Close
On the basis of a formulation Clinical Psychologists should be able to implement psychological therapy or other interventions appropriate to the presenting problem and to the psychological and social circumstances of the client(s), and to do this in a collaborative manner with individuals as well as through and/or with couples, families, carers, and/or, professional staff groups (in what follows individuals/groups will be referred to as 'the client').
The specifics of an intervention will differ according to theoretical frameworks, but for most (if not all) interventions:
Ability to implementing a model coherently
|
An ability to implement an intervention in a manner which is flexible and responsive to the issues the client raises, but which is coherent - in other words ensures that all relevant components of the theory/model being applied in the intervention are included |
| An ability to use clinical judgment in order to balance adherence to a model against the need to attend to any relational issues which present themselves |
| An ability to maintain adherence to a therapy without inappropriate switching between modalities in response to minor difficulties (i.e. difficulties which can be readily accommodated by the model being applied) |
Ability to apply interventions responsively
|
An ability to accommodate issues the client raises explicitly or implicitly, or which become apparent as part of the process of the intervention: |
| An ability to respond to, and openly to discuss, explicit feedback from the client which expresses concerns about important aspects of the therapy |
| An ability to detect and respond to implicit feedback which indicates that the client has concerns about important aspects of the therapy (e.g. as indicated by non-verbal behaviour, verbal comments or significant shifts in responsiveness) |
| An ability to identify when clients have difficulty giving feedback which is "authentic" (e.g. clients who respond in accordance with what they think the therapist wishes to hear rather than expressing their own view) and discussing this with them |
| An ability to be aware of and respond to emotional shifts occurring in each session with the aim of maintaining an optimal level of emotional arousal (i.e. ensuring that the client is neither remote from or overwhelmed by their feelings) |
Clinical Psychologists should be able to manage the process of ending an intervention, and also be able to recognise when (further) intervention is inappropriate, or unlikely to be helpful, and communicate this sensitively to clients and carers:
|
An ability to signal the ending of the intervention at appropriate points during the therapy (e.g. when agreeing the treatment contract, and especially as the intervention draws to close) in a way which acknowledges the potential importance of this transition for the client |
| An ability to help client discuss their feelings and thoughts about endings and any anxieties about managing alone |
| An ability to review the work undertaken together |
| An ability to say goodbye |