Using continuing professional development to improve maintenance of professional competence: A call for change in licensure renewal requirements.

Abstract

This article reviews the strengths and weaknesses of the current requirements for continuing professional education for psychologists to renew their license to practice. Whereas most states already require completion of classroom or workshop instruction during each license renewal cycle, the authors argue for a more comprehensive system of continuing professional development (CPD) that will focus on the ongoing assessment of competence throughout the professional's career and thus better ensure public protection from the incompetent or unethical practitioner. The authors describe the major elements of this more comprehensive CPD process and how adoption of such a system in psychology licensing laws would require participation in a variety of learning activities that focus on professional engagement, practice relevant topics and better assessment of instructional outcomes; provide peer input and monitoring to better identify gaps in knowledge or skills; and reduce instances of professional isolation that could lead to lapses in judgment and decision making, occupational stress, and ultimately impairment or burnout. Challenges for the profession to move to a system of CPD, and the need for studies that can determine whether using CPD in licensure renewal requirements actually produce the desired outcomes, are also addressed. Public Significance StatementThis article reviews the current requirements for a psychologist to renew their license to practice and discuses both the strengths and weaknesses of this process. The authors argue for a more comprehensive system of continuing professional development that will focus on the ongoing assessment of competence throughout the professional's career and thus better ensure public protection from the incompetent or unethical practitioner.

Continuing education in professional psychology: Exploring the translation of learning into practice.

“…Although CE is now required for licensed psychologists throughout the U.S., the field’s well-documented reluctance to embrace universal mandates stood as a longstanding testament to the absence of compelling empirical evidence regarding the impact of CE in relation to accomplishing its stipulated objectives (Cox & Grus, 2019; Grus & Rozensky, 2019; Hellkamp et al, 1989; Lewinsohn & Pearlman, 1972; Neimeyer & Taylor, 2014; Rossen et al, 2019; Taylor et al, 2019; Washburn et al, 2019). Recent evidence has begun to remediate this deficiency, demonstrating a range of positive outcomes associated with CE (Bradley et al, 2012; Horn et al, 2019; Neimeyer, Taylor, & Cox, 2012).…”

Critical conversations in continuing education: Contemporary memes, themes, and dreams.

“…Against these forces the field of professional psychology marshals the processes, procedures, and regulations that jointly constitute “continuing education”. This loosely federated assemblage of professional activities can span expansive professional terrain that ranges from self-directed learning to monitored conference attendance; from conducting peer case reviews to completing formal coursework; from listening to podcasts to reading journal articles; from sitting on boards, to teaching courses, and to publishing papers (Adams & Sharkin, 2012; Rossen et al, 2019; Horne, DeMers, Lightfoot, & Webb, 2019).…”

“…The potential strengths of this diversity remain largely unexplored, as well, and for that reason remain largely undocumented. That said, the value of Rossen and colleague’s contribution may well be measured by the response that it generates in relation to future work that attempts to tease out the differential outcomes associated with each of these widely diverse professional activities (see Neimeyer et al, 2012; see Horn et al, 2019).…”

Introducing the QACP: development and preliminary validation of an instrument to measure psychotherapist’s core competencies

“…Against this background, the movement towards the definition of psychotherapists’ competencies seems to be a crucial step, both scientifically and politically relevant. Furthermore, the movement towards competencies in psychotherapy is fostering the dialogue among the different approaches and new ways of conceptualizing professional training and continuous education (Falender & Shafranske, 2012 ; Fouad & Grus, 2014 ; Hatcher, et al ., 2013 ; Horn, DeMers, Lightfoot & Webb, 2019 ; Plakun, Sudak, & Goldberg, 2009 ; Rief, 2021 ; Rodolfa & Schaffer, 2019 ; Taylor & Neimeyer, 2017 ; Wise & Reuman, 2019 ). A central question arising from this process is how to assess psychotherapist’s competencies (Barber, Sharpless, Klostermann & McCharty, 2007 ; Barlow & Brown, 2020 ; Fairburn & Cooper, 2011 ; Koddebush & Hermann, 2019; Kuhne, Meister & Maas, 2020 ; Manring, Beitman & Dewan, 2003 ).…”