Training and Education in Professional Psychology

Actions by professional psychology education and training groups to mitigate the internship imbalance.
The internship match imbalance is a significant challenge for professional psychology. While the imbalance is a long-standing and multifaceted issue, there are considerable efforts underway within the education and training community to work collaboratively to mitigate the imbalance and to further the collective goal of providing high quality education and training to doctoral students in professional psychology. This article describes the context, framework, focus, and structure of the meeting that was convened in September 2008 with stakeholder groups most directly impacted by the match imbalance. The 11 pathways and action steps identified at that meeting and progress through 2011 is presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)
Resolving the internship imbalance: Expanding the commons or limiting the cattle.
Hatcher (2011, The internship supply as a common-pool resource: A pathway to managing the imbalance problem, Training and Education in Professional Psychology , 5 , pp. 126–140.) has advanced the discussion of the internship imbalance in health care psychology by reframing the issue in economic terms. Expanding on his analysis, it is suggested that the source of the imbalance may be traced to elements of the accreditation guidelines that create an economic disparity between doctoral versus internship programs in professional psychology. The various potential responses to the internship imbalance are considered in light of this issue. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)
Are there fish in the sea as good as ever came out of it? A response to using the common-pool resource paradigm to resolve the internship imbalance.
Hatcher (2011, The internship supply as a common-pool resource: A pathway to managing the imbalance problem, Training and Education in Professional Psychology , 5 , pp. 126–140.) has recently suggested that the current internship crisis can best be conceived of as a problem of managing a common-pool resource. His review of the crisis and the issues that intersect with it highlight a number of important concerns. He pays relatively less attention to how the supply of internships has changed, efforts to grow this supply, and some of the problems inherent within the supply side of this crisis. This article focuses on these issues and some of the efforts of the National Council of Schools and Programs of Professional Psychology to address them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)
Shifting the paradigm: Alternative perspectives and solutions to increasing the availability of quality internships.
The internship crisis facing the field of professional psychology is complex and multidetermined. The aim of this commentary is to broaden the discussion initiated by Hatcher (2011, The internship supply as a common-pool resource: A pathway to managing the imbalance problem, Training and Education in Professional Psychology , 5 , pp. 126–140.) in his article that likens the match crisis to a common-pool resource problem. The authors contend that there are critical issues that must be considered in order to solve the match crisis, namely, the recognized need for a full-scale workforce analysis, the need to increase funding resources, and the recognition of alternative models of internship training. An existing additional pool of vetted high quality internships may not have been fully considered by Hatcher (2011) and others in the field. This commentary presents a regional model exemplified by the California Psychology Internship Council (CAPIC) as one regional solution to the limited supply of internships and provides some information about the potential advantages and quality control measures used to monitor this vital resource. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)
Behavioral contingencies involved in common pool resource management.
Scientific psychology has much to contribute to understanding the human behaviors that underlie problems associated with common pool resource allocation, including those at the root of the internship imbalance. By examining the financial contingencies through which professional psychology training programs are supported, the less-than-finite nature of internship resources, and the tendency for humans (and the programs they comprise) to discount the value of delayed contingencies, behavioral theory predicts persistence (and perhaps worsening) of the internship imbalance. Although it is important to understand the nature of our common internship pool resource problem, as illustrated in 2011 by Hatcher, and the behavioral contingencies that cause and maintain it, behavior change will require all shareholders in professional psychology to make a commitment to reducing enrollments into doctoral training programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)
Managing the internship imbalance: Response to commentaries.
Thirty years' study of economic governance focusing on the management of scarce but renewable resources has demonstrated the need for effective governance systems to prevent degradation of valuable resources. One of professional psychology's most problematic scarce resources is the supply of quality-vetted internships; each year, the resource is subject to increasingly severe overuse. Hatcher's 2011 article used the research on resource management to analyze and propose a governance solution to the internship imbalance problem. This response reviews and responds to issues raised by commentators on Hatcher's article. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)
Intended and unintended consequences of state practicum licensure regulation.
In an attempt to address the training crisis in professional psychology, the American Psychological Association (APA) proposed a change in the sequence of training that would allow the use of practicum hours to meet experience requirements for licensure. This recommendation has resulted in changes in the statutes and regulations regarding licensure requirements in six states, with three other states in process. The laws in two additional states allowing licensure immediately after internship predated APA's proposed change. This article reviews the regulations that specify requirements for use of practicum experiences in seeking licensure in these eight states. The similarities and differences are noted and the implications for mobility are discussed. Recommendations for regulators and trainers are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)
Creating an oncology practicum: A partnering approach.
An oncology practicum was developed jointly by a university department of psychology and an outpatient cancer center affiliated with the university's medical school and the area's teaching/county hospital. Beginning in 2004, psychology doctoral students in clinical psychology and counseling psychology and their supervisor have provided services in all areas of the cancer center, in a stem-cell transplant unit in the hospital, and participated in patient care conferences and Grand Rounds. The psychology group has counseled patients and families as part of a multidisciplinary health care team. This paper discusses planning, implementation, evaluation, and continuing growth and development of the practicum, as well as results of a satisfaction survey of doctoral students who have participated in the practicum. Health psychology and practicum competencies are also discussed in the context of a specialized health practicum in a complex medical setting. This is a unique but also practical and portable health psychology practicum model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)
Psychology internship training on interventions for children with maltreatment histories.
This current study surveyed predoctoral psychology internships' use of empirically supported treatments (ESTs) for children with a history of child maltreatment and their families. Predoctoral psychology internship directors of training were asked to complete an online survey about training offered in treatments for this population. Of the 373 psychology predoctoral child internships contacted, 137 (37%) responded. Results indicated training in at least one EST was provided by 82% of the internships that responded. Training in treatments that have been rated as not yet having sufficient research evidence to be labeled as supported were more likely to occur in non-APA accredited sites (than APA accredited sites) and nonacademic or nonhospital sites (than academic or hospital sites). Further, training in the treatment rated as meeting the highest standard of evidence, Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, was provided at 51% of the sites. Results suggest the need to improve and expand the dissemination of ESTs for children with maltreatment histories through child internship training sites and investigate training of EST in graduate school programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)
Administering practicum training: A survey of graduate programs' policies and procedures.
The role of practicum training in educating professional psychologists has come increasingly into focus following the American Psychological Association (APA) Council of Representatives' resolution to count practicum experience for licensure in the model licensure law (APA, 2006). Effective practicum training depends on good administration to realize its full educational potential as part of the graduate curriculum in professional psychology. This article reports the results of a survey of APA accredited Clinical, Counseling, School, and Combined and Integrated programs regarding their practicum policies and procedures (n = 195). Basic policies are implemented by most programs; identified competence goals, individual student practicum plans, and other potentially useful policies and procedures are evident in some programs. The authors recommend careful review of graduate program policies and procedures to enhance full integration of practicum into the educational process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)

Training and Education in Professional Psychology - Vol 5, Iss 4