Clinical psychology in dissent: The challenge ahead

Abstract

Very belatedly, given the potential for clinical psychology to play a major role in the delivery of mental health services in Australia, clinical psychologists are now finally grappling with the vexed issue of what constitutes optimum training for its profession. The scientist-practitioner model of training, which has survived for decades, Is now being re-examined with an eye on our role in mental health in the twenty-first century. The resolution of this important exercise will inevitably seal the fate of our profession. This paper provides a selective review of the evolution of clinical psychology with a particular emphasis on the preservation of the scientist-practitioner model. It argues for the introduction of a clinical doctoral degree with a postdoctoral internship In schools of clinical psychology established in general teaching hospitals throughout Australia.