Psychology Graduate Programs Research Articles

William M. Reynolds (1951-2024).

Memorializes William M. Reynolds (1951-2024). "Bill" served as director of the graduate program in school psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and held appointments as principal investigator at the Waisman Center on Mental Retardation and Human Development and as discipline chief of Psychology of the University Affiliated Program at the Waisman Center. He developed the Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale and the Reynolds Childhood Depression Scale, which are widely used both clinically and in research. Bill held a professorship at the University of British Columbia (1991-2000), serving as director of the School Psychology graduate program. In 2000, Dr. Reynolds returned to California as professor of Psychology at Cal Poly Humboldt. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Clinical Psychology Graduate Programs: Falling Short in Cultural Humility Training.

Despite requirements by the American Psychological Association and the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System regarding training and education in cultural humility, questions remain regarding the presence and quality of the training in clinical psychology PhD and PsyD programs. This is a critical issue as inadequate training in diversity, cultural humility, and multiculturalism has substantial downstream effects on care for clients of color and may contribute to racial disparities and inequities in access to mental health services. We seek to explicitly evaluate key features of the conceptual model thought to improve the provision of mental health services for clients facing oppression and marginalization which includes perceptions of clinical psychology graduate programs' training in and assessment of cultural humility. We also assess self-efficacy related to the application of cultural humility as well as actual practice of actions associated with cultural humility. Each of these domains are evaluated among a sample of 300 graduate students and faculty, clinical supervisors, and/or directors of clinical training (DCTs) and differences across position and race of participants were tested. Study findings highlight significant gaps between what trainees need to develop cultural humility and what they may actually be receiving from their respective programs. While findings suggest that there is still a lot of work to be done, understanding the state of the field with regards to clinical training in cultural humility is an important first step towards change.

Providing EBP Training in Graduate School to Strengthen the School Mental Health Workforce: A Pilot

ABSTRACT Offering mental health (MH) care in schools may help youth overcome barriers to accessing services. However, the diverse school MH workforce receives disparate training in evidence-based practice (EBP) across disciplines. Many implementation efforts focus on training independently practicing providers; however, strengthening EBP training during graduate school may have wide-reaching benefits for graduate students and the students they will serve in schools. The TRAILS (Transforming Research into Action to Improve the Lives of Students) implementation program partnered with a school psychology graduate program for a quality improvement project to examine the feasibility and proximal, training-level outcomes of offering TRAILS EBP training to school MH graduate students. Specifically, a graduate instructor was trained to provide clinical and implementation support to graduate students (n = 12) in delivering transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) skills to 3rd-12th grade students (n = 33). A mixed methods approach including interviews, focus groups, and surveys, revealed that those participating in this program (1 graduate instructor, 13 graduate students, and 4 supporting school-based MH professionals) found the training to be acceptable. Graduate student knowledge of and attitudes toward CBT improved significantly (p < .001) from pre-training to the end of the semester. Qualitative interviews revealed several graduate student-specific implementation barriers and facilitators, which should be considered when further developing TRAILS implementation support to graduate programs, and may be of interest to other implementation and training programs as well. This quality improvement project will inform the refinement of embedding TRAILS training during graduate school, supporting broader community access to EBP.

Dissociation training and symptom identification accuracy among Australian psychologists.

Dissociation is a common but underrecognized sequelae of trauma exposure. We investigated Australian psychologists' training in dissociation, assessment practices, and accuracy in identifying dissociation symptoms. Participants in this cross-sectional study of Australian psychologists (N = 280) were recruited through publicly available email addresses, graduate psychology programs, and social media. Participants estimated the percentages of their clients who had experienced trauma and had dissociative symptoms, their confidence in assessing and treating trauma and dissociation, their training in trauma and dissociation, and their dissociation screening practices. Participants were also asked to identify dissociation symptoms (per the Dissociative Experiences Scale-II and Somatic Dissociation Questionnaire-5) from a list of trauma-related symptoms. Although 99% of participants reported treating trauma-exposed clients, only 59.6% and 41.1% reported formal training in trauma or dissociation during their psychology qualification, respectively. One in five participants correctly identified all psychoform and somatoform symptoms as dissociation. Accurately identifying psychoform dissociation symptoms was associated with confidence in treating dissociation (p = .048) and having informal peer consultation on dissociation (p = .032). Accurately identifying somatoform dissociation was associated with confidence assessing (p = .006) and treating (p = .009) dissociation and having completed professional development on dissociation (p = .047). Most psychologists demonstrated inaccuracies in their knowledge of dissociation, which raises concern that dissociation may not be recognized in clinical practice and thus go untreated. Training on dissociation should be incorporated into psychology curricula, particularly at the graduate level, and accessible, cost-effective professional development programs for practicing clinicians are needed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Each one, teach one: Critical history as counterstories, antiracist affordances, and cues for belonging.

