The Dissertation as a Component in the Training of Clinical Psychologists

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 638-655 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony L. Pillay ◽  
Anna M. Kritzinger
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Clinical Psychology ◽  
Clinical Psychologists ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Psychology Training ◽  
Significant Component ◽  
Clinical Psychology Training ◽  
One Year ◽  
Scientist Practitioner Model ◽  
And Training

The dissertation, a significant component of graduate clinical psychology training, is hardly ever completed within the stipulated two years, with the result that students graduate much later than they should. Against this background, the present investigation surveyed clinical psychologists who graduated between 5 and 10 years ago for feedback on their experiences of the dissertation. One hundred and thirty-seven subjects responded. The average time taken to complete the dissertation was almost three years, with a range between 6 months and 14 years. Almost 70 per cent of the subjects took longer than the stipulated time, and almost 30 per cent took more than one year longer. About one-third of the subjects had a negative or indifferent attitude prior to starting the work, and similar percentages of the sample felt they did not have sufficient grounding to start the dissertation or enough supervision while working on it. Almost three-quarters of the subjects felt the dissertation had minimally influenced their practice as clinical psychologists. The results are discussed within the context of the ‘scientist-practitioner’ model of training, and training issues in low-income countries.

Tame clients: an evaluation of service users’ and trainee clinical psychologists’ perspective of service user involvement in teaching

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 327-338
Author(s):  
Carl Norwood ◽  
Anna Tickle ◽  
Danielle De Boos ◽  
Roberta Dewa
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Psychology ◽  
Service User ◽  
User Involvement ◽  
Clinical Psychologists ◽  
Psychology Training ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Service User Involvement ◽  
Clinical Psychology Training ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Competency Frameworks

Purpose The involvement of service users within clinical psychology training is written into policy. However, the practice of evaluating involvement from both trainees’ and service users’ viewpoint is minimal. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate recent service user involvement in psychometrics and formulation teaching on a clinical psychology training programme, from both service user and trainee perspectives. Design/methodology/approach Focus groups were held with service users (n=3) involved in the teaching, as well as trainees (n=3). Additional questionnaire data were captured from trainees (n=11). Service user and trainee data were analysed separately using thematic analysis. Themes generated for trainees were also mapped on to a competency framework for clinical psychologists. Findings Both parties found the teaching beneficial. Service users enjoyed supporting trainees and engaged positively in their roles. They identified relational aspects and reflections on their own therapy as other benefits. Trainees reported enhanced clinical preparedness, critical and personal reflection. Trainee anxiety was evident. Learning mapped well to competency frameworks. Research limitations/implications The samples were small and some data truncated. Findings speak to broader issues and may transfer to other involvement contexts. Practical implications A good degree of meaningful involvement can be achieved through such initiatives, to mutual benefit and enhanced learning. Originality/value Nature of the exercise and dual-aspect approach to evaluation described here helps to minimise tokenism. The mapping of findings to competency frameworks supports evaluative processes and helps to legitimise involvement initiatives that challenge the boundaries of existing practice.

scholarly journals Learning from service user and carer involvement in clinical psychology training

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 137-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fides Katharina Schreur ◽  
Laura Lea ◽  
Louise Goodbody
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Clinical Psychology ◽  
Service User ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Clinical Psychologists ◽  
Psychology Training ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Clinical Psychology Training ◽  
Content Type

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to build a theoretical model of how and what clinical psychologists learn from service user and carer involvement in their training. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative research design was adopted, and verbatim transcripts of semi-structured interviews conducted with 12 clinical psychologists were analysed using grounded theory methodology. Findings – Findings indicated that clinical psychologists learned from service user and carer involvement in a variety of ways and a preliminary model was proposed, encompassing four main categories: “mechanisms of learning”, “relational and contextual factors facilitating learning”, “relational and contextual factors hindering learning” and “impact”. Research limitations/implications – Further research is required to establish to what extent the current findings may be transferrable to learning from service user and carer involvement in the context of educating professionals from other disciplines. Additionally, participants had limited experiences of carer involvement, and more research in this area specifically would be useful. Practical implications – This study advocates for service user and carer involvement in clinical psychology training, and specific recommendations are discussed, including service user perspectives. Originality/value – Service user and carer involvement has become mandatory in Health Care Professional Council-approved training programmes for mental health professionals, yet if and how learning occurs is poorly understood in this context. This study makes an important contribution in evaluating outcomes of service user and carer involvement in clinical psychology training by advancing theoretical understanding of the learning processes involved. The authors are unaware of similar work.

