Clinical Psychology Course Research Articles

Deliberate Practice with Motivational Interviewing: Basic Listening Skills for Undergraduates

Background Training in professional psychology is moving beyond knowledge-based education and toward competency-based education. Similarly, experiential learning, focused more on skills than facts, is emphasized in undergraduate education. Few studies, however, have investigated the use of skill-based learning for clinically relevant skills in undergraduate psychology courses. Objective This study investigated deliberate practice as a skill-based method for training undergraduates to use basic Motivational Interviewing and reflective listening skills. Method In an upper-level undergraduate clinical psychology course, students were randomly assigned to an MI workshop that included deliberate practice to learn basic reflective listening skills or a waitlist control group. Results In both between (workshop versus waitlist) and within (pre versus post) group comparisons, students’ ability to use reflective listening improved as evaluated by raters, blind to condition, and in self-report measures of MI knowledge and skill. Conclusion Deliberate practice may be effectively incorporated into undergraduate courses to prepare novice helpers with basic listening skills. Teaching Implications Competency-based training in listening skills may help undergraduate students prepare for graduate school in the helping professions or any of multiple post-graduation professions not requiring professional training and licensure.

Widening access to older people’s clinical psychology: Piloting a summer shadowing programme in older adults services

Within recent years, there has been an expansion of UK clinical psychology courses, additional psychological professions and increased attention to psychological wellbeing as part of the NHS Long Term Plan (NHS England, 2019). It has been an energetic time for clinical psychology and in turn, older adult clinical psychology. However, despite the expansion of training places, pervasive social inequalities have meant that for some a career in clinical psychology is less accessible, meaning that the psychology workforce is less diverse. This, in combination with lack of parity in investment for Older Adult Services, can mean older adults’ access to more representative psychological professionals remain hindered. The current paper explores a recent shadowing programme that our small psychology team and older adults’ mental health team piloted in the summer of 2023. Eight female students were able to complete the programme and provided insightful feedback on the experience. We reflect on future learnings and recommendations of setting up such projects in older adult services.

Mental distress and well-being of university students amid COVID-19 pandemic: findings from an online integrative intervention for psychology trainees.

University students have been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, as significant changes supervened their academic and social life. To tackle these challenges, several adjustments in the educational methods may be warranted for cultivating a positive environment at higher education institutions. The aim of this study was to investigate the risk and protective factors of students' mental health and well-being as well as their potential for flourishing in an undergraduate clinical psychology course that took place online due to the COVID-19 restrictive measures and incorporated positive psychology exercises as a means to empower young people amid the adverse conditions of the lockdown. In total, 124 students attended the course and completed mental health (i.e., DASS-9, HADS, ERQ) and well-being (i.e., MHC-SF, SWLS, PANAS, GQ-6, BRS) measures at two time points (pre-and-post-test), during the first restrictions in Greece (March-June 2020). According to the results, students aged 18-20 years old reported higher levels of stress [χ2 = 14.72, p = 0.002], while students who felt that the quality of their studies had deteriorated [χ2 = 6.57, p = 0.038] reported increased levels of anxiety. High levels of depression were correlated with worse relationships with significant others (z = 7.02, p = 0.030 and χ2 = 11.39, p = 0.003 for family and friends, respectively), while gratitude and resilience were positively correlated with improved relationships with others, both during and after the lockdown. Factors associated with students' well-being were satisfaction with life and gratitude. These results suggest that well-being enhancement factors may have added value to current educational practices for promoting students' mental health and well-being in times of crisis.

Experiences of socioeconomic disadvantage in clinical psychology: A thematic analysis of aspiring and trainee clinical psychologists

There is increasing recognition and action in the recent years to widen participation in the clinical psychology workforce. It continues to be important to promote diversity in the workforce so that it reflects the population it serves. However, much of the recent efforts have focused predominantly on diversity characteristics of ethnicity and race and much less so on other equally important diversity characteristics like socioeconomic status or class. This study explores the experiences of 275 trainee and aspiring clinical psychologists, self-identifying as from a socioeconomically disadvantaged background, on the practical and perceptual barriers they have faced in their clinical psychology journey. Recommendations for Doctorate of Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy) courses to support this underrepresented group in the field are provided.

