The role of the graduate faculty in bridging preservice training and practice for psychologists in the public sector.

Abstract

Over the past several years, the long-term or seriously mentally ill have been rediscovered, I believe, primarily for two reasons: (a) the failure of a nationwide effort to deinstitutionalize the mentally ill by discharging them from state psychiatric hospitals and moving them into communities, and (b) the discovery by families of the mentally ill, and in some instances patients themselves, of the power of uniting and forming coalitions able to influence legislative and executive agendas.Deinstitutionalization brought patients from outof-the-way psychiatric hospitals to the main streets of towns and cities, and displayed the failure of that policy for all to see. Familyiconsumer advocacy is causing states, and in some instances the federal government, to appropriate and or reallocate resources to provide programs capable of evaluating, treating, or rehabilitating seriously mentally ill persons.

The role of the state in public–academic linkages for clinical training.

“…In 1986, the American College of Mental Health Administration and NIMH co-sponsored a symposium on the state of the art in mental health administration and had many excellent recommendations (White, 1987) Despite such innovative programs, the education and training of psychologists for practice usually follows a fairly standard pattern. Trainees acquire a set of theoretical ideas, constructs, and paradigms under the instructional control of a faculty, then subsequently are placed in a series of practical situations, under some degree of supervision, to acquire and hone practical professional skills (see Tomes, 1990, for further discussion). To apply the preceding analysis to training for service to the seriously mentally ill, the professional psychologist who is likely to be most effective in working with the seriously mentally ill is one who has been taught by a faculty who is knowledgeable about seriously mentally ill people, has acquired skills in settings in which seriously mentally ill people are found, and is supervised by knowledgeable and competent professionals to care for the mentally ill.…”

“…Ideally, the acquisition of a professional demeanor, including attitudinal develop-ment, will be greatly influenced by the interaction of the trainee with faculty, supervisors, and obviously clients. Trainees who acquire their professional skills in public settings with a significant presence of seriously mentally ill clients are likely t o have positive attitudes and may choose to devote their careers to working with this underserved group (Tomes, 1990).…”

“…However, there is a significant lack of psychology training programs for serving seriously mentally ill people in public settings. We believe that, because psychology has a significant contribution to make in providing and improving services to the seriously mentally ill, it is important that more psychology faculty and students become involved in knowing about and serving the publicly supported mentally ill client (Tomes, 1990).…”

“…Thus, the application of psychological theory and practice to the publicly supported seriously mentally ill person is often left to psychologists trained only to the masters level. Reasons for lack of faculty involvement are many and likely involve issues of accessibility, knowledge, stigma, and lack of incentives (Tomes, 1990). Now there is a significant and renewed interest at federal, state, and community levels in providing improved services to the seriously mentally ill; there is also renewed interest in doing research on these problems.…”