<p>As psychologists continue to engage the growing diversity within the United States and around the world, there is an imperative need for psychological services that are specific to cultural needs and integrate relevant sociohistorical and community factors. Currently, ethnocentrism in psychological interventions, research, and graduate training limit psychologists’ international engagement and perpetuate a focus on U.S. psychology. For graduate programs in health service psychology (i.e., clinical, school, and counseling psychology), there is a dearth of literature on their methods of preparation of health service professionals engaging in psychological work outside of the U.S. However, graduate training programs have opportunities to intervene on the field’s colonialism by preparing professionals to effectively engage internationally. Addressing ethnocentrism in training is a critical next step for the field of health service psychology.</p><p>This dissertation is comprised of two distinct chapters that are conceptually related. In the first chapter, I review health service psychology’s current international engagement. As psychologists engage outside of the United States, the field of psychology and the training community must critically examine the applicability of psychological interventions, research, and graduate education to international contexts. I propose six recommendations for training programs to deconstruct colonialism and enhance preparation of graduates for competent work outside of the U.S.</p><p>In the second chapter, I report an original, empirical study, using qualitative descriptive methodology, which critically examines how U.S. training prepares graduates to work internationally. Through semi-structured interviews, I explored internationally based psychologists’ reflections on their training experiences and preparation for their current roles in teaching, practice, research, consultation and policy, and psychological infrastructure. Data analysis utilized consensual qualitative research methodology (CQR). Results provided valuable information regarding psychologists’ professional roles outside of the U.S., factors contributing to their vocational experiences, country-specific mental health attitudes, values, and practices, the impact of U.S.-centric psychology in the country of location, lessons taken from their graduate training, and recommendations for international work. Findings provided recommendations to the training community to incorporate more of an international focus and enhance preparation of students for work outside of the U.S.</p>

Yes / The field of mental health tends to treat its literary metaphors as literal realities with the concomitant loss of vague “feelings of tendency” in “unusual experiences”. I develop this argument through the prism of William James’ (1890) “The Principles of Psychology”. In the first part of the paper, I reflect upon the relevance of James’ “The Psychologist’s Fallacy” to a literary account of mental health. In the second part of the paper, I develop the argument that “connotations” and “feelings of tendency” are central to resolving some of the more difficult challenges of this fallacy. I proceed to do this in James’ spirit of generating imaginative metaphors to understand experience. Curiously, however, mental health presents a strange paradox in William James’ (1890) Principles of Psychology. He constructs an elaborate conception of the “empirical self” and “stream of thought” but chooses not to use these to understand unusual experiences – largely relying instead on the concept of a “secondary self.” In this article, I attempt to make more use of James’ central division between the “stream of thought” and the “empirical self” to understand unusual experiences. I suggest that they can be usefully understood using the loose metaphor of a “binary star” where the “secondary self” can be seen as an “accretion disk” around one of the stars. Understood as literary rather the literal, this metaphor is quite different to more unitary models of self-breakdown in mental health, particularly in its separation of “self” from “the stream of thought” and I suggest it has the potential to start a re-imagination of the academic discourse around mental health.