'The war, with all of its brutality and nonsense, came to my house'

This article—a collaboration between us as student and educator—shares an example of Freirean praxis in a clinical psychology course. We discuss how our course was transformed when, one day after our first class of the semester, Russian military forces invaded Ukraine and students were suddenly and unexpectedly called on to host and/or provide support for forcibly displaced people from Ukraine. This article is our attempt to describe how the complex political context in which we found ourselves shaped and transformed our clinical psychology course and our experience of our learning environment. We reflect together on how we responded to the immediate consequences of this event, share what we learned through this experience, and discuss the implications for anti-oppressive practitioner educational contexts.

Using Indirect Service-Learning to Promote Evidence-Based Digital Mental Health Tools on College Campuses

Background College students have increasing mental health needs; however, there has not been a related increase in services available. Mental health apps offer an avenue to support access to student mental healthcare. Objective This study incorporated an indirect service-learning project involving evaluating and recommending mental health apps to the college counseling center into an undergraduate clinical psychology course in order to (1) increase student self-efficacy and depth of learning, and (2) increase evidence-based mental health app usage on a college campus. Method The project was implemented during an online, synchronous 3-week course and 15 students participated in the study. Student self-report of self-efficacy was measured pre- and post-course and quantitative and qualitative reflections on the project were gathered post-course. Results Student self-efficacy increased from pre- to post-course. Additionally, students reported that the project met pedagogical objectives by engaging students, aligning with course content, and addressing APA learning goals. Conclusion The project holds promise as a means to improve student self-efficacy and enhance clinical psychology learning, while simultaneously disseminating evidence-based digital mental tools on college campuses. Teaching Implications App evaluation as indirect service-learning could be implemented in many applied psychology courses across multiple of course formats and lengths.

Mediation in practice in an ESAP course: Versions of the Medical English student conference

"The Medical English course at the University of Oulu (Finland), which is compulsory for 200 first-year medical students, is designed to enhance professional English language communication focusing on work life relevance. The course design utilized the action-oriented approach promoted by CEFR CV (2018), to support the active use of language through various simulation activities. This paper describes specifically the final assignment of the Medical English course, which is integrated with the Clinical Psychology course. Having discussed topics in Finnish in groups, complementing the lectures in the Clinical Psychology course, students present in English what they have learnt in these discussions in the framework of a student conference. While preparing for the conference, the students create a poster presentation in teams. During the conference, they present the posters and, thus, practice communication relevant to work life. In this assignment, they must actively apply cross-linguistic mediation and use mediation strategies to explain new concepts and simplify the source text. Traditionally, the assignment requires students to participate in a simulated real-time face to-face conference both as presenters and attendees. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we used an alternative solution: a hybrid conference of asynchronous presentations with real-time Q&A forums in online posts. The new design similarly provides students with stimuli to activate all modes of communication (production, reception, interaction and mediation) simultaneously. This article reports on this novel solution for the assignment together with its context and the course design in relation to mediation scales and descriptors. Moreover, an analysis of the self-assessment forms between the student cohorts in 2019 and 2020 allows an insight into the learners’ experiences. The results show that students perceive the assignment as an authentic communication task, which enhances their engagement and autonomy in the learning process."

When your university doesn’t understand the assignment: Exposing a lack of transparency and accountability of diversity and inclusion data from Doctorate in Clinical Psychology courses

This report was originally published on the BiPP Network website (www.bippnetwork.org.uk) on 9 July 2021. This study reports the process of using the FOI Act to access diversity data on applicants to the DClinPsy programme for 2020 entry, the challenges faced and recommendations for courses given the context of increasing representation and anti-racist practice.

Climate change and environmental health in undergraduate health degrees in Latin America.

ABSTRACTOBJECTIVE:Analyze the incorporation of climate change and environmental health courses in the curriculum grids of Medicine, Nursing, Nutrition and Clinical Psychology undergraduate courses in Latin American universities.METHODS:Descriptive and cross-sectional document review. Curriculum grids of the top ten Latin American universities were analyzed according to the rankings of QS Latin American University 2020, Times Higher Education World University 2020 and Academic Ranking of World Universities 2019. The presence of courses related to climate change and environmental health was sought in each curriculum grid.RESULTS:104 of the 161 universities included in the study offered Medicine courses, 93 Nursing courses, 77 Nutrition courses and 118 Clinical Psychology courses. Most of the curriculum grids incorporated courses in public health and/or epidemiology (more than 70%); however, between 22% and 41% included courses on environmental health, and only one curriculum grid had a course on climate change in Medicine and Nursing (1%).CONCLUSIONS:Courses on climate change and environmental health have been scarcely introduced in the curriculum grids of the health field in Latin American universities. This could weaken the important role that health professionals play in providing health care to the population.

