A European Framework for Psychologists' Training

CURRICULUM CONTENT - NETHERLANDS

II & III STRUCTURE OF FORMAL EDUCATION/TRAINING & CURRICULUM

[The text of this chapter consists of two authoritative sections from existing reports. The first provides an outline of psychology training programs by the Psychology Review Commission of 1995. The second represents the views of the NIP on post-graduate and post-university training for professional psychologists.]

Outline of a programme of training for psychologists (text taken from VSNU, 1995).

The outline indicates the lower limit above which a university psychology programme must remain if it wishes to have sufficient substance from the point of view of both science and scholarship and of social responsibility

Aspects of the programme

The programme distinguishes between three different aspects:

• acquisition of knowledge,
• acquisition of skills
• development of experience.

Knowledge

The knowledge acquired should not merely cover general psychology but also its various ancillary and sub-disciplines. That knowledge must also be integrated with respect to the applications of psychology.

Skills

Skills means both research skills and professional skills. Research skills must form part of the arsenal of every psychologist, regardless of whether they later choose to do scientific research or to go into psychological practice. All psychologists need to have acquired basic professional skills in problem analysis and intervention strategies.

Experience

Psychologists will of course gain experience, whether as a researcher or as practitioner as time goes on. During their training, however, they will need to learn how to tap into the available experience of others. Above all, they will need to learn to extend their personal experience to enable them to communicate with people in an effective and flexible manner. This will involve, in particular, those whom they have to do with in a professional or a research context. With this in mind, the term attitude training is sometimes used.

The three aspects mentioned will be covered at various different levels during the successive phases of the programme. During the initial phase, however, the emphasis will be mainly on acquiring knowledge and in the final phase on developing skills.

Final attainment aims

Psychologists who have completed their ('primary") university programme must be expected to:

• have a sufficient knowledge of psychology and its applications;
• be able to conduct independent scientific research;
• be able to carry out basic professional activities in the field of psychological problem analysis and intervention;
• have the appropriate social skills.

During this phase of training, there is no room for specialisation. However, students will become acquainted with all the main areas of application of psychology. These are currently considered to involve the clusters:

• child-rearing and education
• work and organisation
• health and illness.

Although the Commission favours there being only a very restricted number of majors available, it does see good reason to introduce a fourth major focusing on the methodological and theoretical aspects of psychology and intended for students with the necessary affinity and ability in this area.

The programme also needs to open up prospects for other possible areas of application. Attention also needs to be given to the necessary ability involved in teaching psychology to non-psychologists.

Specialist programmes, involving both deepening or broadening one's knowledge and skills and focusing on a specific area, must have a place within postgraduate programmes. This applies both to programmes to train researchers and programmes of training for professional practice. It is recommended that these should be developed and implemented by, or in close collaboration with, university departments.

Content of the programme

As far as the actual content of the training programme is concerned, three successive phases need to be distinguished:

• a wide-ranging and sufficiently in-depth introduction to the basic
• disciplines and the ancillary subjects of psychology, as well as initial training in research skills;
• integration of the knowledge already acquired, with a view to the applications of psychology, as well as initial training in professional skills;
• learning to apply knowledge and skills in relation to the areas of application of psychology, with it being possible to devote special attention to one particular field.

With respect to the third phase, it should be pointed out that during their training students should not be involved in too specialised a manner in a single area of application. In the first place, this is because, regardless of the field they later work in, they need to be sufficiently aware of other areas of application. Secondly, it is also because market developments necessarily mean that psychologists need to be able to turn their hand to more than one field.

As far as knowledge is concerned, students must become familiar with the following basic and ancillary subjects:

• psycho-physiology and comparative physiology
• experimental psychology
• personality psychology and differential psychology in general
• developmental psychology of the entire human life cycle
• social psychology
• psycho-pathology and the basic principles of clinical and health psychology
• cultural psychology, in particular problems inherent in a multi-cultural society
• history of psychology
• philosophy of science
• methodology and data analysis
• statistics

and with the following areas of application:

• child-rearing and education
• work and organisation
• health and illness.

