Let Us Not Forget Mid-Career Professionals

Rory Fleming Richardson, Ph.D., ABMP

I have had the opportunity to study with some of the most renowned psychologists, psychiatrists and physicians in the country since 1970. Over that time, the advent of creative graduate programs, designed for mid-career professional who have the necessary experience to better understand the essence of different psychiatric maladies, has been seen by many of these pioneers as a positive and promising option to the old ivy league graduate program design. The professionals who have been at the cutting edge of their fields have participated in the design and the mentoring of these mid-career professionals in making sure that their graduate and doctoral studies meet or exceed the standards of the prevailing benchmarks, such as those of the American Psychological Association. There has been a recent move by Psychology Boards to add arbitrary residency requirements which preclude the creation of equally demanding preparation programs designed for the mid-career, working practitioner. Whenever programs such as these are designed, it creates a more demanding review of training by Boards who are made up of volunteers. I would encourage and propose that the onus for this review is more appropriately taken on by a committee of professionals who, as part of an organization such as the American Psychological Association, would like to see quality alternatives created. By individualizing the program to compliment and enhance a practitioners existing knowledge and training, we can potentially enhance the overall quality and diversity of our profession. The field of psychology is in the process of making major changes and expansions which has changed the basic requirements for the practicing psychologist. As the demand for experienced clinicians grows, it would be unfortunate to create barriers that would exclude currently practicing Masters level clinicians with years of experience from advancing their training and competence.