Improving Quantitative Abilities and Attitudes in Clinical Psychology Courses: Longitudinal Assessment of a Blended Learning Intervention

Background: Many students report negative attitudes toward research methods and statistics (RMS), and these attitudes are associated with impaired performance. Student interest in clinical psychology suggests that clinical courses may provide a promising venue for integrating RMS instruction. This approach may be particularly valuable for students from underrepresented groups in psychology. Objective: We evaluated whether integrating core RMS concepts into undergraduate clinical psychology courses using a blended learning intervention improved students’ quantitative knowledge and attitudes. Exploratory analyses assessed whether the intervention had differential efficacy for students from underrepresented groups. Method: Students completed pre- and post-course assessments of content knowledge, perceived RMS competence, implicit theories of quantitative skills, and statistics anxiety. We compared changes in student outcomes before ( n = 101) and after ( n = 91) implementing the blended learning intervention. Results: Overall, the intervention did not result in greater improvements in content knowledge, perceived RMS competence, or statistics anxiety. However, exploratory analyses suggested that the intervention was more effective for first-generation and racial/ethnic minority students. Change in endorsement of a growth-oriented mindset for quantitative skills was marginally stronger among students in courses implementing the blended learning intervention. Conclusion: These findings suggest that integrating RMS content in clinical psychology courses may confer modest benefits for students’ knowledge and attitudes toward quantitative skills, especially among students from underrepresented groups.

Development and validation of the trainee rated impact of involvement index (TRIple-I) in clinical psychology training

PurposePrevious research suggests that service user and carer involvement (SUCI) in clinical psychology training may have an impact. The purpose of this study was to develop a validated questionnaire to enable trainee clinical psychologists to rate this.Design/methodology/approachA collaborative project was carried out with service users and carers and trainee clinical psychologists. The principles of questionnaire design were followed. The authors developed and validated a trainee self-report questionnaire, based on focus groups and relevant literature indicating potential impacts of involvement on practice. A draft 60-item version was piloted with 15 trainee clinical psychologists. Then, 133 trainees from 22 UK clinical psychology courses completed it (estimated response rate of 13.2%). The sample was representative of UK trainees in gender and ethnicity, but slightly older.FindingsThe principal component analysis produced a 36-item questionnaire with four factors: human communication, carer perspectives, empathy and challenging/changing. The questionnaire showed good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Stakeholder consultation suggested face and content validity and there was some indication of construct validity.Originality/valueThe project has resulted in a usable co-produced questionnaire, which is now available to clinical psychology courses to assess the self-reported impact of SUCI in training, and which may also be used in future research.

Mental health literacy in a diverse sample of undergraduate students: demographic, psychological, and academic correlates

BackgroundInvestigating variables associated with mental health literacy in the college-age population takes us one step closer to providing intervention for this vulnerable group, where growing rates of psychological disorders are a serious public concern. This study adds to the existing literature by incorporating, within a single model, multi-faceted variables (demographic, psychological, and academic) that contribute to mental health literacy in demographically and ethnically diverse college students.MethodsParticipants were undergraduate students enrolled at nine different colleges that are part of a large, urban, public university system. A total of 1213 respondents (62.0% female, 73.3% non-white) completed an in-person assessment of mental health literacy and answered questions about demographics, college experience, and mental health experience. Data were analyzed to identify which variables best discriminated between high, mid-level, and low performers on this assessment.ResultsDiscriminant correspondence analysis revealed that the difference between high and low performers (accounting for 90.27% of the total variance) was driven by participants who had taken at least one course related to clinical psychology and who typically majored in psychology and applied health science fields. These participants were more likely to report being white, female, between the ages of 28–32, and in the fourth year or later of their undergraduate program. In addition, high performers were more likely to have been diagnosed and/or treated for a psychological disorder, have more experience with psychological disorders through personal, family, or peer history, and have families who are open to discussing mental health issues.ConclusionThe main contributor to variation in mental health literacy scores was having taken a clinical psychology course, followed by majoring in psychology. Importantly, our findings identified not only the high performers, but also the low performers, for whom an increase in knowledge and awareness of mental health is crucial to overall psychological well-being. These results have important implications for the design of educational interventions aimed at improving mental health literacy at the college level, especially for students who otherwise would not have been exposed to this information from coursework or their major.

