Facilitating mobility for psychologists: Comparisons with and lessons from other health care professions.

Psychology and other health care professions are giving increasing attention to facilitating the movement of practitioners across jurisdictions. One of the greatest deterrents to mobility is the variability in licensing requirements among states and provinces. We review the status of mobility systems for licensed members of the professions of psychology, optometry, dentistry, medicine, nursing, and pharmacy. Each profession has, at a minimum, addressed the issue of mobility and licensure. With the exception of medicine, each profession currently has in place a version of licensure by endorsement and/or by reciprocity, although the professions differ in breadth of use and user-friendliness. Implications for enhancing mobility for psychologists are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interstate forensic psychology consultations: A call for reform and proposal of a model rule.

Forensic psychology has made important gains in professional recognition and stature in the courts, resulting in increasing demands for mobility of expertise. Current regulations regarding the interjurisdictional temporary forensic practice of psychology, however, are characterized by variability of regulations, ambiguity and inaccessibility, and continuing total barriers. A uniform, well-reasoned policy is needed. A conceptual basis for such a policy is provided by a discussion of licensing rationales and the application of these to forensic practice. Uniformity, public and professional protection, and practicability are identified as fundamental regulatory criteria. A Model Rule Regarding the Temporary Forensic Practice of Psychology is proposed for adoption by state licensing boards on a nationwide basis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Letter to the Editor and a Response.

A response by Judy Hall to some of the challenges that Arlene Carsten enumerated in her Forum letter of November 1978 concerning the licensing exam for psychology. I am pleased to see consumer representatives on a licensing board for psychology take such an active interest in the exam. However, it appears that serving on such a board has not sensitized her to the need for interpretation of her scores. Being psychologists, the Executive Committee of AASPB and the professional members of state boards are painfully aware of any imperfections in test construction methods available to date. Knowing that there are no easy, available answers to some of Carsten's challenges makes us proceed carefully and do what we are best at doing-systematically collect data in order to answer the questions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Professional mobility for psychologists: Multiple choices, multiple opportunities.

This article details the roots of the mobility movement, including frequent difficulties psychologists encounter when applying for additional licenses and how these obstacles led credentialing organizations to encourage licensing boards to extend a mobility privilege to psychologists who meet certain national standards. The National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology advocates an inclusive approach to licensure mobility by encouraging psychological organizations and licensing boards to support and adopt multiple mobility mechanisms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Character and fitness requirements for professional psychologists: Are there any?

Should the profession of psychology more carefully and intentionally evaluate the moral character and personal fitness of applicants for graduate school admission and state licensure? Although lawyer applicants for bar admission have been screened on the basis of character and fitness for nearly 50 years, professional psychology devotes only cursory attention to such standards. The purpose of this article is to use the legal profession's approach to character and fitness screening as an exemplar for professional psychology. The authors recommend development of national standards that are based on the essential characteristics of practicing psychologists and offer a preliminary list of minimal character and fitness requirements. By collaboratively and proactively working to ensure high character and fitness standards, graduate programs and licensing boards will simultaneously protect consumers and the public image of psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Special Licensing in Psychology.

Licensure is primarily designed to protect the public from unfit practitioners. However, most licensing laws in psychology are generic. Generic licensure assumes that there is a core of knowledge that all professional psychologists should possess and be able to document. In 1977 the New York State Board of Regents, which has jurisdiction over the licensed professions, addressed the issue of identification of specialties in the health professions. The current rules (Licensing of Psychologists in New York State, 1978) state that it is unprofessional conduct to make "claims of professional superiority which cannot be substantiated by the licensee" (p. 17). In effect, since there are no standards, psychologists can list any specialty they wish. Specialty licensing becomes important as advertising among professionals becomes a reality. The public has the right to know which psychologists are telling the truth when they list themselves as having a given specialty. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology Licensing Board Disciplinary Actions: The Realities.