Ten years have elapsed since the last comprehensive national study of school psychologists' job satisfaction. During this time, a number of forces have affected the field. Practice issues, program changes, and personnel concerns have had the potential to change the working environment and activities of the practicing school psychologist. This study was designed to survey the level of job satisfaction of a national sample of school psychologists, and compare the current level of job satisfaction with that of school psychologists in 1982. Data were collected through mailed surveys consisting of a demographic data form and a modified form of the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire. Four hundred and forty psychologists were mailed survey materials, and 81.5% responded. Of those that responded, 228 full-time practitioners employed in the schools were included in the data analysis. The survey results indicate that 86% of the practicing school psychologists are either satisfied or very satisfied with their jobs, with only 14% indicating that they were dissatisfied with their jobs. School psychologists are satisfied with most aspects of their jobs as measured by the 20 scales of the Minnesota satisfaction Questionnaire. School system policies and practices and opportunities for advancement were the only two scales with which the group was dissatisfied. Four demographic variables combined to predict increased job satisfaction: female gender, national certification, private practice and intention to remain in the current job for the next five years. The level of overall satisfaction for the 1992 and 1982 groups is almost identical. While the order varied somewhat, both groups are most satisfied with the same six factors, and least satisfied with the same seven factors. The present group of school psychologists is more satisfied with it’s opportunities for advancement, opportunities to direct others on the job, the technical quality of the supervision received, and job security than was the group in 1982. Several implications and recommendations were drawn from the study. These included further attention to preparing school psychologists for supervisory roles and private practice; investigation of non-administrative opportunities for advancement and job enrichment for practicing school psychologists; and further study of gender differences in job satisfaction and the job satisfaction of school psychologists employed in non-school settings. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of job stress and other selected variables on self-reported levels of professional burnout among psychologists practicing in Virginia public schools. The study was also designed to analyze burnout not just as a series of changes resulting from job stressors, but explained by interactions of occupational stress with select demographic characteristics and coping variables. A survey packet containing rating scales and a demographic sheet were mailed to 504 school psychologists, of which 180 responded with usable data. Data analysis primarily involved hierarchical multiple regression, testing the model that interactions of job stress with demographic/coping variables would significantly affect burnout outcomes. Results indicated that burnout, specifically emotional exhaustion partially explained by an unclear or interpersonally conflictual role and having little control over one's work, was significantly mediated by the coping strategy of cognitive problem solving. This exhaustion aspect of burnout was also substantially affected by membership in professional affiliations. However, job stress related to role overload significantly predicted burnout, but was not significantly mediated by any hypothesized demographic or coping variables. It can be concluded that Virginia psychologists experience particular job stressors, such as role overload, that may lead to emotional exhaustion. Membership in collegial, professional organizations, along with inservice in specific problem-solving skills, may help alleviate this occupational stress. Future research is needed to determine how demographic and coping variables mediate specific aspects of work overload for these professionals. / Ed. D.

This research project was a descriptive study conducted at a clinical psychology practicum center which investigated the relationship between supervisory ratings of student therapist competency and respective client outcome. Cases were assigned to one of four outcome categories on the basis of six outcome criteria. These included: client and therapist assessment of change in presenting complaints and adaptive functioning, client satisfaction with treatment, type of termination, and session attendance. Clinical faculty supervisors completed subjective competency ratings of student-therapists and also rated the difficulty of client cases. A semi-partial correlation was calculated between competency and outcome scores with the effects of case difficulty partialled out of the outcome scores. It was hypothesized that a significant positive semi-partial correlation would emerge. Forty-eight client cases that were month period were included in the study. seen during a six Also, 14 student therapists belonging to four practicum teams participated. The major finding of this investigation was that overall, therapist competency ratings were not significantly related to the outcomes of clients, (r=-. 12, p>.05). However, when assessing the relationship between therapist competency and outcome for each of practicum teams individually, a significant negative semi-partial correlation was found for one of them, (r=-1.03, p<.01). Problems with subjective assessments of competency were discussed and recommendations for improving evaluations were given. Results of a fine grained analysis of outcome data and related variables were presented and discussed as they apply to clinical training and service issues. / Master of Science

Exploratory studies in the area of job satisfaction for school psychologists have pointed to a number of variables that predict job satisfaction, but research has not yet attempted to test a model of job satisfaction consistent with theory and previous research. The presented study developed and tested a theoretical model of the influences on job satisfaction for North Carolina school psychology practitioners. Effects of boundary role activities and role diversity, activities that extend beyond the traditional role of psychodiagnostician, were of particular interest. North Carolina school psychologists were surveyed by mail. Data collection addressed personal variables (e.g., age, current degree status, and years of experience), static system variables (e.g., urban vs. rural communities, student—to—psychologist ratio, salary per month, and characteristics of supervision), fluid system variables (e.g., opportunity to engage in boundary role activities and role diversity) and job satisfaction measured by the modified Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MMSQ). Two hundred and sixty-two of the 463 North Carolina school psychologists surveyed reported their primary role designation as practitioner and were included in the initial path analyses. Boundary role activities had a direct effect on job satisfaction, and characteristics of supervision had a smaller direct effect. Role diversity influenced boundary role activities which in turn affected job satisfaction. After reviewing demographic data, delivery models used in North Carolina, job titles, and job descriptions, the sample was redefined and Charlotte/Mecklenburg Student Services Specialists were excluded. Path analyses conducted on the redefined sample found direct effects for boundary role activities and salary per month with smaller direct effects for characteristics of supervision and role diversity. Indirect effects were also found for urban vs. rural communities and role diversity. / Ed. D.