Considerations for an Integrated Undergraduate Comparative and Clinical Psychology Course

It has been established that comparative psychology is in danger of becoming a footnote in the history of psychology. Six pieces of evidence to support this problem are few graduate psychology programs; little of no mention in introductory psychology textbooks or courses; insufficient number of undergraduate courses in comparative psychology; few teaching exercises; declining membership in Division 6 of APA; no recent textbooks in comparative psychology. Therefore, this article sought a viable solution to promote comparative psychology’s interconnections to different psychology areas. Specifically, a solution for combining comparative psychology into clinical fields by creating a course that combines comparative and clinical psychology was conceptualized. The rationales, history, barriers, benefits of creating a comparative and clinical psychology course were all examined to make a case for this solution. Concrete approaches to a course development covering domains such as cognitive, behavioral analysis, and scientific reasoning were presented. Also, the consideration of a ‘capstone course’ that is approached from the perspective of ‘challenge-based learning’ was recommended. This capstone course could offer students flexibility and promote problem-solving and innovative-think skills needed for careers. The rationales and recommendations covered in the article established that providing a course on comparative and clinical psychology can actually facilitate students to think differently about psychology and how exactly the different areas of psychology interconnect. In conclusion, it was determined that developing a course on the connectedness of comparative and clinical psychology is one way to help strengthen comparative psychology’s rightful place in the broad field of psychology.

The Impact of Community Service Learning in a Rural Community on Undergraduate Students

The purpose of the mixed-methods action research study discussed in this article was to examine the impact of community service-learning (CSL) in a rural community on 45 undergraduate students enrolled in a clinical psychology course. The study sought to develop a new contextualized grounded theory and richer understanding of the phenomenon of CSL in a rural community with undergraduate psychology students. Qualitative data were collected at multiple stages through a reflective paper and two open-ended questions administered to students at the end of the CSL experience. In addition, individual interviews were conducted with the CSL partners. Quantitative data were collected through two surveys (pre- and post-CSL) to measure outcomes related to specific course objectives. Overall, the qualitative results suggested that the CSL component aligned well with the clinical psychology course and influenced the students’ academic, personal, social, civic, and diversity learning outcomes. In addition, students reported experiences that were unique to working in the rural context, while the community partners shared both the benefits and challenges of working with the students. The implications of the findings and practical recommendations are discussed.

Ukrainian school of clinical psychotherapy and hypnotherapy in Australia

The article covers the emergence in the early 50”s of the twentieth century of the Ukrainian school of clinical psychotherapy and hypnotherapy in Australia. This school was founded by Eugene Hlywa, who, after the Second World War, arrived in the Australian lands from Europe and first earned his living with the indigenous inhabitants of the continent by their most difficult work - the cultivation of canals for irrigation of desert lands in southwest Australia, participated in the organization Ukrainian public, religious and cultural life. In the early 70”s of the twentieth century, he is interested in the “Profile of Hypnotic Induction”, known in English as HIP-Hypnotic Induction Profile, Eugene Hlywa moves from Australia to the United States, where Professor Herbert Spiegel developed another test of hypnotic susceptibility and announced the selection of a psychotherapeutic internship under his mentoring. Since 1975 Dr. Eugene Hlywa has his own hypnotherapeutic practice and, on his example, teaches psychotherapy and hypnotherapy for certified physicians and psychologists from the Australian continent, New Zealand, Malaysia, South Korea and other countries. Dr. Eugene Hlywa, a doctor of psychotherapy at the Australian Hypnosis Society, under the guidance of the Australian Ministry of Health, describes the results of his hypnosis research, published in English-language professional journals and published in separate books. Dr. Eugene Hlywa teaching at drug and psychological courses has so captivated a graduate psychologist from South Africa, Linda Dolan, that she decided to write a doctoral dissertation on the psychotherapeutic and hypnotherapeutic basis of a life-long understanding of man on the example of Dr. Eugene Hlywa, who embodied the Ukrainian tradition of perception, appreciation and choice human values, presented in the work of Gregory Skovoroda. Linda Dolan was born in South Africa, where she obtained her secondary education, a Bachelor of Psychology degree, and completed a three-year Masters in Psychology, which included a full-time clinical psychology course for children and adults at the University of African-American Rand, now called the University of Johannesburg. In 2006, Linda Dolan completed two annual graduate postgraduate clinical hypnosis courses at the Australian Hypnosis Biennial Drug-Psychological Course under the guidance of Dr. Eugene Hlywa and runs a private practice in Clinical Psychology in Sydney. Applying the psychological ideas of Gregory Skovoroda about the life-long destiny of man and her spiritual essence, L. Dolan completed his dissertation and filed it for the defense and confirmation of her candidacy from the PhD (Doctor of Philosophy of Psychology) at the University of New England in Australia. These and other fundamental principles of the human psyche and its psychotherapy and hypnotherapy reveal the presented articles – Dr. Eugene Hlywa on hypnotherapeutic intervention in the depths of the unconscious for the healing of internal injuries and Linda Dolan on the awareness of the person of his own life-long purpose in the psychotherapeutic process on the basis of the value paradigm of Ukrainian thinker Gregory Skovoroda.

