PSYCHOLOGY TALKS 2011BY MS GITANJALI GOYAL KHANNA (NUH)28 JAN 2011, FRIDAY, LT14

‘The Guest House’ –Rumi (Poem)→ Poem that fully describes what it’s like to be a clinical psychologist → To be a clinical psychologist, an attitude of openness is required→ Acceptance of the highs and lows in life

Important to reflect and know what you want to do as a psychologist (what you are interested in)→ Helpful to do so before embarking on Masters’ programme so that you know what modules to take→ Eg. To help people, inspirational figures

Many subfields in Psychology→ Developmental psychology – no prescribed Masters in Singapore→ Clinical Psychology – more opportunities in Singapore- Do more specialized interventions for specialized disorders- Know classifications of disorders like ICD10 or DSM-IV- Do more therapies for specific disorders- Usually in hospital settings- Can conduct research on treatments (what works better?)- Contributing back to the field of psychology through teaching and supervision- Important role of supervision as the supervisee may see therapy going

nowhere, or supervisee may be confusing their own problems with clients’ problems

- Program development and evaluation- Consultation liaison psychiatry: eg working with patients with physical

problems

What is psychotherapy? (analogies)→ A dance: mutual, different ‘dances’ with different clients, being fully present with the clients

→ Therapy as an instrument; need to ‘tune instrument’/refine therapy every now and then→ ‘Clients’: They are not that helpless, believe in the positivity and the power that they can recover; Not ‘patients’

What is Psychological Assessment?→ Analysis & Synthesis- Cater to the needs of the clients (strengths and weaknesses)

→ Goal follows from referral question

→ Sources: interviews. Observations and standardized tests and projective tests (clinical skills very important)

→ Technician vs. Clinician!

→ To be a psychologist: Marks/grades may be important for admission into program, but truly living the knowledge we learn is equally important

Research in Clinical Psychology→ Research in the etiology (causation) of major mental disorders (schizophrenia, depression etc)

A typical day of clinical psychologist→ Work is very varied, but some commonalities:- Diagnostic interviews- Psychotherapy- Psychological assessment (for explaining clients as best as you can)- Appropriate report-writing

Working in a multidisciplinary team→ Assessment can only be done by clinical psychologists→ Psychotherapy may be conducted by different professionals, but their training makes a difference→ Important to define well and clarify the role of each professional when collaborating together in a team

Attitude to be a clinical psychologist

→ Able to separate work and life well→ Important to take care of one’s own well-being→ Own attitudes and beliefs towards mental health issues→ Ability to recognize our own limitations (there’s no right or wrong; will impact clients)→ Tolerance to stress→ True empathy→ Good listener→ Clinician or technician

Re-emphasis; Understanding what you want

Psychology Observation Programme (POP)→ Intake once a year (May)→ http://www.med.nus.edu.sg/pcm/Psychology_Observation_Program.htm

→ For graduate students with degree in Psychology: GRP Programme→ For graduate students with Bachelors Degree in Psychology: Reach Programme (working with schools, full-time school counselors and tackling at-risk children and youths)

Ethics in clinical psychology→ Implies an understanding of moral principles underlying psychological thought and activity

Question-and-Answer

1) What is the selection criteria for POP?→ Based on resume and written essay

2) What’s the intake for each round?→ Capped at five (depending on availability of senior psychologists as supervisors)

3) How do you deal with unchanging patients?→ Patients usually have personality disorders→ Therapy may be hindered by therapist’s own personal issues

→ Supervision to help overcome such problems

4) Who are the clients that you typically see?→ Adolescents and adults→ Educational psychologists: doing assessments for children with learning disabilities (At the paediatric wards)

Disclaimer: The above notes were taken down to the best of our abilities during the course of the talk. NUSPsyche is providing this for the benefit of students who were interested in the talk but unable to attend due to various reasons. We shall not be responsible for any changes in the information or uncovered topics during the talk.