The first skills students must acquire are study skills. This means, amongst other things, that they should be able to access the literature and process it. In general, they need to learn to work .

Research skills need to be acquired with a view to the experimental methodology of psychology. This is of fundamental significance in the development of scientific psychology. Being able to apply this method qualifies psychologists 'in a specific manner' to analyse problems. However, students also need to acquire skills in carrying out empirical research, for example as performed when studying the effects of interventions or of psycho-epidemiological matters.

In addition, students need to acquire basic professional skills.

Besides general social skills, this means:

• interviewing
• problem analysis
• psycho-diagnostics
• analysis and influencing of group processes
• planning of interventions
• provision of advice and counselling
• reporting
• dealing with trans-cultural problems.

The emphasis here must be on general skills with a multi-functional application. The professional skills needed for specific areas of application will be dealt with during a later phase of the programme.

Experience comes as students go into their chosen discipline in increasing depth. It is of great importance that they learn to incorporate what they have been through into their own framework of experience. This applies not only to their ability to accept other points of view and attitudes but also to their ability to understand their own limitations. The provisions of flexible opportunities to acquire experience is important, for example where the acquisition of trans-cultural skills is concerned or when dealing with differences in gender or outlook on life.

The level of knowledge, skills and experience to be acquired must be such that, at a basic level, they reflect the current situation in:

• theoretical psychology
• developments of methods and techniques
• requirements for psychological practice
• the context within which psychological services are provided.
• Restricted specialisation

A student who has completed the basic programme should have acquired a sufficiently broad knowledge of psychology as to enable him or her to comprehend advanced psychological theories and methods and to assess their relevance to specific areas of application. When specialising in a particular area, students should be given the opportunity to apply the broad knowledge of psychology which they have gained when studying the basic and ancillary subjects to their field of specialisation. The programme should therefore introduce students to the various areas of application at an early stage and in their specialisation phase it should enable them to acquire a deeper knowledge of certain of the basic subjects. The latter will still allow some students to choose a special major dealing with the methodological and theoretical aspects of psychology.

During the period up to graduation (the doctoral degree), students can begin to specialise in a particular area of application of psychology in preparation for a post-graduate programme of professional training. Students would thus be given the opportunity to study a particular area of

psychology in detail. It is important that during this phase students should take a relatively broad curriculum, both in the sense that the area of application would still be a broadly defined one and in the sense that the programme would clearly express the link with psychology as a whole through the contribution of basic subjects. Within a broad curriculum of this kind, students should be given the opportunity to introduce their own individual focus.

The programme

The programme would then be constructed as follows:

• First cycle (foundation course lasting about between 1? years): acquisition of knowledge and basic research skills.
• Second cycle (lasting about 1? years): integration of the knowledge relating to the three areas of application mentioned, further development of research skills, and training in basic professional skills.
• Third cycle (lasting at least 1 year): testing of knowledge and expertise by means of:
• evaluation of performance during a period of work placement of suitable length and involving one of the areas of application
• evaluation of a critical literature study or theory paper
• evaluation of a report on a piece of experimental or empirical research carried out by the student
• (restricted admission)
• advanced training in research or
• postgraduate professional training.

[Notes (by VdM & P)

Perhaps it is somewhat surprising that there is no mentioning of actual numbers of credit points or weeks of work for various subjects. Within limits this is left to the discretion of the programs. Advanced training in research is more or less limited to PhD students. Each department has a limited number of positions for young research assistants who are appointed for four years and during that time have to complete their doctoral thesis. Additional positions are granted on the basis of research proposals submitted for external funding, but such positions are quite rare.

Postgraduate professional training has been mentioned in earlier parts of report. It should be noted that postgraduate as meant here takes place outside the jurisdiction of university programs in psychology, even if university staff members tend to be involved quite extensively.]