Service users’ experiences of participation in clinical psychology training

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore mental health service users’ experiences of involvement in a clinical psychology course.Design/methodology/approachFive participants were recruited from a service user and carer group aligned to a university professional clinical psychology course. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and data were analysed using an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).FindingsFour superordinate themes, group processes, advocating, transforming and power, were drawn from the data, with ten subthemes emerging capturing experiences on the personal, professional and group levels.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is not generalisable and has a small number of participants. However, many of the themes have resonance with existing literature.Practical implicationsService user initiatives need to consider the personal and contextual issues that service users may have experienced prior to their involvement. The needs of service user initiatives may change over time. Such initiatives must evolve in conjunction with the personal and political journeys of participants.Originality/valueFew studies have explored the experiences of mental health service users in clinical psychology training using a robust methodology. The current study suggests that eliciting these experiences highlights factors that facilitate involvement as well as the barriers.

Concentric Circles Therapy Training: Clinical Psychology Trainee's Reflections on Participation in a Revised Interpersonal Therapy Training Group

ObjectiveThe Concentric Circles Therapy Training (CCTT) approach is a revised version of a previously developed interpersonal therapy training approach that primarily aims to develop therapist's awareness of interpersonal process. The CCTT approach enables students to take part in an interpersonal therapy training group both as a participant and as an observer. The aim of the study was to obtain in‐depth accounts of the experience of this revised approach to interpersonal therapy training.MethodsSeven Clinical Psychology post‐graduate students took part in the study, with each participant providing 6 weeks of in‐depth personal reflective journals regarding their psychotherapy training experience. Thematic analysis was used to determine the predominant themes.ResultsThree main themes emerged in the data: personal reflections, interpersonal reflections, and integration. Overall, participants indicated that being able to be both a participant and an observer was a unique and powerful learning experience, and all participants indicated that participation in the concentric circles training was an important part of their training to become psychotherapists.ConclusionThe CCTT approach was developed to provide a practical solution to enable interpersonal therapy training in clinical psychology courses where class sizes continue to increase.

Sexuality and diversity training in clinical psychology courses in the UK

A brief survey revealed that out of 12 clinical psychology doctoral courses in the UK only 10 courses were delivering sexuality and diversity training across the three years of their programmes. Inconsistencies in topic variety and length of training also emerged.

Perceived social stigma and attitudes towards seeking therapy in training: A cross-national study.

Given the potential value of undergoing psychological therapy when training as a therapist, it is important to understand what influences students' decisions regarding seeking therapy. The study examined the relationship between clinical psychology students' perception of the social stigma attached to receiving therapy and their attitudes toward seeking therapy. Students from Argentina (n = 121), England (n = 211), and the United States (n = 130) completed measures of demographic characteristics, perceived social stigma, attitudes, and other variables associated with therapy-seeking. The results revealed significant cross-national differences, with Argentinean students showing the lowest levels of perceived social stigma for receiving therapy, followed by English and Americans. English students showed relatively less positive attitudes toward seeking therapy than their Argentinean and American counterparts. Social stigma predicted students' attitudes toward seeking therapy among English and American but not Argentinean students. The relationship between perceived social stigma and attitudes was moderated by nationality. Implications for training are discussed, including English and American clinical psychology courses encouraging their students to reflect on the effect of perceived social stigma on their decision-making.

Integrating Family Therapy Training in a Clinical Psychology Course

Teaching family therapy to clinical psychology trainees is not common practice in Australian clinical psychology training programs. There is sparse discussion in the literature. Family therapy is an evidence based intervention that complements a diversity of established theories and psychotherapies and would complement the intervention skills of trainee clinical psychologists. The aim of this paper is to illustrate how family therapy training may be integrated into a postgraduate clinical psychology course. The literature on core family therapy knowledge, skills and training methods will form the backdrop to a review of specific family therapy training courses for clinical psychology trainees. This will then be mapped against a consideration of accreditation requirements of clinical psychology courses in Australia and suggestions made for integrating family therapy into their training curriculum. Anecdotal feedback from students provides an initial step toward evaluation.