Intro to Professional Practices in Psychology PSY4029 (2024-25) PDF

PSY4029 Professional Issues and Practices in Psychology Lecture 1 Introduction to Professional Practices in Psychology Esther Y. Y. Lau, Ph.D. (Clinical Psychology) R. Psych (...

PSY4029 Professional Issues and Practices in Psychology Lecture 1 Introduction to Professional Practices in Psychology Esther Y. Y. Lau, Ph.D. (Clinical Psychology) R. Psych (B.C., Canada); R.Clin.Psy (HKPS, HK) Clin.Psy. in Accredited Register (HKICP, HK) 1  Assessments Quizzes (45%) You are encouraged to suggest questions to be included in the two quizzes. The correct answer with a brief explanation and a book/lecture slide reference page (when applicable) should be provided. The best question(s) may be included in the actual quizzes 2 Different Careers in Psychology Clinical psychologists Educational psychologists Industrial-organizational psychologists Counsellors Researchers/Academics Others…. Psychological Wellbeing Officers, Patient Care Assistants, Project Assistants/Officers 3  Professional Bodies The Hong Kong Psychological Society Hong Kong Association of Educational Psychologists (HKAEP) The Hong Kong Institute of Clinical Psychologists (HKICP) American Psychological Association Board of Psychology in each state The British Psychological Society The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) 4  Clinical Psychologists (CPs) Clinical psychology is the psychological specialty that provides continuing and comprehensive mental and behavioral health care for individuals, couples, families, and groups; consultation to agencies and communities; training, education and supervision; and research-based practice. It is a specialty in breadth — one that addresses a wide range of mental and behavioral health problems— and marked by comprehensiveness and integration of knowledge and skill from a broad array of disciplines within and outside of psychology proper. The scope of clinical psychology encompasses all ages, multiple diversities, and varied systems (APA). 5  Clinical Psychologists (CPs) Major tasks Psychological assessment and interventions for clients of all ages Direct services, including intellectual and personality assessment, neuropsychological evaluation, psychopathology assessment, forensic psychological examination individual, couple, group, family, and community Consultation to other professionals on mental health issues Research & training Mass psychological support/psychoeducational activities after disasters/critical incidents (e.g., suicides) 6  Clinical Psychologists (CPs) Target areas difficulties and changes in life (e.g. identity crisis in puberty, relationship breakdown, family problems, parenting problems, stress at work, illness and mourning.) chronic illnesses & physical disabilities (e.g. asthma, heart diseases, hypertension, renal failure, diabetes, chronic pain, etc.) delinquent behaviour, drug and/or alcohol abuse, child abuse and/or domestic violence, or pathological gambling/gaming subclinical psychological problems (e.g., chronic sleep disturbances, anxiety and phobias, depressive mood or eating problems) psychiatric disorders (e.g. early psychosis, schizophrenia, personality disorder, mental disabilities, learning disabilities, autistic spectrum disorder, etc.) neurological conditions 7  Clinical Psychologists (CPs) Work settings Social Welfare Department Hospital Authority Department of Health Rehabilitation Services Correctional Services Department Hong Kong Police Counselling service of tertiary institutions Private Practice 8  Clinical Psychologists (CPs) Professional Standards Training in general areas of psychology Hold a Bachelor degree in Psychology or equivalent Training in clinical psychology (1) For applicants with local clinical qualifications Applicants who have fulfilled the undergraduate requirement and with a Master (at least 2-year full-time) or Doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology (at least 3-year full-time) recognized by HKICP (2) For overseas qualifications Applicants who have fulfilled the undergraduate requirement and graduated from a post-graduate clinical psychology training programme (at least 2-year full-time for a Master degree, or at least 3-year full-time for a Doctoral degree) accredited in the country where the degree is conferred and fulfilling the requirements under Education Standard for Registrants can apply to be registered directly 9  Clinical Psychologists (CPs) Training in clinical psychology 1. Coursework Professional ethics and standards of competency Biopsychology/ physiological psychology (Biological aspects of human behaviour) Developmental psychology (Human development across lifespan) Cognitive psychology (Cognitive aspects of human behaviour) Personality and individual differences Social psychology (Social aspects of human behaviour) History of psychology/ contemporary issues in psychology 2. Research 3. Supervised clinical practice 220 days core areas: i. Adult psychological problems ii. Child and adolescent psychological problems iii. Individuals with medical/ mental conditions or physical/ intellectual/ learning disabilities 10 iv. Health and community psychology issues  Educational Psychologists (EPs) School (Educational) Psychology, a general practice of Health Service Psychology, is concerned with children, youth, families, and the schooling process. School psychologists are prepared to intervene at the individual and system levels, and develop, implement and evaluate programs to promote positive learning environments for children and youth from diverse backgrounds, and to ensure equal access to effective educational and psychological services that promote healthy development (APA). 