Postgraduate programs: Qualification for autonomous psychologists

The undergraduate programme in psychology cannot be expected to prepare students fully for autonomous involvement in research or for autonomous work in psychological practice. The undergraduate programme provides psychology graduates with no more 'but also no less' than the necessary basis for such work, particularly where specialisation is concerned.

NIP PSYCHOLOGIST

Training for certain professions will take the form of a nine-month period of further training, leading to the qualification NIP PSYCHOLOGIST. The Netherlands Institute of Psychologists has created this barrier to gaining the qualification of NIP PSYCHOLOGIST for two reasons. For the client, the body commissioning research or the employer, the existence of this qualification makes it possible to distinguish between those who call themselves a 'psychologist' (a designation which is not subject to legal restrictions), and those who have actually graduated in psychology and who also have what is considered to be the minimum level of practical experience and obligations to a code of professional practice. For psychology graduates, the qualification provides recognition of their skills and is also a pointer to further qualification as a professional psychologist.

Formal and informal programmes of training

For actual professional work in psychology, either as a scientific researcher or a practitioner, specialised postgraduate training is necessary. This will to a large extent take place in practical situations, with colleagues, in institutions and in companies. In such cases, a NIP PSYCHOLOGIST will work for a number of years as a junior psychologist under the supervision of a qualified senior psychologist. Their relationship will be the classic one of

'master and journeyman'. There will regular testing of progress in knowledge and skills, leading 'if the results are positive' to ever greater delegation of responsibilities. The eventual qualification as 'autonomous psychologist' will take the form of internal promotion to 'senior psychologist', with the associated transfer of all organisational, legal and ethical responsibilities. It will sometimes be possible to undertake this type of unofficial, internal postgraduate training within governmental and semi-governmental institutions and institutes which specialise in policy research. Nowadays, however, particularly when the student concerned wishes to specialise in research, and given market considerations affecting both the institution and the researcher, preference will be given to the student taking a doctorate.

The only formal admission requirements for the postgraduate programme in research psychology will be a degree in psychology : every psychologist has the freedom to find a supervisor and to write a thesis. Admission to the recognised postgraduate programmes of training for autonomous psychology practitioners will however be restricted, this being because of the restricted number of places available.

Training as a researcher

One of the focuses of the subject-matter of the graduate programme to train researchers will need to be that of providing students with sufficient training in a formal and logical sense. An understanding of, and a 'feel' for, the ethical and social consequences of research are essential. Trainee researchers must also become skilled in passing on the knowledge they have acquired, both to other researchers and other psychology practitioners and to the general public. A master-journeyman relationship, as envisaged in current trainee research assistant programmes, would seem to be the appropriate route to take. Confirmation that students have completed their postgraduate programme of training as a researcher will be provided by the universities in the form of a doctorate.

Programme of training for autonomous practitioners

The subject matter of the postgraduate programme is aimed at enabling students to integrate relevant scientific knowledge into practice and to ensure that in their practical work graduates are able to work according to a systematic empirical method. Students must receive extensive case-based training within the day-to-day work of an institution (which is frequently multi-disciplinary), suited to their particular specialised field. This will take place within the context of a master-journeyman relationship between the supervisor and the student, with the transfer of specialised knowledge and expertise being based on actual cases.

NIP is one of the partners involved in setting up the various post-doctoral programmes of training, which will often be examined by external bodies. NIP is also taking various initiatives to set up and develop new post-university training courses for psychologists with associated certification which take account of and intervene in important changes within society.

In-service training

In the near future, NIP intends drawing up a well-organised structure of certified undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, concluding with qualifications. In-service training 'the process of updating psychological knowledge and expertise in accordance with the current situation' will be included in this system and will be a precondition for retaining qualifications already awarded. In this connection, it is desirable that, alongside the qualification NIP PSYCHOLOGIST, the qualification REGISTERED NIP PSYCHOLOGIST should receive recognition on the part of those who have undergone postgraduate training.

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