<p dir="ltr">Self-care, the intentional and active cultivation of health and wellbeing, has been found to support favorable outcomes across an array of life domains. In addition to preventing and managing disease, burnout, and vicarious traumatization, self-care can promote health and optimal wellbeing. In some occupations (e.g., nursing, psychology, social work), it is mandated as an ethical imperative to prevent impaired professional functioning and associated deleterious effects on clients, patients, and communities served. Yet even in these fields, graduate students report practicing insufficient self-care, which may contribute to decreased retention rates, student productivity, and student wellbeing. As a population with limited time and access to resources, graduate students may need additional external, institutional, and program support to be able to practice effective self-care. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing lifestyle imbalances present in graduate education and further elucidated the need for systemic self-care support. This study uses a systematized review with thematic analysis to compile studies investigating self-care in graduate student populations, with special attention to studies conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Themes that arose include benefits of self-care, individual factors predicting greater self-care use, challenges and barriers to self-care use, recommendations to support self-care in graduate students, and graduate student self-care during COVID-19. Implications and recommendations for programs and institutions are discussed.</p><p dir="ltr">To prevent burnout and impaired professional functioning, it is crucial that psychologists practice self-care. Despite its ethical importance, self-care is generally still considered an individual responsibility, and most doctoral trainees in psychology report practicing insufficient self-care. The intensive time and energy demands of doctoral education—combined with other competing responsibilities—may limit opportunities for adequate self-care, which poses negative implications for trainee wellbeing and professional functioning. This study uses qualitative methods to investigate factors in doctoral trainees’ social ecologies that they perceive support and impede their self-care, with the goal of shining light on factors that promote and impede self-care in an increasingly diverse population. Participants identified myriad risk and protective factors; supports and challenges; and coping strategies they perceived as detrimental and beneficial, with many factors identified as beneficial when present and detrimental when absent (or vice versa). The Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems theory (PVEST) was used as a framework to understand these results, which suggest that programs and institutions could do more to combat the harmful effects of white supremacy and toxic productivity on student self-care and wellbeing.</p>

This study explores trainee psychotherapists' experiences of double bind situations and inconsistency between explicit and implicit contexts of training. The epistemological foundations of this text are postmodern, social constructionist and ecosystemic. A review of the relevant literature is presented, which includes aspects such as explicit and implicit contexts, double bind and experiences of trainees in training. This is followed by an account of the qualitative research approach adopted, namely, discourse analysis. Themes that are extracted from the text of the transcribed interviews are assumed to reflect discourses in training and the broader societal contexts in which trainees find themselves. These discourses are seen to inform trainees' constructions of their experiences in training. The findings of the analysis are found to concur with the initial hypotheses of this dissertation, as well as with findings in the literature. Recommendations for future research are offered. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