Recently, there have been several calls for psychologists to dismantle systemic racism within the field (e.g., Buchanan et al., 2021; Dupree & Boykin, 2021; Wilcox et al., 2022). In this article, we discuss why incorporating critical histories into psychology curricula can be beneficial to this effort. We focus on three potential pathways: critical histories provide counterstories that challenge racist narratives, critical histories promote contexts that encourage antiracism practices (antiracist affordances), and critical histories can signal identity safety and belonging. To adequately integrate critical histories into psychology curricula, we make three recommendations. First, create and support a departmental curriculum that engages critical histories in the field of psychology at the undergraduate and graduate level (we offer some example topics and readings). Second, based on our own training experiences, we recommend that psychology graduate programs facilitate opportunities to take interdisciplinary courses that cover the history of race and racism in domestic and/or global contexts. Finally, we recommend funding research and supporting student projects that produce critical histories in psychology to expand the knowledge base of our field. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Availability and Perceived Importance of High-Impact Practices for Psychology Graduate Program Admission

Background: Participation in high-impact practices (HIPs) is related to student success and development. Less is known about whether HIPs can increase students’ chances of getting into graduate school in psychology. High-impact practice participation might be one strategy for students to stand out in the competitive graduate school admission process. Objective: We examined (a) the perceived availability of HIPs and (b) the perceived role that HIP participation plays in psychology graduate program admission success. Method: A total of 81 U.S. psychology professors who are involved in graduate program admission decisions rated the availability, importance, and influence of HIPs and non-HIPs (e.g., GPA) on psychology graduate program admission success. Results: Many HIPs are widely available. Of all HIPs, only undergraduate research was rated as very important and strongly increases admission chances. Participation in honors, writing-intensive courses, and applied experiences slightly increased admission chances. Conclusion: Research continues to be the most beneficial HIP when applying to graduate programs in psychology. Non-HIPs (e.g., grades, letters of recommendation) are more important in graduate program admission than most HIPs. Teaching Implications: Students, academic advisors, and faculty mentors can use the results of this study to align students’ HIP participation with postgraduation goals.

Da catástrofe das emergências humanitárias à melancolização

This article is a theoretical study arising from the umbrella research project, Psychoanalytic Investigation of Clinical Phenomena in Depression in the Context of COVID-19, by the Laboratory for the Investigation of Contemporary Psychopathologies (UFF. Volta Redonda Campus), in an inter-institutional partnership with the Graduate Program in Psychology at UFRJ. The aim of the research is to demarcate and define the effects of the contemporary mutation of the social bond on subjectivity, based on the recognition that humanitarian/sanitary emergencies are catastrophic for subjective functioning. In this paper, we will present the Freudian démarche that led us to recognize melancholization as the main impact of humanitarian/sanitary emergencies on subjective functioning. The paper recalls the use of the term catastrophe and its epistemological status within the framework of psychoanalysis. This term is fundamental to our research hypothesis: humanitarian/sanitary emergencies are a catastrophe because they produce the civilizational ruin of guarantees for the affected population and the suspension of the functioning of subjective defences and sublimatory strategies for dealing with the condition of helplessness. By considering humanitarian/sanitary emergencies as a catastrophe, the paper highlights, in the line of argument developed by Sigmund Freud, the emergence of the affect of despondency or melancholization as pathos in dark times of humanitarian/sanitary emergencies.

Religiosity, Spirituality, and their Influence on Work-Life Choices in U.S. Online Graduate Psychology Programs

Religiosity, Spirituality, and their Influence on Work-Life Choices in U.S. Online Graduate Psychology Programs

Ranking the community psychology research output of institutions and authors: A new system of evaluating the field.

