PRESIDENT'S COLUMN
Winter 2009
A Place for All of Us:
The Society of Clinical Psychology
John C. Norcross, Ph.D., ABPP
Since its establishment, APA's Division 12 has evidenced a noble tradition of examining its own members and purposes. E. Lowell Kelly initiated this tradition in 1960 with a seminal study of the entire membership of the APA Division of Clinical Psychology. He mailed a questionnaire to the 2,372 members of Division 12, receiving 1,024 responses, one-sixth of them from women. Kelly's 1960 findings revealed that clinical psychologists were most frequently employed in medical settings where they performed diagnosis, psychotherapy, and administration, primarily with adult patients. His results also demonstrated a decisive shift from diagnostic testing to psychotherapy and the popularity of eclecticism in the late 1950s.
Kelly's aims of discovering Who are we?, Where do we work?, What do we do?, What theories do we embrace?, and What do we think about clinical psychology?, launched a series of similar appraisals over the past 50 years. His study was replicated on the Division 12 membership in 1973 by Garfield and Kurtz, and since 1981, in a series of periodic studies conducted by colleagues and myself. These collective studies have been instrumental in documenting the transformation of the profession, for example, in charting the emergence of cognitive and systems orientations, the steady expansion of independent practice, and the continuation of high career satisfaction. Much of what passes for “common knowledge” and “obvious trends” in clinical psychology was originally identified in these studies.
Conducting these studies over the past three decades enable me to track the pulse of the Division 12 membership as well as inform my presidential iniatives for 2009. In this, my first president's column, I shall elaborate on my dual priorities and offer representative findings from our most recent study of the Division 12 membership (Norcross, Karpiak, & Santoro, 2005).
Toward (More) Inclusiveness
The Society of Clinical Psychology should be an inclusive and welcoming place for clinical psychologists of all theoretical orientations, practice settings, and demographic characteristics. Division 12 is already inclusive in many respects, but we must appreciate it and cultivate it further.
We are theoretically pluralistic, as seen in Figure 1, which summarizes the prevalence of theoretical orientations from 1960 to 2005. Eclecticism/integration (29% of us) remains the modal orientation, with cognitive therapy a close second (28%). Next most popular are psychodynamic at 15% and behavioral at 10%. We are short on adherents of the humanistic orientation, with only 1% endorsement among the Division 12 membership. Fully 16 theories are represented in the “other” category.
In addition, Division 12 clinical psychologists are employed in every conceivable work setting. Figure 2 displays these historical trends in primary employment settings. In 2005, private practice was the most common employment setting, accounting for 39% of the membership. The next most frequent sites were universities (18%), medical schools (8%), and various hospitals and clinics, each averaging about 4% of the membership. Another 15% of psychologists selected “other” as their primary employment setting. Of those Division 12 members not employed full-time in independent practice, 51% provide some clinical services in the private sector on a part-time basis.
The percentage of women in Division 12 has been continually increasing since 1960, from 16% up to the present figure of 36%. By contrast, the percentage of racial/ethnic minorities in Division 12 has slowly climbed; it was only 8% in 2007.
In 2009, we shall implement in the Society plans to (1) enhance its diversity, (2) increase membership, and (3) recruit proponents of all theoretical orientations. Division 12 should be a natural and valued home for a remarkably diverse cadre of clinical psychologists.
Toward Integration
My second presidential iniative is to promote integration, not only between research and practice but also among disparate theoretical orientations. President-elect Marvin Goldfried will carry on the integrative thrust in 2010. Our studies of Division 12 members repeatedly remind us that the modal orientation is integrative and that most of us are engaged in both practice and scholarship.
I intend to make Division 12 a more interpersonally inviting and collaborative organization. I will try to mend fences between the practice and research communities. This initiative continues past-president Irving Weiner's movement toward a more inclusive and ecumenical home for clinical psychologists. Moreover, this initiative converges with our official position ( approved unanimously on 6/10/2008) that “The Board commits itself and the Society of Clinical Psychology to collaborate with other organizations c ontaining large numbers of practicing psychologists.”
In 2009, I plan the following Division 12 activities in concert with APA, its practice divisions, and other organizations:
- convening a task force with APA Division 29 (Psychotherapy) on evidence-based psychotherapy relationships
- holding the Winter 2009 Board meeting at APA headquarters in Washington, DC
- cosponsoring the Division 12 Social Hour at the 2009 APA convention with the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology
- attending APA directorate functions as a representative of Division 12
- publishing a research study (with Dr. David Klonsky) on the science-practice gap from both sides of the gap -- scientists (Division 12 members) and practitioners (former presidents of Division 42) -- simultaneously in The Clinical Psychologistand The Independent Practitioner
- collaborating with APA Division 45 (Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues) to offer the first three hours of the evidence-based track in James Bray's Convention Within a Convention at the 2009 APA convention in Toronto
The Society of Clinical Psychology should be a place for all of us – a fully inclusive, integrative, and inviting organization. As in frequently the case, the empirical data have shown us the way. I thank you and the Division 12 governance, in advance, for helping to actualize these goals.
Figure 1:
Theoretical Orientations of Division 12 Psychologists over the past 45 years
Figure 2: Primary Employment Settings of Division 12 Psychologists
