The role of the psychology department clinic in training scientist-professionals.

Abstract

The role of psychology department clinics in the development of the discipline of clinical psychology is discussed, and an ideological and structural framework for enabling such clinics to facilitate the integration of research and practice is provided. The University of Massachusetts Psychological Services Center is described as an example of a clinic operating within this framework. Several examples of clinical scholarship that have evolved in this setting are offered. Some of the key characteristics of a training clinic subscribing to the objective of training clinical psychologists with scientist-professional ideals and capabilities are reviewed.During the past several decades, there have been important changes in the training of clinical psychologists. Central to this training has been the departmental clinic, where most psychology trainees receive their initial clinical experience. As the field of clinical psychology has faced changes and challenges, so have these departmentally administered clinics. Our purpose is to provide an ideological and structural framework for psychology department training clinics that will enable them to be more responsive to the demands of a growing field and changing society. We examine the ways in which this ideological and structural perspective has been brought to bear on a clinic that has been in operation for 23 years. On the basis of this examination, we consider ways of strengthening the potential for this and other clinics to provide experiences that foster the integration of scientific and professional concerns. The Department Clinic and the Boulder ModelIn 1896 Witmer launched the profession of clinical psychology from his newly founded psychological clinic at the University of Pennsylvania (Brotemarkle, 1947). He had been educated in the experimental tradition, but he believed that by attempting to mitigate everyday human problems, psychologists could also advance the scientific objectives of their HAROLD JARMON is professor of psychology and founder and Director of the Psychological Services Center at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He teaches courses in psychoanalytic theory and practice and supervises psychotherapy trainees and psychotherapy supervisors in the center. RICHARD P. HALGIN is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he serves as Associate Director of the Psychological Services Center. His scholarly work focuses on clinical training, integration of different therapeutic models, and attitudes toward obtaining professional psychological help. THE AUTHORS THANK Harold Raush for his help with the manuscript.

Appropriateness of SCL-90-R adolescent and adult norms for outpatient and nonpatient college students.

“…Outpatient undergraduate sample. The outpatient sample was drawn from the Psychological Services Center (PSC), the training clinic of the clinical psychology doctoral program (Halgin, 1986;Jarmon & Halgin, 1987;Todd, Golann, Halgin, Harmatz, & Jarmon, 1989;Todd, Jacobus, & Boland, 1992). Therapists in training, who are typically in their 2nd through 5th years of training (pre-internship), provide services under the supervision of faculty and other licensed psychologists.…”

Review of research conducted in psychology program training clinics.

“…The promotion of research in TCs was explored more broadly by Halgin (1986), who used a survey of clinic directors (a 46% sample of 94 members of the ADPTC whose clinics were located in American Psychological Association approved clinical programs) and data from one clinic. Jarmon and Halgin (1987) explored the promotion of research in TCs through a more detailed organizational case study. Despite a pervasive (though not universal) view that TCs should support research, Halgin's survey data suggested that participants in clinics experience the following barriers to the conduct of such research: logistics (identified by 56% of the respondents), priorities (46%), lack of faculty interest (44%), and lack of student interest (23%).…”

Psychology training clinics in Australia and New Zealand: Clinic structure

“…Both previous substantive surveys ranked research as a relatively low priority compared with other strategic goals (Calhoun & Green, 1984;Serafica & Harway, 1980), with clinics concerned primarily with practice and training practitioners (Jarmon & Halgin, 1987). Current practice of clinics confirms a similar focus, but adds the further dimension that both clinic directors and directors of clinical training desire to move clinics towards a more balanced mid-point that includes a greater focus on research.…”