There have been multiple efforts to evaluate the contributions of the field of Community Psychology, and one of the more popular methods has involved gathering citations and articles published in Community Psychology journals. In recent years, several sites have gathered citation analysis and article publication rates so that it is now relatively easy to summarize settings and scholar rankings. In the current study, articles published in the two major journals of the field of Community Psychology over the past five decades were evaluated for these publications and citations. Findings indicated that several of the settings with highest publication and citation rates have not developed Community Psychology graduate programs, thus indicating that many publishing authors are in settings without formal graduate programs in Community Psychology. The benefits and limitations of this method of ranking programs and individuals are reviewed.

Facilitating Faculty Development for Training in Multicultural Competence in Health Service Psychology Graduate Programs Through an International Collaboration

Abstract: A critical aspect of strengthening graduate-level clinical and counseling psychology training in cultural competence is to build capacity among faculty teaching in these programs to provide effective training. We addressed this need through an international collaboration between a university in India and another in the United States that included faculty travel to another country, peer mentoring groups, and review of curricula. This article describes faculty perceptions of this program and its perceived impact on their professional development and outlines curricular and research outcomes that resulted from the program. Across 4 years, a total of eight faculty visits took place with Indian faculty ( n = 13) visiting the United States and US faculty ( n = 11) visiting India. After each visit, faculty at both institutions responded to open-ended questions about the usefulness of these visits and completed a rating scale at the end of the program through an online survey. Faculty from both countries indicated that the visits contributed to enhanced cultural awareness and sensitivity by broadening their perspectives and learning about cultural similarities and differences. Indian faculty described learning about new pedagogical methods and enhanced motivation to engage in research and publish, along with new collaborative opportunities. US faculty described incorporating cultural competence more centrally in their teaching and clinical supervision through increased commitment, as well as inclusion of more global and diverse content and assignments aimed to increase students’ cultural competence. These responses provide preliminary support for the usefulness of cultural immersion experiences for faculty professional development.

B - 40 Mending the Trainee-to-Workforce Pipeline: Recruitment and Retention Strategies on Black Trainee Enrollment and Matriculation within Neuropsychology Programs.

This study intended to understand how Black trainees view the use and effectiveness of recruitment and retention strategies used by clinical psychology programs with a emphasis in neuropsychology. This pilot study included participants (N = 14) who were current trainees or early career neuropsychologists who identified as Black/African American. A computer-based survey was used to collect demographic, student, and early career neuropsychologist data wherein participants completed a 7-point Likert scale to rate the effectiveness of their program's use of 10 recruitment strategies and nine retention strategies. The strategies are based on research conducted by Rogers and Molina (2006) regarding recruitment and retention of students of color in clinical psychology graduate programs. Participants were contacted through APA listservs, particularly Division 40 and Division 45, within the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology, and the Society for Black Neuropsychology. Results were descriptive due to a lack of power and were often variable. Over half indicated that their programs do not use recruitment materials geared toward minoritized applicants, and their programs did not use marketing materials designed to attract Black trainees. Regarding the effect that the presence of minoritized faculty mentors and their support of research in diversity-related issues have on retention, 28.6% of respondents reported that they are extremely effective retention strategies. As the U.S. continues to grow increasingly diverse, neuropsychology must be ready to meet this shift. The overwhelming majority of active neuropsychologists identify as Caucasian (Sweet et al., 2021). There is a responsibility to actively work toward the mending of the trainee-to-workforce pipeline.

Immediate and long-term outcomes of the Scholars Committed to Opportunities in Psychological Education (SCOPE) Program

ABSTRACT Persistent racial inequities in the field of psychology have resulted in exclusion and marginalization of racially/ethnically minoritized (REM) students. This manuscript discusses the effectiveness of an endeavor to increase admission, recruitment, and retention of REM students, the Scholars Committed to Opportunities in Psychological Education (SCOPE) Program. Study 1 examined the effectiveness of the second implementation of the virtual SCOPE program. Pre-post scores comparisons indicated decreases in perceived stress (d = .82), and increases in self-efficacy (d = .37), GRE knowledge (d = .81), application knowledge (d = .71), perceived application preparation (d = .85), and qualification (d = .53). Study 2 examined outcomes of previous SCOPE programs. Results indicated that the majority of participants were enrolled in a psychology graduate program. Results suggest that while SCOPE can benefit from curriculum modifications, there is initial evidence that SCOPE can make a significant impact in increasing equity in the field of psychology.

