Edward P. Sheridan

Self Assessment in Clinical Health Psychology: A Model for Ethical Expansion of Practice

Society expects autonomous professions to ensure the competency of it practitioners, and professions should facilitate the continuing education and training of its members. Given the shift from psychology as a mental health profession to that of a health profession, the authors propose a self-assessment model for the individual practitioner to gauge his or her readiness to provide professional service in expanded areas of practice. This model could also be useful to the American Psychological Association, state psychological associations, and other purveyors of continuing education programs in systematically developing postgraduate experiences. A template for self-assessment that reflects well-accepted core domains of knowledge and skills is presented.

Police‐referred psychiatric emergencies: Advantages of community treatment

Police traditionally have brought persons they define to be in need of psychiatric intervention to state hospitals. However, as large state facilities decline, community mental health centers must be prepared to receive these individuals. The present study defines the client population that police bring to a large, urban community mental health center. In addition, a two-year follow-up compares the dispositions of those persons brought by police to the community mental health center with the outcomes for patients treated at a state facility. Treatment benefits inherent in such a community-based program are discussed.

Postdoctoral education and training for clinical service providers in health psychology.

It was recommended by the 1983 National Working Conference on Education and Training in Health Psychology (Stone, 1983) that 2 years of postdoctoral education and training be mandated for future licensed health service providers in health psychology. The background for requiring this postdoctoral training, a model for education, criteria for developing programs, issues of funding, and a rationale for accepting this mandate are presented. Highlighted are the stable and consistent growth of health psychology, the need to expand the period of clinical training to meet the many advances in the field, and the challenges that exist for the fully trained clinical health service provider.

Psychology's Future in Medical Schools and Academic Health Care Centers.

An exciting challenge exists for psychology to establish itself in the general health care delivery system. Advances in treating physical as well as emotional disorders offer the discipline the chance to expand its traditional and formerly limited role. Convincing empirical evidence suggests that psychology can simultaneously improve health care treatment and reduce its costs. Opportunities and obstacles on the path to success in this expanded venture are examined.

The Future of Psychology in Academic Health Care Centers

A promising opportunity exists to continue psychologys move beyond its traditional mental health emphasis into a general health care discipline. Abundant empirical evidence supports that psychologists treat a wide array of physical disorders as well as psychological components of medical problems. The immediate issues confronting psychologys full emergence into the health care world are discussed and recommendations are offered to assure the success of this initiative.

A History of the Association of Medical School Psychologists

While psychologists have been active faculty members in medical schools for over 85 years, they lacked organization on the national level until 1981. This history traces the background of psychologys involvement in medical schools, landmark events that affected the discipline, and progress since formal organization has occurred.

Psychologists in Academic Health Centers: Reflections on Traditions and Innovations in Education, Science, and Practice

In 2007, the Association of Psychologists in Academic Health Centers (APAHC), formerly known as Association of Medical School Psychologists (AMSP), held its first national conference since 1997. At the latter conference, the author of this article [Sheridan (1999) Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings, 6, 211–218] was asked to present some of the issues that would be important to health care psychologists in the next decade. These issues included the role of psychology in academic health centers, interventions psychologists offer, reimbursements for such treatments, education and training models, and research. This article examines those observations, offers new data, and explores the current challenges and opportunities for psychologists in academic health centers. The presentation also addresses aspirations of psychologists as well as resistances within the profession.