Thesis (MEdPsych)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / Includes bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: There has been a paradigm shift occurring in the field of educational psychology over the last few decades from a predominantly medical approach towards a more inclusive and systemic approach. This development has called for a change in the way educational psychologists conceptualise problems, as well as an expansion in their practices in order to provide effective support services. However, the question arose which theoretical approach educational psychologists currently espouse and implement. This study therefore endeavoured to explore the theoretical approaches underpinning educational psychologists’ practice, with a focus on those professionals working within District Based Support Teams (DBSTs) in the Western Cape.Within this broad aim, the research aimed to identify which theoretical approach(es) the educational psychologists personally espouse and which theoretical approach(es) is/are espoused within the DBSTs. A further objective was to determine what the practice of their theory-in-use entailed. This information would ascertain whether the educational psychologists’ espoused theories and theory-in-use correspond. Qualitative research within the interpretive/constructivist paradigm was employed for the research design. The participants included eight educational psychologists practising within District-Based Support Teams (DBSTs) in the Western Cape. Data was collected by means of an extensive literature review, self-administered questionnaires and individual interviews and analysed using qualitative thematic analysis and interpretation. The key findings of this research revealed that the educational psychologists in this study personally espouse a systemic approach to their practice of educational psychology. However, it was revealed that this approach is not necessarily adopted by all members of the DBSTs. Furthermore, the educational psychologists themselves experience many challenges in implementing this theory. Their theory-in-use at the Education District Offices incorporates both medical and systemic approaches. Assessment of learners is largely based on a medical model, whilst the interventions and support they provide appeared to be focused on a more systemic level. It was concluded that the theory that the educational psychologists personally espouse; the theory espoused within DBSTs; and the theory-in-use within the DBSTs, do not entirely correspond. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: ’n Paradigma skuif wat die laaste paar dekades plaasgevind het in die veld van opvoedkundige sielkunde, het meegebring dat die benadering verander het vanaf ‘n hoofsaaklik mediese model na ‘n meer inklusiewe en sisteem gebaseerde model. Hierdie ontwikkeling vra dat opvoedkundige sielkundiges probleme op nuwe maniere konseptualiseer, asook hul praktyk uitbrei om effektiewe ondersteuningsdienste te kan verskaf. Die vraag watter teoretiese benaderings opvoedkundige sielkundiges tans onderskryf en implementeer, het onstaan. Hierdie studie poog dus om te ondersoek watter teoretiese raamwerke opvoedkundige sielkundiges se praktyke onderlê, en fokus op die opvoedkundige sielkundiges wat werk binne die Distriksgebaseerde Ondersteuningsspanne (DBSTs) in die Wes-Kaap. Binne hierdie breë doelwit, word deur die navorsing gepoog om die teoretiese benadering(s) wat opvoedkundige sielkundiges binne die DBSTs persoonlik aanhang sowel as die teoretiese benadering(s) wat binne hierdie DBSTs gepropageer word, te identifiseeer. ‘n Verdere mikpunt was om vas te stel wat die deelnemers se praktyk (teorie-in-gebruik) behels. Hierdie inligting sou dit moontlik maak om vas te stel of die teorie voorgestaan en die teorie-in-gebruik ooreenstem. Kwalitatiewe navorsingsmetodologie vanuit ‘n interpretatiewe/konstruktivistiese paradigma is gebruik in die ontwerp van die navorsing. Die deelnemers was ag opvoedkundige sielkundiges wat binne die DBSTs van die Wes-Kaap praktiseer. Data is versamel deur ‘n uitgebreide literatuur oorsig, self ingevulde oop vraelyste en individuele onderhoude. Die data is geanaliseer deur van kwalitatiewe tematiese analise en interpretasie gebruik te maak. Die kernbevindinge van die studie het gedui op ‘n sistemiese benadering tot hul praktyk, wat deur die opvoedkundige sielkundiges persoonlik onderskryf word. Die bevindige het ook gedui daarop dat nie al die lede van die DBSTs dit aangeneem het nie. Verder ervaar die opvoedkundige sielkundiges self verskeie uitdagings ten opsigte van die implementering van sodanige teoretiese benadering. Die teorie-in-gebruik binne die Onderwys Distrikskantore bevat beide mediese model benaderings sowel as meer sistemiese benaderings. Die assessering van leerders is grootliks gebaseer op ‘n mediese model, terwyl die intervensies en ondersteuning wat gebied word blyk meer sistemiese onderlê te wees. Dit kom dus vooras of die teorie wat opvoedkundige sielkundiges persoonlik aanhang, die teorie wat binne die DBSTs onderskryf word, en die teorie-in-gebruik binne die DBSTs nie noodwendig ooreenkom nie.

This study explores trainee psychotherapists' experiences of double bind situations and inconsistency between explicit and implicit contexts of training. The epistemological foundations of this text are postmodern, social constructionist and ecosystemic. A review of the relevant literature is presented, which includes aspects such as explicit and implicit contexts, double bind and experiences of trainees in training. This is followed by an account of the qualitative research approach adopted, namely, discourse analysis. Themes that are extracted from the text of the transcribed interviews are assumed to reflect discourses in training and the broader societal contexts in which trainees find themselves. These discourses are seen to inform trainees' constructions of their experiences in training. The findings of the analysis are found to concur with the initial hypotheses of this dissertation, as well as with findings in the literature. Recommendations for future research are offered. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)