Characterizing Autism Training Experiences in Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Programs: Recommendations for Improving Training to Enhance Care

ABSTRACT Autistic individuals consistently experience long waitlists to access assessment and intervention. Additionally, they report difficulty obtaining integrated services for their co-occurring medical and mental health disorders. The current study seeks to explore the way that graduate school training may contribute to the specialized and siloed nature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) assessment and intervention. Multiple sources of data were collected to understand training opportunities related to ASD, child mental health, and the integration of ASD and child mental health in American Psychological Association- (APA) accredited Clinical Psychology Ph.D. programs. Data were collected from information publicly available online, and from clinical psychology doctoral students and graduate program directors (GPD). Results indicate that most programs do not employ a faculty member whose work focuses on ASD. Additionally, ASD experience is encouraged, but not a required element of program curriculum. Therefore, most doctoral students do not obtain training in ASD assessment or intervention during graduate school. Even doctoral students who pursued ASD training experiences reported that they do not feel prepared to meet the mental health needs of autistic individuals. We discuss implications and provide recommendations for how doctoral programs can promote students’ proficiency and comfort diagnosing and supporting autistic individuals.

A national survey of doctoral psychology education and training in suicide risk and violence risk assessment and management.

When, in the judgment of a mental health professional, patient suicide risk and/or patient violence risk are considered imminent, they have been referred to as behavioral emergencies. Past surveys have suggested that education and training with these emergency situations have been inadequate. The present study was undertaken to obtain more current information on the training that psychologists receive in these areas of practice. All directors of APA-accredited graduate psychology programs and all directors of APA-accredited predoctoral psychology internship programs were asked to complete an online survey inquiring about such training provided in their programs. Results indicated that both sets of directors rated such doctoral training in suicide risk assessment and management as very important. Internship directors, however, were significantly more likely than graduate program directors to state that psychologists should be required to complete continuing education courses on other-directed violence risk. Serious gaps in training were identified; that is, only 59.2% of psychology graduate directors reported that their program offered training in safety planning for suicide risk and only 25.4% reported that their program offered training in safety planning for violence risk. Given that serious injury and even death can occur from patient suicidal behavior and/or a patient violent behavior, the implications of these findings are discussed.

Disseminating sleep education to graduate psychology programs online: A knowledge translation study to improve the management of insomnia.

Despite the negative impact of poor sleep on mental health, evidence-based insomnia management guidelines have not been translated into routine mental healthcare. Here, we evaluate a state-wide knowledge translation effort to disseminate sleep and insomnia education to graduate psychology programs online using the RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance) evaluation framework. Using a non-randomized waitlist control design, graduate psychology students attended a validated six-hour online sleep education workshop delivered live as part of their graduate psychology program in Victoria, Australia. Sleep knowledge, attitudes, and practice assessments were conducted pre- and post-program, with long-term feedback collected at 12 months. Seven out of ten graduate psychology programs adopted the workshop (adoption rate = 70%). The workshop reached 313 graduate students, with a research participation rate of 81%. The workshop was effective at improving students' sleep knowledge and self-efficacy to manage sleep disturbances using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I), compared to the waitlist control with medium-to-large effect sizes (all p <.001). Implementation feedback was positive, with 96% of students rating the workshop as very good-to-excellent. Twelve-month maintenance data demonstrated that 83% of students had used the sleep knowledge/skills learned in the workshop in their clinical practice. However, more practical training is required to achieve CBT-I competency. Online sleep education workshops can be scaled to deliver cost-effective foundational sleep training to graduate psychology students. This workshop will accelerate the translation of insomnia management guidelines into psychology practice to improve sleep and mental health outcomes nationwide.

Contributions of African-centered (Africentric) psychology: A call for inclusion in APA-accredited graduate psychology program curriculum.

Over the past few years, there has been increased visibility of, and attention paid to, enduring issues such as racial discrimination toward Black Americans. Black psychologists have been called upon to explain various race-related mental health issues to the public, as well as their colleagues and students. Discussions about how to heal from persistent, intergenerational, oppressive attacks on the African psyche are important, but the theories and treatments in which most practitioners are trained and considered "best practices" are Eurocentric in nature. African-centered (or Africentric) psychology is a well-established school of thought, predating the philosophies often discussed in Western/American psychology's History and Systems curriculum, that provides an authentic understanding of the psychology of people of African descent from an African perspective. In this article, we present the historical contention about the lack of inclusion of an African perspective in conceptualizing and addressing the psychological needs of people of African descent, provide an overview of African-centered psychology including its underlying worldview and philosophy, development, and key contributors, and advocate for the inclusion of Africentric psychology in APA-accredited psychology graduate programs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

How International are the Brazilian Graduate Programs in Psychology?