11  Educational Psychologists (EPs) Major tasks 1. Psycho-educational assessment and diagnosis: students’ psychological state, learning situation as well as developmental needs 2. Counselling services to children and adolescents with learning, emotional, or behavioural difficulties. 3. Consultation services to parents, teachers, schools and other professionals so as to help children and adolescents who are in need of assistance. 4. Design of educational programmes or procedures for children and adolescents with special educational needs. 5. Development and implementation of remedial, preventive or developmental programmes in the whole-school-approach to guidance. 6. Promote quality learning and teaching so as to cater 12 for the individual differences of students  Educational Psychologists (EPs) Major tasks 7. Develop and implement professional development programmes for educators. 8. Assist schools in crisis management, help develop related preventive measures and implement related treatment. 9. Conduct research on educational psychology 10. Analyze organizational needs in schools and provide consultation 11. Consultation to education policy makers 13  Educational Psychologists (EPs) Work settings Education Bureau Mainstream primary and secondary schools Special schools and special education centres Tertiary institutions Non-government organizations providing psychoeducational services Private practice 14  Educational Psychologists (EPs) Professional Standards Hold an undergraduate degree in Psychology or its equivalence acceptable to the HKAEP Professional Council A bachelor degree from an institution recognized by the Council with a minimum of second lower honours level or a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 (on 4.0 GPA scale) with psychology as the major subject and taking no less than eight courses in different areas of psychology covering at least Research Methods in Psychology and 5 out of the 6 following fundamental areas: Biological / Physiological Psychology Developmental /Child Psychology Cognitive Psychology /Perception /Learning /Memory Personality /Individual Differences Social Psychology History of Psychology/Contemporary Issues in Psychology Or a postgraduate qualification in psychology from an institution recognized by the Council covering the courses and fundamental areas of psychology as specified in (i) above and Hold a Master’s or Doctoral degree in educational/school psychology acceptable to the Council 15  Educational Psychologists (EPs) Training in educational psychology Coursework Professional issues and standards in educational psychology practice Psychological foundations Educational foundations Psychoeducational Assessment Psychoeducational Intervention Research methods and statistics Research Practicum Supervised fieldwork training of a minimum of 1,200 hours with at least three placements At least 600 hours should be in educational settings Adequate hands-on experience in relation to individual work, group work, and systems work, encompassing a wide range of student/school16 needs Industrial-organizational Psychologists Industrial-organizational psychology (also called I/O psychology) is characterized by the scientific study of human behavior in organizations and the work place. The specialty focuses on deriving principles of individual, group and organizational behavior and applying this knowledge to the solution of problems at work (APA). 17 Industrial-organizational Psychologists Major tasks organizational consultancy and development organizational research and survey organizational decision making policy and strategy development organizational and job design personnel selection and psychometric testing performance appraisal leadership and team development change management 18 Industrial-organizational Psychologists Target areas staff training and development quality improvement program evaluation work motivation and satisfaction career counselling conflict management work stress consumer and marketing research human factors/ergonomics occupational health and safety 19 20  Counselling Psychologists Counseling Psychology is a generalist health service (HSP) specialty in professional psychology that uses a broad range of culturally-informed and culturally-sensitive practices to help people improve their well-being, prevent and alleviate distress and maladjustment, resolve crises, and increase their ability to