Contemporary profiles of clinical and health psychologists in Australia

Abstract

Clinical and health psychologists are, collectively, the most numerous of the professional subgroups represented by the Colleges of the Australian Psychological Society. The value of these professionals to the continued health and well-being of the Australian society is important and this value is underscored by the commitment shown by Australian clinical and health psychologists both to intake-level education and to the maintenance of continuing professional development once entry into the profession has been achieved. The present paper documents contemporary professional profiles of Australian clinical and health psychologists and relates these to previous information addressing this issue. Quite clearly, those now involved in clinical and health psychology are, by and large, highly educated professionals strongly committed to evidence-based practice and to the pursuit of experiences which maintain and enhance their professional skills. The changing nature of the Australian health-care system, however, poses escalating challenges for the profession and many appear to be migrating from the public to the private sectors of practice although they are still not well served by health-care policies related to funding. Their experiences in this regard (and others) point to areas where a professional body such as the APS can further support these highly valuable professionals.

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Board of the Australian Psychological Society, the Manager (Professional Issues) and the Colleges of Clinical and of Health Psychologists for facilitating access to members of the two Colleges. We are particularly grateful to those members who took the time to complete and return a somewhat lengthy questionnaire, most probably in the face of heavy workloads, and who in many cases went to the additional effort of providing further comment on life as a clinical or health psychologist in this country.

Notes

1 Membership of both Colleges is, of course, possible provided that separate educational and professional requirements are met and there will be some overlap of membership between the two.

2 In this regard poor salaries relative to many other healthprofessions, truncated promotional possibilities and a seeming decline in the clarity of role definitions, come immediately to mind.

3 Professional burn-out will not be covered in this paper but will be the subject of a further communication.

4 A more detailed examination of frustration in relation to professional burn-out will be presented in a further communication.

5 Cynics may argue that this allows governments and other organisations to avoid the payment of differential salary rates for clinical psychologists.

6 Although the limited response rates have already been discussed within the context of published expectations it must still be recognised that the sample as it is presented may not reflect in a completely unbiased manner the most accurate profile of clinical and health psychologists in Australia.