Your Practicum in Psychology: A Guide for Maximizing Knowledge and Competence

by Janet R. Matthews PhD, ABPP (Editor), C. Eugene Walker PhD (Editor)

Overview

A comprehensive and practical resource for graduate students about to embark on their first practicum experience.

A psychology student’s practicum placement experience has the potential to be the most exciting time in their graduate training. This comprehensive resource is a vital guide for all students beginning their field placement, and for those curious about how the system works. In conversational and accessible language, the authors equip students with the knowledge they need to anticipate, prevent, and resolve common difficulties that may arise during practicum placement. Readers will find helpful background information on finding one’s feet, developing rapport with clients, confidentiality and ethics, symptoms of psychopathology, assessment, psychopharmacology, and working with children or older adults. This second edition includes new and updated chapters that will appeal to all graduate students and advanced undergraduates.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781433820007
Publisher:	American Psychological Association
Publication date:	05/18/2015
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Janet R. Matthews, PhD, ABPP, is a licensed and board-certified psychologist and Professor Emerita at Loyola University New Orleans, where she has been teaching an undergraduate practicum course for 30 years. Prior to coming to Loyola, she was a tenured associate professor at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, where she also taught the practicum course. Currently, Dr. Matthews is an associate editor of Professional Psychology: Research & Practice. She has published more than 50 professional articles and more than 25 book chapters and books on professional issues.

C. (Clarence) Eugene Walker, PhD, taught at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California, from 1964 to 1968, where he was an assistant professor and chair of the Division of Psychology, Education, and Physical Education as well as athletic director. From 1968 to 1974 he was an assistant professor, then an associate professor at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. From 1974 to 1995 he was at the University of Oklahoma Medical School in Oklahoma City, where he became director of training in pediatric psychology and cochief of mental health services for Children's Hospital of Oklahoma. On retirement, Dr. Walker was named Professor Emeritus at the medical school and began teaching on the Arts and Sciences campus of the University of Oklahoma in Norman. Dr. Walker has published more than 100 articles, reviews, and chapters and more than 20 books on research and clinical practice with children and adults.

Table of Contents

Contributors ix

Preface xi

Chapter 1 What You Get From a Practicum Janet R. Matthews C. Eugene Walker 3

Chapter 2 Characteristics of a Helping Relationship B. Max Price 21

Chapter 3 Developing Rapport Janet R. Matthews Lee H. Matthews 39

Chapter 4 Confidentiality and Other Ethical Issues Elizabeth Swenson 57

Chapter 5 Psychopathology and Use of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Amanda S. Cherry Noel J. Jacobs Timothy S. Thornberry Jr. Stephen R. Gillaspy 75

Chapter 6 Psychological Assessment Lee H. Matthews 107

Chapter 7 Interventions: Evidence-Based Treatments Peter E. Nathan Morgan T. Sammons 129

Chapter 8 The Use of Medicine in the Treatment of Mental Disorders Bruce K. McCormick 155

Chapter 9 Special Issues in Working With Children Jean C. Elbert 177

Chapter 10 Special Issues in Working With Older Persons Sara H. Qualls Daniel L. Segal Kimberly E. Hiroto 203

Chapter 11 Mental Health Professions Janet R. Matthews C. Eugene Walker 225

Index 241

About the Editors 255

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Susan Richardson, MA, PsyD (Private Practice)
Description: Your Practicum in Psychology: A Guide for Maximizing Knowledge and Competence "is written to prepare undergraduate psychology and social work students for what is typically their first supervised training in the field of psychology."
Purpose: The text is written to help students select a practicum and how to maximize their training and education at the site once they begin.
Audience: The book is specifically written for undergraduate psychology or social work students preparing for practicum.
Features: The text covers selection of practicum sites, the populations typically served and the work that is usually done by undergraduate students during training. There is also some attention given to preparing students for working in a medical setting, e.g., psychotropic basics and an index to medical terminology and shorthand.
Assessment: This book nicely covers the work of selecting and succeeding at a practicum site, particularly a medical one. It is written in a very approachable manner that is sure to be soothing to the anxious student just beginning their work in a helping profession. My only reservation is the busy student who is already reading 200+ pages per week for university work may not have time or energy to utilize what is offered in the text and may rely on advice given by teachers and older students.

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