M.A. (Clinical Psychology) / Over the past decade, clinical psychologists have begun to play an increasingly important role in the community and in the mental health team. A good understanding of the role of the clinical psychologist is of extreme importance for the general practitioner in order -to make effective referals to the clinical psychologist when necessary and also for the maintenance of the mental health team. Van Den Berg (1980) states that the large number of incorrect referals between members of the mental health team are due to a lack of knowledge as to the services available. It is thus essential that research be conducted in order to clarify any misunderstandings that may exist between the general practitioner and the clinical psychologist who are both members of the mental health team. This research was conducted with two broad hypotheses in mind, namely that incongruence exists between the clinical psychologist's perception and the general practitioner's perception of the role of the clinical psychologist; and that general practitioners do not have a clear perception or understanding of the professional role of the clinical psychologist. In order to test these hypotheses, a questionnaire was designed and given to a sample of clinical psychologists and a sample of general practitioners. The questionnaire was based on the literature study of the role of the clinical psychologist and on interviews that were conducted with the teaching staff at the psychology department at the universities and mental institutions in the Witwatersrand area.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:8028 |
| Date | 04 February 2014 |
| Creators | Wagner, Richard Carl |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | University of Johannesburg |
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