function better in their lives. It focuses specifically but not exclusively on normative life-span development, with a particular emphasis on prevention and education as well as amelioration, addressing individuals as well as the systems or contexts in which they function (APA). scientist-practitioner model and evidence-based practice 21  Counselling Psychologists Professional Standards Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree (e.g., Shue Yan University) or Doctoral degree in counselling psychology or related areas in psychology from a recognised university No less than 1000 hours supervised practicum Having regular, ongoing supervision, consultation and/or engagement in other forms of reflective practice Training includes both research and supervised therapeutic practice Counselling psychologists are trained In the assessment and diagnosis of mental health functioning In formulating psychologically-based interventions or programmes which are tailor-made to fit clients’ needs To systematically evaluate the effectiveness of any psychology intervention or programme of service 22  Researchers/Academics Major tasks Teaching in the tertiary education sector Conducting research Requirements Usually a Doctoral degree in PHILOSOPHY (Ph.D.) Primarily focus on research Takes about 4 to 6 years to complete 23  Researchers/Academics What are the (intended) purposes of conducting research? Understanding human beings Why are some people always anxious about something? Solving some real-life problems How to help these people to reduce their anxiety? 24  Researchers/Academics The process of getting a Ph.D. Do research on a particular area Work closely with your supervisor Read (infinite amount) of literature Which should make you an expert in the field Plan, conduct, analyse, and write up your research With the hope of publishing your work in some international journals Work alone for most of the time 25 26  What is Ethics? Actions are generally held to be ethical if they possess the following three attributes They must be principled (right and wrong) They must result from the reasoned outcome of applying the principles They must be generalizable 27  What is Ethics? Deontology Approach Normative ethical position that judges the morality of an action based on rules Ethics based on the notion of a duty, obligation, or rule Justifying the ethical quality of one’s actions focuses on a small or narrow set of moral values or characteristics Does not consider specific exceptions or outcomes, mitigating circumstances, or the subjective judgment of the individual pondering which course of action to take (action is more important than the consequences) Dichotomous in nature 28  What is Ethics? When rules come into conflict with each other Rule 1: being honest Rule 2: preserve life whenever possible Consider the following case: A marital therapist met with a high-conflict couple one time and observed during the session that the husband was intoxicated and loudly criticized his wife for her “shortcomings”. The next day, the therapist received an urgent telephone call from the wife, who told him that she had fled her home in the middle of the night for the safety of a women’s shelter because her husband had started beating her with his fists. Several hours later the repentant husband also telephoned the marital therapist inquiring if she knew where his wife had gone, that he was concerned about her and about to file a missing persons report with the police. 29  What is Ethics? Teleology Approach The study of the ends or purposes of things Focuses on results or endpoints Rules evolved because of negative consequences that resulted from engaging in prohibited activities 30  What is Ethics? What are the negative consequences of the following acts? Reveal a client’s disclosures in therapy to friends, associates, or family members Develop a romantic relationship with a former client Provide individual psychotherapy to a family member or close friend 31  What is Ethics? Ethical issues in our society Universal Pension (全民退休保障) Each elderly receives HK$3,000 person per month Cost covered by the government, the employers, and employees 32  What is Ethics? Ethical issues in our society Controversy about Universal Pension Why do we have to take care of others’ parents? Putting resources on the younger generation seems to bring about more benefits to the society The scheme helps to reduce the burden of the society on taking care of the elderly in the future The society has the responsibility to take care of poor 33  Ethics and Professionalism Professionalism Claim to special competence Exclusive rights Concern for quality work and benefits to the society The need to protect The interests of persons served Self-interests of the profession Ethical decision making as a mechanism to help ensure that members of a profession deal justly with the public 34  References Nagy, T. F. (2011). Essential ethics for psychologists: A primer for understanding and mastering core issues. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association 35