George Wills FAPS: “I’m concerned with the impersonal nature of the first comment (Generalist scum not welcome). It’s hard for me to believe that such attacks could be made by educated people, so I want it not to be true. I’d like to know who wrote about the office attack and the verbal one on his or her daughter.”
Member: “The fact underpinning everything RAPS is fighting for is that we are all equally qualified professionals capable of delivering high standard and evidence based treatment to those who need it and deserve to be respected and remunerated accordingly. ”
Member: “I came into the professional via the 4+2 pathway, I had an excellent range of supervisors and I was fortunate enough to have gone to a University where, during the 4th year, there was a focus on teaching various therapies, assessments etc. After a few years of working in the profession I decided to commence a Clinical Masters however withdrew after the first year as I was learning nothing new. I was hoping to refine my skills, learn the ‘magic’ of therapy however I was disappointed as it was effectively a repeat of my 4th year studies.
I have tossed up at different times over the past few years as to whether to go back and complete to ‘tick the box’ however the time away from my clinic, and the financial costs for something I effectively know just doesn’t make rational sense.
The APS and Clinical College has done a fantastic job of creating a perception of superior therapists, however the reality most likely is that the Clinicals followed the complete 6 year academic stream without being tested in the ‘real world’ and their claim to superiority is the degree they hold, not the client outcomes – which is all that matters. I actually like Clinical Psychologists and the academic approach they have to therapy and to their clients – but I have quite a number of clients who have previously seen a Clinical and whose therapy has failed.”
Member: “I remember being appalled when the ‘clinical’ snobbery started all those years ago, but felt too powerless to do anything about it. It is totally against our values and ethics as Psychologists to create a feudal system in our association…Good on you RAPS for giving us a voice at last.”
Reform APS 
If the ‘clinicals’ arent being tested in the real world, then where are they being tested?? Public hospitals, mental health and Disability services, veterans services, private prsctice – these arent real world? So that means other postgrad courses arent real world either??? And you left a masters program?
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I dont know about the structure of other post grad courses or medical courses. I am speaking from my experience of a Clin Masters Program which after comparing with my experience of the 2 year supervised practice pathway I found to be inadequate in demonstrating the realities of psychology in private practice. Two semesters of clinical placement, assessed academically by case studies is inadequate – if it wasnt then 2 years of post-Masters supervised practice wouldnt be required.
And yes, I left the Masters program.
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A masters of Psychology graduate can practice immediately after graduation; the two years of post-graduation supervision is required for clinical endorsement. I am concerned that someone claiming to have completed a year of a M.Psych program is not aware of this.
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Sorry Ivanka, I’m pretty sure you missed his point.
I think what Matt means is that if Clinicals require the additional 2 years of supervised practice to attain Endorsement, this suggests the Clinical Masters program itself does not sufficiently demonstrate they have acquired proficiency in applied practice.
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I’m pretty sure I have not missed Matt’s assertion. He claimed that “Two semesters of clinical placement, assessed academically by case studies is inadequate – if it wasnt then 2 years of post-Masters supervised practice wouldnt be required” clearly revealing not only a blatantly incorrect belief that M.Psych (Clinical) graduates require an additional two years of supervision before they can practice, but an equally incorrect belief that clinical placements in M.Psych (Clinical) programs only last two semesters (they typically start in the second semester of the first year of the program, so a minimum of eighteen months) and that they are “assessed academically by case studies” (in fact placement students are assessed according to their performance and competencies demonstrated in working with a standard client load, in a similar manner as a 4+2 or 5+2 would). I again question how someone who claims to have enrolled in a M.Psych (Clinical) but dropped it because it was inferior to the training he received during his 4+2 training is unaware of such basic details of the M.Psych (Clinical) program.
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Well, I guess only Matt knows what he truly meant.
But just out of interest, do you mind explaining the purpose of the required additional 1yr (For DPsyc Graduates) or 2 years(for MClin graduates) of Supervised practice for Endorsement?
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No Ivanka – I was highlighting that 2 years extra is required for clinical endorsement….and no Im not unaware of the details nor assessment requirements – and if you care to read my comment correctly, my opinion was its inadequate not inferior.
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Sure you were. Care to share the name of the university which offers a Masters of Psychology (Clinical) that only requires two semesters of placements and assesses them solely through a case study rather than ongoing progress, which are far more lax requirements then any APAC accredited course?
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I think they are saying clinical psychs are too ‘academic’, but aren’t we talking about evidence based practice and research driven practice? Does this mean medicine is also ‘academic’? Its an odd argument as postgrad courses, including counselling, health, forensic, etc are also the same structure…..
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I agree with George Wills in regards to the office attack and attack on someone’s daughter. It is totally unbelievable and reeks of fabrication in order to scare psychologists into running into the arms of raps.
It is important to provide evidence of this such as police event number for the two reports to the police or the persons name and the designation as a psychologist.
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not very empathic to acuse victims’ family of fabrication for manipulative purposes. bit below the belt.
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I think that Psychologists do not realise the power they have as a group. Is a mass exodus required to be heard? The APS is a very financial company, and has been basically a monopoly until the last few years. Psychologist fees have funded the APS downfall and continue to do so.
Are Psychologists like battered wives, fearful of change, going back to the abuser believing it will get better???
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Hi all, sorry – can someone please explain the ongoing references to ‘academic’ when referring to clinical psychologists?? I don’t understand what it means. All psychologists are initially trained at uni, then postgrad continue to uni with placements, while 4+2 pathway does work place apprenticeship and I assume also do reading and attend PD?? This is not making sense to me. Thanks David
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Hi David, Here is a link posted by a concerned psychologist that I hope will help you understand just a little bit more. It’s a paper written by Dr Roger Peters.
http://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=88efef3a-e6ab-457e-b786-92dd8f029bd0.
You might also like to read a paper written by Dr Clive Jones in LinkedIn. I think the link or the article is somewhere on the RAPS website. Anyway, try the following link:
http://www.linkedin.com/pulse/australian-psychology-crisis-medicre-better-access-jones?...
I hope this helps!
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I hope he understands just a little bit more now, like we do.
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Thanks Betty, I just read the paper – unfortunately there are some factual errors in it, however I think I understand a bit more now.
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