Our increasingly litigious society leaves many professional psychologists with a sense of vulnerability. This article presents survey information about disciplinary complaints against psychologists and about psychology licensing board actions. The data collected support an alternative perspective to the view that licensing boards are overzealous in their disciplinary procedures and actions against licensees or that they are lax in their protection of the public. In fact, few complaints are filed and most do not lead to discipline. Recommendations are offered that would permit clearer interpretation of the complaints of misconduct, the outcomes of those complaints, and the risk of adverse actions by boards. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Global Mobility for Psychologists: The Role of Psychology Organizations in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Other Regions.

Global mobility for psychologists is rapidly improving because of an emerging consensus on recognition standards, the demand for cross-border mobility both internal and external to the profession, and the efforts of membership, credentialing, and regional organizations to promote mobility. In the United States, multiple credentialing organizations promote mobility, primarily through individual endorsement of credentials. The Canadian regulatory boards signed a mutual recognition agreement implementing fast-track mechanisms for licensed psychologists seeking mobility and a competency-based assessment for initial registration. Europe plans to reduce barriers to mobility through mutual recognition of qualifications via a EuroPsy diploma that provides a benchmark for professional psychology education and training. Other regions have not made as much progress with regard to promoting mobility, as many do not yet even regulate the practice of psychology. The authors examine who seeks mobility, which geographic regions promote mobility, and by which mechanisms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Licensing and Professional Function.

It is shocking to summarize the ongoing debates on licensing of psychologists and on the relations between psychologists and psychiatrists. We psychologists seem chiefly to place the blame on the psychiatrists for the slow progress in gaining recognition of the professional function of psychologists. I offer a dissent which declares that a restrictive block must be removed from the thinking of psychologists before we are going to get anywhere on the problems of licensing and recognition of professional function. The block is manifested by the efforts of psychologists to imitate psychiatrists and beat them at their own game. This game is the diagnosis and treatment of mental and emotional disorders, illnesses, aberrations, etc. Such diagnosis and treatment involves a mechanistic and concretistic thinking which is proving itself powerless to deal with the behavioral functioning of human individuals in interactive contexts. I am tempted to say "has proven," but there is a sad lack of experimental evidence, for which psychologists must shoulder their share of the blame. For my part, I don't blame psychiatrists for opposing the licensing of psychologists to treat "mental and emotional illnesses." Without realizing it, the psychiatrists are doing us a big favor in warning us away from this fruitless endeavor in which they are themselves experiencing so much heartbreak. We are wasting our time in seeking to crowd with them into a theoretical structure which will not support intense scientific effort. No psychologist should discuss with any citizen the relief of symptoms which are now manifest in the citizen's organic functioning. The psychologist's function should be to teach his interested fellow human beings how to perceive an interpersonal world and interact within that social realm on a more efficient and harmonious basis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Licensure in psychology: Alternative directions.

The licensing of psychologists has become an area of intense professional interest. Attempts to provide historical overviews and current data on the status of licensing regulations have become common. This article critiques existing regulations by examining assumptions implicit in the development of licensing procedures. The implications of such assumptions for professional psychology are discussed, and guidelines for alternative licensure developments are presented. The importance of developing valid measures of entry-level and continued professional competence is emphasized. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

School psychology: A specialty of professional psychology with distinct competencies and complexities.

School psychology at the doctoral level is recognized as a specialty of professional psychology by the American Psychological Association, with corresponding licensure as a psychologist granted by state boards of psychology. School psychology also is regulated by state boards of education; they set the credentialing standards for professional practice in public schools. The intent of this article is to enhance the understanding of this distinct and multiply influenced specialty. The need for psychological services in schools is highlighted, followed by a discussion of multiple influences and licensing/credentialing issues. Next, the specialty is delineated, its distinctiveness highlighted, and competencies for practice in the public schools elaborated. Finally, education/training models and mechanisms for program accreditation are described, as are the major professional organizations in school psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the expansion of professional psychology.

