Notes

Outline

Strategic Impact: Continuing to Shape the Future of Professional Psychology.

About the 2003 NCSPP Conference…      Over the last two decades NCSPP has played a crucial role in changing the nature of training in Professional Psychology. NCSPP was created in response to the seemingly obvious need for Professional Psychologists to receive training in psychotherapy and assessment, rather than solely research, if they planned to  assess and treat clients. NCSPP went on to lead the movements toward incorporating diversity training into the curriculum, toward identifying the competencies required of professional psychologists, and most recently, toward recognizing the importance of advocacy training for our clients and our profession. The 2003 conference of the National Council of Schools and Programs of Professional Psychology (NCSPP) focused on the ways in which NCSPP can continue to shape the future of professional psychology through education, training, research, service, and advocacy. The following are “action steps” produced by the small discussion groups at the 2003 NCSPP conference in Scottsdale Arizona.

Socialization Examine assumptions about education and training, taking into consideration new ethics code. Lobby relevant bodies to help make the changes Develop ways to provide socialization experiences that: are grounded in the history of the NCSPP model Facilitate conscious self-reflection Develop self-awareness, including beliefs and values Are responsive to society and the challenges that psychology is facing. Allow for a healthy, balanced life for both students and faculty. Encourage participation in  the political process Help students find their niches

Diversity Add a clearing house for diversity materials to the web site. Develop advocacy strategies for extending/increasing services to diverse groups. Articulate and operationalize the new diversity competency. Develop models for inservice training/dialogue for our own faculty, adjunct faculty, supervisors, etc.

Competency Model In its documents, writings, and practice, NCSPP schools and programs should reemphasize attitudes and values (the “A” of the “KSAs”) in discussion of competencies NCSPP should develop a conference and writings on the importance of general identity formation for psychologists, which includes the competencies but reiterates the importance of social responsibility.  This would involve encouraging and maintaining a larger and broader integrative vision of competencies. NCSPP should examine the developmental elements of competencies, which include pedagogy and assessment.  Beyond individual supervisors, action in this area depends on the collegiality and is the joint responsibility of the faculty and the broader professional community.

Competency Model, continued. Keeping in mind that it is difficult to assess quality (vs. quantity) and recognizing that skills and attitudes are more difficult to assess than knowledge, NCSPP should gather “best practices” as well as different tools used by programs to teach and assess competencies as well as the overall process of “becoming a psychologist.” We should explore the issues that arise in the evaluating “challenging” students in the context of competencies. We should be vigilant and advocate for appropriate implementation of the NCSPP competency module, accreditation, and other arenas to assure that it is not implemented in a trivial or oversimplified manner.

Pedagogical Innovations Post pedagogic innovations on web site. Hold regular sessions on pedagogy at NCSPP conferences. Develop pedagogy task force through education and training committee Create Executive Committee position related to pedagogy to make sure that effective pedagogy receives sufficient attention.

Practicum and Internship Protect our freedom to innovate – develop credibility for our models with or without accreditation. Nominate and develop candidates for CoA from NCSPP and for APA president who will protect our freedom to innovate. Identify and disseminate best practices. Provide information via the web regarding best practices and also share forms, outcome measures, etc., via the web. Compile relevant data across programs. Develop manuals for “consortiums” based on above. Develop listserv and task force to discuss practicum and internship issues.

Starting, Maintaining, and Enhancing Professional Psychology Programs Set formal meeting times in which to to discuss issues related to administering programs. Sessions would provide: Facilitators to engage group Consultation with colleagues Training in specific management areas Overall support

Distance Learning Maintain visibility of the topic in NCSPP and education of members regarding the breadth of the topic and possible applications in programs- traditional as well as distance education Gather data on who’s doing what, how, how much, and when; including creation of an interest group Possible use of Distance Education as delivery mechanism for offering course between NCSPP meetings - someone suggested a course on history, policies, competencies, etc. Create a place on the web site for Distance Education methods, innovations, and resources to be accumulated and made available to the membership. Recommend that NCSPP have a live demonstration of on-line, distributed learning either over a period of time between meetings or at one of the annual meetings. NCSPP give consideration to what aspects of the core curriculum could effectively be delivered using Distance Education models.

Psychopharmacology NCSPP should acknowledge that psychopharmacology is an important part of the bio-psycho-social approach of professional psychology. NCSPP curriculum should emphasize a psychological model of psychotherapy, which uses medication in conjunction with psychotherapy. NCSPP should consider a curriculum model that includes: A psychopharmacology course Biological bases courses with a clinical focus Psychopharmacology information in related courses

Primary Health Care Practice Help to expand our economic database (recognize the potential ramifications for other disciplines as we move in this direction). Find ways to fund preceptors and incorporate supervision into the teaching load of faculty. Infuse psychology students into treatment teams (resolve charting, privileging, and billing issues). Advocacy: Insure federal mandate to have mental health as part of community mental health centers. Help graduates obtain jobs in this area. Infuse information about primary health care into curriculum.

Grants for Professional Psychology Education and Training NCSPP members should advocate for support of education in psychology. NCSPP members should become more savvy about funding opportunities. NCSPP should support member schools seeking funding by: Developing a mechanism for sharing information on federal and local grants. Developing a resource bank of people to help other schools obtain grants. Holding workshops on grant writing. Drawing attention to web-based grant resources

The Next Steps    Over the next several weeks, summaries of the discussions producing these action steps will be circulated. These will remind participants of the contexts and discussions from which the action steps emerged. The next step is to move some of these initiatives forward. Several individuals have already stepped toward to serve as  “guardians” for particular action steps. In this capacity, they will usher the ideas through NCSPP channels and bring them to fruition. If you feel that a particular action step is critical to the future of Professional Psychology, we encourage you to do the same, so that NCSPP will continue to play an active, dynamic role in shaping the future of professional psychology through education, training, research, service, and advocacy.