The insurers are already looking at the price tag
The Board sells the five-year degree as a faster pathway. Medibank's submission asks the question students should be asking: how will funders pay a lower-qualified psychologist?
Writing
Writing
Articles on psychology practice, regulation and mental health policy.
When the complaints body flags a safety risk, you listen
The Psychology Council of NSW, the body that deals with complaints about psychologists, warned that an AQF 8 entry standard could expose graduates to unsafe practice.
When a university says it might "exit the market entirely", believe it
The five-year degree is pitched as a way to train more psychologists, faster. The University of Western Australia's submission warns it could leave us with fewer.
The supervision bottleneck: solving the wrong problem
A quarter of Australian psychologists are Board-approved supervisors. So why is everyone screaming about a supervision shortage? Because the system doesn't pay them to supervise.
Did the Psychology Board forget 2022, or are they hoping we did?
Four years ago the Board closed the undergraduate-heavy pathway into psychology. Now it proposes a five-year undergraduate degree. Both can't be right.
The five-year psychology degree is a Trojan horse. Let's look at the maths.
The proposed five-year degree is sold to exhausted students as a faster pathway. Look inside: hundreds of hours of unpaid placements and a qualification downgraded to AQF Level 8.
Manufacturing a Mandate: The Proposal No One Wants
When the Psychology Board recently released their summary of the 2,500 submissions regarding the proposed psychology training reforms, the executive summary was glowing. They pointed to strong endorsement of the model,…
Higher degree resign: AI summarises the submissions
The Psychology board of Australia has just released their summary of feedback from the public consultation into the redesign of psychology…
AI helpers and health privacy
Most psychologists assume their digital tools are private enough for clinical work. AI has changed that: the tools we rely on are now hungry for data, and health data is special.
Do you need to update client consent every 12 months under the new Code of conduct?
No. Section 4.2 of the Psychology Board's Code of conduct reflects privacy law: consent must be current and specific. A 12-month rule creates work without fixing the real risk, which is a material change in circumstances.
Autism before we had a word for it
Around 300 BCE, Aristotle's successor sketched thirty everyday Athenian characters. Read them today and you'll recognise a lot of neurodivergence. The 'autism explosion' is an explosion of recognition.
Whats going on at the APS?
Across three different professions; psychology, medicine, and social work, we have recently seen boardroom chaos. Infighting in member groups is hardly unheard of, but I have never seen it so public and so…
Every day my AI assistant forgets who I am
Three hours into a writing session, ChatGPT forgot what we were doing, and it felt like a small loss. Why we get attached to AI tools, and why that makes them risky.
Caught in the crossfire: the hidden risks of treating children during family breakdown
Mum says the separation is amicable and asks you to see her daughter. It feels safe to say yes. In the early days of a high-conflict separation, safe and effective treatment of the child may not be possible at all.
New psychology standards: progress, pride and the need for prudence
The new Code of conduct and Professional Competencies embed cultural safety, decolonisation and neurodiversity into practice. Much of that is good. But if we wield them triumphantly, we risk losing the clients who already find therapy hardest to walk into.
How to do an intake session as a psychologist: engagement before information
Most junior psychologists treat the first session as a chance to gather information. The client is deciding whether to come back. Here are three things that matter more than the genogram.
Why clinical supervision doesn't improve client outcomes, and five ways to make it better
Studies of thousands of clients find supervisors make almost no difference to outcomes. The problem is the model: supervision runs like a visit to the oracle when it should run like coaching.
Managing suicide risk in therapy: a framework for deciding how to respond
Suicide risk has endless gradations, but our responses come in only a few steps. The question isn't how high the risk is; it's whether the risk now justifies the costs of the next level of response. Written for clinicians.
Therapy progress notes: a treasure trove of data for all the wrong people
Your progress notes are probably the place you are most likely to harm a client. Notes exist to manage risk, and every field you add to a template is a new risk of its own.
AI client notes for psychologists ?
This blog is a public service, as I must have discussed this issue with more than a dozen supervisees or practice owners in the past month alone. So in this instance, rather than paying for a consult, please feel free…
Where to cut costs in private practice
Just this week I have seen a dozen posts in professional psychology forums looking to cut costs in the operation of their private…
Voles: what they teach us about monogamy and scientific method
First off, if you aren't someone interested in evolutionary biology you may not have heard of Voles (rhymes with goals). But they are these cute little relatives of hamsters that have given scientists an incredible…
How a new car and an electric razor taught me about feedback
What does an Electric Razor and a new car have to do with Psychotherapy? In the last week, I have made two major purchases; a new car and a new electric razor. “Hooray for you” you might think, but I check out your website for insights into psychotherapy, not for you to brag about new …
Therapy Myths
I was recently asked to respond to the question of whether or not it has been “proven” that “General Psychologists” get the same outcomes as “Clinical Psychologists” and that there is in fact no value to Master’s training. I have been of the opinion for some time that a number of people have …
Psychotherapy: Waiting for a paradigm shift
What is a paradigm shift? The idea of a paradigm shift has been hijacked by advertising agencies and used to describe everything from a new smartphone, to a lower fat cheese. But in science, the idea of a paradigm shift has a slightly more nuanced meaning. Physicist and philosopher Thomas Kuhn coined the …
Is it ok to write a report for a client you are treating?
Is it ok to write a report for a client you are treating? As a supervisor and practice owner, these requests come in pretty frequently, and I often find myself helping my supervisees work through their decision-making process to ensure an ethically and professionally responsible position. There are a couple of principles to …
When is it ok to write a report for a client?
Supervision Question – I have been asked to write a report to my clients employer saying they are psychologically fit for work. Is it ok to do it ? This is a really common dilemma for psychologists. Whether it is insurance companies, schools, centrelink, or a host of other agencies, psychologists are increasingly being asked …
Improving Drop-out rate in therapy
Early drop-out is one of the leading causes of poor therapy outcomes, and one of the simplest things to measure. Three evidence-based ways to reduce it.
Six ways to get the most out of seeing a psychologist
Whether you are looking for help with long-term trauma, or simply looking for help managing your weight, seeing a psychologist for therapy can be daunting. There can be a lot of stigma associated with therapy, and even without that it is still an expensive process where the outcomes can be quite uncertain. So how do …