Development and validation of the trainee rated impact of involvement index (TRIple-I) in clinical psychology training

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Holttum ◽  
Laura Lea ◽  
Sarah Strohmaier
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Psychology ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Clinical Psychologists ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Psychology Training ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Clinical Psychology Training ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Validated Questionnaire ◽  
Psychology Courses

Purpose Previous research suggests that service user and carer involvement (SUCI) in clinical psychology training may have an impact. The purpose of this study was to develop a validated questionnaire to enable trainee clinical psychologists to rate this. Design/methodology/approach A collaborative project was carried out with service users and carers and trainee clinical psychologists. The principles of questionnaire design were followed. The authors developed and validated a trainee self-report questionnaire, based on focus groups and relevant literature indicating potential impacts of involvement on practice. A draft 60-item version was piloted with 15 trainee clinical psychologists. Then, 133 trainees from 22 UK clinical psychology courses completed it (estimated response rate of 13.2%). The sample was representative of UK trainees in gender and ethnicity, but slightly older. Findings The principal component analysis produced a 36-item questionnaire with four factors: human communication, carer perspectives, empathy and challenging/changing. The questionnaire showed good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Stakeholder consultation suggested face and content validity and there was some indication of construct validity. Originality/value The project has resulted in a usable co-produced questionnaire, which is now available to clinical psychology courses to assess the self-reported impact of SUCI in training, and which may also be used in future research.

Now they’re listening: involvement in clinical psychology training

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-29
Author(s):  
Laura Lea ◽  
Sue Holttum ◽  
Victoria Butters ◽  
Diana Byrne ◽  
Helen Cable ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Clinical Psychology ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Service User ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Psychology Training ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Clinical Psychology Training ◽  
Content Type

PurposeThe 2014/2015 UK requirement for involvement of service users and carers in training mental health professionals has prompted the authors to review the work of involvement in clinical psychology training in the university programme. Have the voices of service users and carers been heard? The paper aims to discuss this issue.Design/methodology/approachThe authors update the paper of 2011 in which the authors described the challenges of inclusion and the specific approaches the authors take to involvement. The authors do this in the context of the recent change to UK standards for service user and carer involvement, and recent developments in relation to partnership working and co-production in mental healthcare. The authors describe the work carried out by the authors – members of a service user involvement group at a UK university – to ensure the voices of people affected by mental health difficulties are included in all aspects of training.FindingsCareful work and the need for dedicated time is required to enable inclusive, effective and comprehensive participation in a mental health training programme. It is apparent that there is a group of service users whose voice is less heard: those who are training to be mental health workers.Social implicationsFor some people, involvement has increased. Trainee mental health professionals’ own experience of distress may need more recognition and valuing.Originality/valueThe authors are in a unique position to review a service-user-led project, which has run for 12 years, whose aim has been to embed involvement in training. The authors can identify both achievements and challenges.

scholarly journals Pediatric neurosurgical workforce, access to care, equipment and training needs worldwide

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. E13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael C. Dewan ◽  
Ronnie E. Baticulon ◽  
Abbas Rattani ◽  
James M. Johnston ◽  
Benjamin C. Warf ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
International Collaboration ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Training Needs ◽  
High Income ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Surgical Workforce ◽  
And Training

OBJECTIVEThe presence and capability of existing pediatric neurosurgical care worldwide is unknown. The objective of this study was to solicit the expertise of specialists to quantify the geographic representation of pediatric neurosurgeons, access to specialist care, and equipment and training needs globally.METHODSA mixed-question survey was sent to surgeon members of several international neurosurgical and general pediatric surgical societies via a web-based platform. Respondents answered questions on 5 categories: surgeon demographics and training, hospital and practice details, surgical workforce and access to neurosurgical care, training and equipment needs, and desire for international collaboration. Responses were anonymized and analyzed using Stata software.RESULTSA total of 459 surgeons from 76 countries responded. Pediatric neurosurgeons in high-income and upper-middle-income countries underwent formal pediatric training at a greater rate than surgeons in low- and lower-middle-income countries (89.5% vs 54.4%). There are an estimated 2297 pediatric neurosurgeons in practice globally, with 85.6% operating in high-income and upper-middle-income countries. In low- and lower-middle-income countries, roughly 330 pediatric neurosurgeons care for a total child population of 1.2 billion. In low-income countries in Africa, the density of pediatric neurosurgeons is roughly 1 per 30 million children. A higher proportion of patients in low- and lower-middle-income countries must travel > 2 hours to seek emergency neurosurgical care, relative to high-income countries (75.6% vs 33.6%, p < 0.001). Vast basic and essential training and equipment needs exist, particularly low- and lower-middle-income countries within Africa, South America, the Eastern Mediterranean, and South-East Asia. Eighty-nine percent of respondents demonstrated an interest in international collaboration for the purposes of pediatric neurosurgical capacity building.CONCLUSIONSWide disparity in the access to pediatric neurosurgical care exists globally. In low- and lower-middle-income countries, wherein there exists the greatest burden of pediatric neurosurgical disease, there is a grossly insufficient presence of capable providers and equipped facilities. Neurosurgeons across income groups and geographic regions share a desire for collaboration and partnership.

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