How many colleges does APS have representing specific areas in psychology?
9
What 5 areas will be covered in this module?
Clinical neuropsychology Clinical psychology Community psychology Counselling psychology Educational and developmental psychology
What is a clinical psychologist?
“A specialist in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders”
What are some of the difficulties clinical neuropsychologists might be involved with assessing and treating?
- Memory
- Learning
- Attention
- Language
- Reading
- Problem-solving
- Decision-making
What are some places a neuropsychologist might be employed?
- Hospitals and acute settings
- Rehabilitation centres
What were the main findings of Carless and Prodan (2003) (impact of practicum training study)?
- Those who had extensive practicum experience had a greater clarity of vocational preference than those with no experience. i.e. working as a probationary psychologist further confirms the initial choice of specialisation the student has already made
- There were no significant differences between those with experience and no experience in terms of career commitment, self-efficacy, and job attainment confidence
Carless and Prodan: According to career development theory, what stage are postgraduate psychology students at?
Career exploration stage
Carless and Prodan: What defines vocational exploratory behaviour?
- Activities undertaken with goal of eliciting information about oneself or the environment
- Reaching a conclusion or hypothesis which will aid in choosing, preparing for, adjusting to, or progressing in, an occupation
Carless and Prodan: What are the 3 constructs that make up career commitment?
Career resilience (ability to adapt to disruptive, changing circumstances) Career insight (the extent to which self and goal perception is realistic) Career identity (the extent to which people identify themselves in terms of their field of work)
Carless and Prodan: Define self-efficacy in terms of vocational choice.
Self-efficacy is belief in the capacity to mobilise the phsyical, intellectual and emotional resources required to succeed in the occupation of choice.
Carless and Prodan: What variable did they control in their study?
Age - this can affect all the other variables under investigation.
Carless and Prodan: How did they explain their non-significant results?
- Career commitment, self-efficacy and job attainment confidence were already high for all students whether they had experience or not
- Students in the experienced group didn’t have that much experience anyway (60 days)
- Experienced students may have had limited actual first-hand experience (eg: being a specialist psychologist)
- quasi experimental design
What are some of the differences between clinical and counselling psychology?
- Counselling psychologists may work with less severe mental health conditions, most of the time, and may not specialise in assessment of these conditions to the same extent as clinical psychologists
- Counselling psychs spend most of their time providing therapy and interventions
- Counselling psychs are trained in a variety of integrative and eclectic approaches
What are some potential places/organisations of employment for counselling psychs?
- Hospitals
- Organisations
- Consultancies
- Private practice (either form home or consulting rooms)
When did discussions first begin about counselling psychology in Australia?
1970
The first training programme commenced in 1975 at La Trobe Univeristy
What were some of the early challenges for counselling psychology in Australia?
- To establish its own identity and sort out its relationship with other applied areas of psychology where clear overlap existed
- Many new members of the division were influenced by a psycho-educational model of growth, as opposed to a medical model
What is the current title of the counselling psychology in Australia?
College of Counselling Psychologists
How do you become a counselling psychologist in Australia?
1) Do undergrad. in psych
2) Masters (2 years), Doctoral (3 years) or PhD (4 years) in counselling psychology
3) 2 years supervised practice
4) Apply for an Area of Endorsement in Counselling Psychology from PsyBA.
Although the number of counselling psychology courses has decreased in recent times, what is the ratio of applicants to places in these remaining programmes?
5:1
What is the name given to the category of services that can be provided by clinical psychologists? What can be provided by all other psychologists?
Clinical psychs - Psychological Therapy items
Other psychs - Focused Psychological Strategies (FPS)
In terms of the employment settings of counselling psychologists, what has been the trend in the last couple of decades?
The last couple of decades have seen a significant shift in places of employment towards private practice (47.4% as primary occupation, 38% as secondary occupation).
A 1989 survey found most were employed in a tertiary setting, with only 11% in private practice.
What are the core features that characterise counselling psychology in Australia?
- Counselling and psychotherapy
- Diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems and disorders
- Multiple client modalities
- Therapeutic alliance
What are 3 challenges currently facing CP in Australia?
1) Reduction in training programmes
2) Inequities in Medicare funding
3) Externally imposed definitions of the endorsed area of practice
Why has there been a reduction in the number of CP postgrad. programmes?
- The introduction of the two-tiered Medicare model has lead to increased demand for students wanting to study clinical
- This happened at the same time federal funding for universities has reduced
- Postgrad programmes require small staff-student ratios and intensive teaching and supervision
