983).…”

Lay Perceptions of Psychotherapists in South Africa

“…This result was probably because of the fear of stigma or labeling associated with psychological treatment (see Stones, 1996;Murstein & Fontaine, 1993;Furnham & Wardley, 1990).…”

“…Previous studies considered only attitudes towards psychological services (e.g., Stones, 1996;von Sydow & Reimer, 1998), knowledge about the psychosocial professions (Murstein & Fontaine, 1993) or perceptions of mental health services (Bram, 1997;Fall, Levitov, Jennings & Eberts, 2000;Warner & Bradley, 1991). Most of the research involved quantitative empirical studies.…”

Perceptions of Effectiveness Among College Students: Toward Marriage and Family Counseling and Therapy

“…When psychiatric assistances are needed, the majority would turn to their primary care physicians for mental health consultation and services (Mickus, Colenda, & Hogan, 2000;Murstein & Fontaine, 1993). Among others, Keen (1998) has expressed concerns that the treatment of psychological issues with pharmacotherapy have been driven not by expertise but by professional convenience, popular demands, insurance protocols, and so forth.…”