Leon VandeCreek

Thorough Record Keeping: A Good Defense in a Litigious Era

Psychotherapists, like other health professionals, are concerned about the increase in malpracticelitigation and insurance rates. Properly kept records, made in anticipation of future litigation,may be crucial for the psychotherapist who is faced with a malpractice suit. We review cases inwhich records influenced the outcome of malpractice suits, and we make specific recommenda-tions regarding the optimal maintenance of records.

The Role of Practicum in the Undergraduate Psychology Curriculum.

Recomrrrendat~ons on the undergraduate curr~culum In psychology have come from several sources In the past 30 years. One of the flrst reports on the role of psychology as ~t emerged as an academlc dlsclpllne was the Harvard Commlsston Report Completed In 1947, lt was entitled, The place of psychology In an Ideal unlverslty (Gregg, 1970) The report recommended that because sclentlflc methodology was the core of the dlsclpllne, psychology courses would be of most beneflt ~f students were taught to approach the subject matter In aquestlonlng or sclentlfic manner Laboratory courses were the heart of the Commiss~ons recommended curr~culum Career or professional trainlng was not to occur at the undergraduate level, and psychology majors were not to be ldentlfled as psycholog~sts In subsequent yearsthree natlonal surveysof undergraduate curr~cula In psychology have been reported (Kulik, 1973, McKeachle& M~lholland, 1961, Wolfle, Buxton, Cofer, Gustad, MacLeod, & McKeachle, 1952) Each report offered searchIng reviews of undergraduate education and a var~ety of suggestions for Improvement The flrst, known as the Wolfle Report, reiterated the recommendat~ons of the Harvard Comm~ss~on Report that all courses should Include sc~entlflc methodology. A separate course on experimental methodology would be redundant. Speclflcally excluded were courses a~med at lmprovlng student adjustment or lmpartlng technical sk~lls other than methodolog~cal ones In 1961, the Mlchlgan Report (McKeachle & Mllholland, 1961 ) agaln recommended that sclentrflc methodology should be the core of the curr~culum However, it acknowledged that a variety of curricular deslgns was ava~lable, rncludlng special courses In methodology and Independent study projects By the tlme of the most recent report (Kullk, 1973) several trends In course offerings were apparent Durlng the twentyyear perlod srnce the Wolfle Report, courses followtng a natural science, laboratory model (learning, motlvatlon, phys~olog~cal) and Independent study courses had shown the greatest percentage of Increase. Applred courses such as educational psychology, vocat~onal psychology, and personal adjustment courses had shown the greatest decline However, thls decllne In appl~ed courses was offset by an Increase In experlentla1 components In traditional courses and by separate courses called fleld work or practlcum Approximately 44% of the respondents to Kullks survey In 1969 lnd~catied that they offered courses whlch Included at least one hqur per week of fleld experience Although the Kulik Report noted that a few departments had developed an entire course for field experience, no frequency data were available about this. Kulik suggested that field experiences could play an important role in the psychology curriculum. The enthusiasm of both students and participating faculty seemed encouraging, although the Report concluded that the relationship between conventional classrooms and field sites required clearer articulation. In subsequent years, this innovation in field experience coursework appears to have grown rapidly, and many participating faculty have described their programs (Barton & Duerfeldt, 1980; Hess, Harrison, Shantz, Fink, Zepelin, Lilliston, Aponte and Korn, 1978; Prerost, 1981; VandeCreek & Thompson, 1977). Problems with site and student selection, evaluations of students, agency supervision, amount of academic credit, and financial and time constraints on the departments have been popular issues. Other authors have described specific types of settings in which students have been placed (Caffrey, Berger, Cole, Marx&Senn, 1977; Hess et al., 1978; Prerost, 1981). These practicum courses can be clearly distinguished from vocational training and graduate professional training. In vocational training the goal is to produce a set of marketable skills for a specific job. In contrast, practicum courses have typically been described as part of the psychology major or minor and as enhancing the goals of a liberal education. Although there may be career advantages inherent in taking a practicum course, this has not been the primary intent (however, see Pinkus and Korn, 1973, for an obvious exception). Undergraduate practica often have incorporated some amount of training in professional skills such as interviewing, but the extent of such training is minimal compared to graduate professional education. The number of reports about practicum programs suggests that such courses have been adopted by many departments. Yet, little is known about this innovation. Consequently, the authors conducted a national survey to provide some initial data which could guide departments in the management of their curricula as well as elicit debate within the discipline. There were few guidelines available to follow in constructing the survey. Consequently, articles which described specific practicum programs were reviewed and questions were devised to elicit data about the ingredients of these courses. Other questions were included based on our

Statutory Remedies to the Duty to Protect: A Reconsideration

DAVID SHAPIROBaltimore, MarylandDuty-to-protect statutes, designed tolimit the liability of psychotherapistswho treat life-endangering outpatients,protect psychotherapists who makegood-faith warnings when danger toidentifiable victims is predictable.Nevertheless, immunity provisions mayencourage therapists to discharge theirduties through warnings or involuntaryhospitalizations to the exclusion oftherapeutically indicated interventions.The authors suggest alternativewording to these statutes.

The problem of art quality in the use of human figure drawing tests.

Sixteen clinicians evaluated figure drawings and attempted to determine which were done by psychiatric patients (N = 32) and which were done by matched normal Ss (N = 32). Half of the clinicians received a warning with regard to the error of assessing art ability. Despite the warning, the informed judges relied on art quality in evaluating the drawings, as did the naive judges. The judges achieved a hit rate of 58% (p less than .05). These findings indicate that both the proponents and the critics of figure drawing tests are correct. These tests do have some validity, although limited. At the same time, drawing tests do mistakenly assess art ability. Further, the failure of the effort to decrease the use of art quality indicates that this shortcoming is very difficult to control.

The mental health/drug and alcohol program at Torrance state hospital

Larticle presente brievement un programme de sante mentale pour alcooliques et toxicomanes, dont les composants sont: - un composant psychoeducationnel - une therapie de groupe - une chimiotherapie, si necessaire

Preferences of content of psychological reports for community placement programs

With the shift toward community-based care for mentally retarded persons has come a change in programming goals aimed more at habilitation. The information from psychological reports is frequently used as one type of information for decision making about clients although such reports have frequently been criticized for not providing relevant data. Staff members of community programs in Pennsylvania were surveyed to elicit their preferences for various types of report data. Of the categories of information included in this survey, personality dynamics information and descriptions of general emotional and personality factors were rated as less useful than was information regarding academic achievement, vocational achievement, adaptive skills, and client-examiner interaction. Implications of these findings for psychologists who assess mentally retarded clients are discussed.

Privileged Communications for Social Workers

Psychotherapy clients expect and deserve confidentiality. However, privileged communication laws vary by state and profession. The authors discuss and recommend a functional privilege that would apply to all psychotherapy clients of all recognized mental health professions.

Privileged Communication for Pastoral Counseling: Fact or Fancy?

Notes that privileged communication laws protect the confidential statements of parishioners to their clergy from intrusion by the courts but that the legal status of counseling performed by ministers is less clear or uniform. Argues that common and statutory laws which protect religious confessions should not be construed to protect communications made by parishioners during counseling unless the clergy have demonstrated minimal standards of competency in counseling. Critical responses to the article are provided by a professor of pastoral theology and a law professor.