Barriers to Psychologists Seeking Mental Health Care

Professional psychologists provide help to people in need, but how freely do psychologists seek psychotherapy themselves when facing personal challenges and struggles? What obstacles make it difficult for professional psychologists to seek psychotherapy? A survey of 260 professional psychologists (52% response rate) was conducted to investigate the frequency of various stressors impacting professional psychologists and the barriers they experience in seeking mental health services. Though none of the stressors were rated with particularly high frequencies, burnout was identified as the most frequent problem. Difficulty finding a psychotherapist and a lack of time were identified as the greatest obstacles to seeking psychotherapy. Practice and training implications are discussed as well as future research directions

Satisfaction with Clinical Training in Christian Psychology Doctoral Programs: Survey Findings and Implications

Perceptions of clinical training at seven explicitly Christian doctoral programs in clinical psychology were assessed with a satisfaction survey. A total of 228 students, 128 alumni, and 34 faculty completed the online questionnaire that entailed 20 satisfaction items. Factor analysis revealed three factors: Supervision and Support, Clinical Placements, and Professional Development. Of these, Supervision and Support received the highest satisfaction ratings and Professional Development the lowest. Overall, clinical training was perceived quite positively by respondents, and more highly than research training ratings reported in a previous study. Alumni and faculty reported greater satisfaction than current students

Technology and Independent Practice: Survey Findings and Implications

Today’s rapid rate of technology change introduces both opportunities and challenges for psychologists. A Technology and Practice Questionnaire was sent to 1000 psychologists in independent practice, half of whom were contacted by e-mail and the other half by U.S. mail. A total of 237 of the 433 deliverable surveys sent by U.S. mail were returned (54.7% response rate), but only 49 of the 458 deliverable surveys sent by e-mail (12.9% response rate). Respondents were asked to rate the frequency of 51 behaviors in their practice and to indicate whether the behavior is ethical. The results suggest a relatively low rate of technology use among independent practitioners and a high degree of ethical uncertainty regarding the use of various technologies in practice. Implications for training and practice are considered