How International are the Brazilian Graduate Programs in Psychology?

Development of a Novel Behavioral Sleep Medicine Education Workshop Designed to Increase Trainee Psychologists’ Knowledge and Skills in Insomnia Management

ABSTRACT Objectives Despite the clear influence of poor sleep on mental health, sleep education has been neglected in psychology training programs. Here, we develop a novel behavioral sleep medicine (BSM) education workshop, the Sleep Psychology Workshop, designed for integration within graduate psychology programs. We also examined the potential efficacy and acceptability of the workshop to upskill trainee psychologists in sleep and insomnia management. Methods The Sleep Psychology Workshop was developed using a modified Delphi Method. Eleven trainee psychologists completing their Master of Psychology degrees (90% female, 24.4 ± 1.6 years old) attended the workshop, delivered as three, two-hour lectures (total of six hours). Sleep knowledge, attitudes, and practice assessments were completed pre-and post-intervention using the GradPsyKAPS Questionnaire. A focus group and 6-month follow-up survey captured feedback and qualitative data. Results Trainees’ sleep knowledge quiz scores (% correct) increased from 60% to 79% pre- to post-workshop (p = .002). Trainees’ self-efficacy to use common sleep-related assessment instruments and empirically supported interventions to manage sleep disturbances increased, along with their confidence to manage insomnia (all p < .02). Participant feedback was positive, with 91% of trainees rating the workshop as “excellent” and qualitative data highlighting trainees developing practical skills in BSM. Six months post-intervention, 100% of trainees endorsed routinely asking their clients about sleep, with 82% reporting improvements in their own sleep. Conclusions The Sleep Psychology Workshop is a potentially effective and acceptable introductory BSM education program for trainee psychologists, ready for integration within the graduate psychology curriculum.

Representaciones sociales de estudiantes de posgrado en psicología respecto a personas trans

The human rights of the trans population are violated because of heterocispatriarchy and the social representations generated, promoted, and reinforced by this hegemonic system. The objective of this article is to describe the social representations that students of a graduate program in psychology at a private university in Cali have about trans persons, as well as the needs and challenges they perceive in their professional work with this population. This is a qualitative, phenomenological-interpretative study, in which 45 students of the Sexual Health and Reproductive Health course voluntarily participated. The data were collected by natural semantic networks and discussion groups and were processed from the thematic analysis theory. The research conforms to the principles of beneficence, non-maleficence, and autonomy. Likewise, it is based on accumulated knowledge under strict methodological rigor. It was classified as research with minimal risk. The social representations of some participants about trans persons are associated with stigmatizing and excluding aspects, which can be positively transformed in the interaction with the community in question. It is concluded that social representations play a fundamental role in the quality of health care. It is important to train health and social science students in sexuality, human interactions, self-care, respect for others and for oneself, as well as decision-making skills, assertive communication, critical thinking, and conflict resolution from a transaffirmative, gender and rights-based approach. https://doi.org/10.16888/interd.2023.40.1.15

Advancing Preservice Consultation Training Through University-Community Partnership

ABSTRACT This paper describes consultation training experiences offered through a decades-long partnership between a university school psychology graduate program and a local Head Start center. The collaboration provides a field placement setting where beginning students engage in activities tied to first-year coursework, and an advanced practicum site for doctoral students who oversee first-year students’ classroom-based activities and in turn are jointly supervised by program faculty and the center’s Special Services Manager. Through these experiences, graduate students develop competencies in client-centered, consultee-centered, and systems-level consultation, with opportunities to engage in an array of activities aligned with key updates to the 2020 NASP Professional Standards particularly in Domains Six (Services to Support Safe and Supportive Schools), Seven (Family, School, and Community Collaboration), and Eight (Equitable Practices for Diverse Student Populations). By focusing on the school environment, community collaboration, social justice, and equitable practices, these updated domains highlight the role of ecological and systemic factors in school psychology practice and training. Trainees support the center’s efforts to function as a trauma-informed organization whose members recognize and respond to trauma in a manner that promotes safety, collaboration, empowerment, and other trauma-informed practice principles. They do this by consulting with parents and teachers, contributing to staff professional development on such topics as adverse childhood experiences and caregiver stress management, and facilitating meetings with parents and teachers around issues such as trauma-informed discipline. We discuss how these activities align with the 2020 NASP domains, with particular attention to ecological and systemic perspectives.