"My aim has been to discuss some of the effects which present-day training in clinical psychology may have upon the role and identity of professional psychologists; how the consequences of professional expansion and the interaction with other groups affect training programs in psychology; and how in turn the circumstances of the latter, by determining the range and quality of experiences, may affect the intellectual and professional orientation of clinical psychologists." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

La déontologie et l'éthique dans le contexte de l'exercice de la profession de psychologue au Québec.

The professional structure in Quebec is unique in Canada because of the Office of Professions, which regulates all professional bodies in the province. Protection of the public is the fundamental role the regulatory system assigns to each professional body within its respective specialty. This professional structure ensures a balanced regulation of each profession's activities and a clear understanding of their missions. Examining the duties and obligations of the members of the profession is the role of deontology. Considering the consequences of their practice on clients, the profession and society is a matter of ethics. This article describes the professional structure within which psychologists in Quebec practice their profession, with full consideration of the role of deontology and ethics as mutually inseparable concepts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Psychology as a profession: Foundations of practice.

Reviews the book, Psychology as a profession: Foundations of practice by W. B. Pryzwansky and R. N. Wendt (see record 1987-98014-000). Pryzwansky and Wendt provide a guidebook on professional issues addressed to both applied psychologists and those in training. The book begins with a general introduction to the topic of psychology as a profession, which is followed by a chapter on each of the following issues: credentialing in psychology, ethics and standards, legal impact in practice, professional development and accountability (including internships), and professional organizations. Many important professional issues are presented by the authors. It is clear that this book is directed to an audience of applied psychologists in general, but school psychologists will find a number of relevant areas not well covered. Psychology as a profession is a handy, small book to supplement a professional practices course. However, its size and purpose limit the depth with which specific topics can be elaborated, resulting in a number of gaps in coverage. In addition, given the vulnerability of several of the topics in this book to ongoing change, the reader needs to be reminded of the possibility that some information will become outdated. However, the book does provide a useful introduction to topics that seem to impact increasingly on the lives of professional psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Historical understanding and teaching in professional psychology.

The teaching of the history of psychology in professional psychology training programs presents to students and teachers any number of opportunities and challenges. The increasing number of professional psychologists teaching the history of psychology coupled with advances in historical scholarship point to an ongoing evolution in the teaching of the history of psychology. In this introduction to the articles that follow, issues of content and context in teaching the history of psychology in professional psychology are discussed and affirmations offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Changes in training and practice of psychologists: Current challenges for licensing boards.

Psychology licensing laws have a short history and were created to regulate the professional interactions between a psychologist and a client within a single jurisdiction. Societal and technological changes in the way psychologists are trained and practice challenge licensing boards to provide new mechanisms to regulate professional behavior that recognize these changes yet still offer adequate protection of the public. This article describes the problems psychologists encounter related to professional mobility, temporary practice across jurisdictional boundaries, distance learning, and consistency in the handling and reporting of disciplinary actions. The article also describes the efforts of the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards to help its licensing board members to address these challenges. Finally, the article raises some potentially dramatic changes being considered in the way psychologists are admitted to professional practice using a competency assessment approach to complement the traditional use of course credits, supervised experience hours, and performance on a knowledge-based exam. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparisons between psychologists and other professional groups.

It is estimated that as of 1953, there were 22,000 persons working as psychologists in the United States; 95,000 living persons have obtained bachelor's degrees with majors in psychology; 5,000 living persons have the Ph.D. degrees in psychology. About 12% of the students who have received a bachelor's degree in psychology have become professional psychologists; this accounts for approximately half of all the people in the country who are working as psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of the American Board of Professional Psychology in professional mobility.

This article describes the role of certification by the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) in easing the process by which psychologists move beyond their original jurisdictional boundaries to practice psychology. Meeting the requirements for licensure or certification in the various jurisdictions can be a difficult task because these requirements vary considerably from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Other mechanisms that are available to facilitate this process include the Certificate of Professional Qualification in Psychology issued by the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards and certification by the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology. The ABPP certificate/diploma has been regarded by many state psychological associations and state boards of psychology as an appropriate way in which to recognize psychologists who are eligible for licensure/certification in a jurisdiction because of the examination requirements for board certification. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)