Take heart from our own history

Jill N. Reich

Hardly a day goes by without someone lamenting the rapid pace of change in our world. Nowhere is this change more palpable than in health care. Voices of concern come from the patient being served, the professional providing the care and, increasingly, the policymakers governing the parameters of change. But, what has any of this to do with us, educators in psychology? A lot!

The obvious place to look is among the subfields of the discipline involved directly in health care--clinical, counseling and school psychology. Indeed, the change there is dramatic. Like the growth seen in the overall health-care market, these subfields have experienced extensive growth over the past 50 years. Whereas in the 1940s, the majority of psychologists were academics, today, the majority of us are practitioners. Whereas we once thought of the discipline primarily in terms of teaching and research, today, we think of it very much in terms of its applications--particularly to health care.

How we've changed

This growth is reflected in the pattern of interests of our new, full-time doctoral students who, when viewed over 20-plus years from 1974­96, increased over 100 percent in pursuing clinical psychology, while actually decreasing over the same time period in developmental, experimental and quantitative psychology. Another measure of change: in 1976, 54 percent of new doctorates were awarded in clinical, counseling or school psychology; by 1996, two-thirds were awarded in the same areas. Consider also that the number of new doctorates in psychology has remained quite stable at approximately 4,000 over the past 10 years. Just as the health-care market was growing overall, our discipline was growing in parallel ways--a growth that exacerbates the impact of the changing health-care marketplace and underscores the need to find and contribute to constructive solutions and successful change. For it is our former students who are experiencing these difficulties and our future students who will shy away from the opportunities our discipline can offer.

We must understand and learn from our history. Although one expects marketplaces, once built, are there forever, a review of these past 50 years suggests a different pattern. Most recently in the mid 1970s, psychology as a discipline and a profession faced unsure and agitated times. We faced reductions in federal support and produced more new doctorates than positions for them. Unfortunately, too often we responded to these crises by tearing at the very fibers of our discipline and ourselves. But from these times the discipline built new areas for application, developed new career paths and entered new periods of prosperity. From these successful resolutions the discipline continued to grow at all educational levels--from high school, through post doctoral study. And from these successful vantage points undergraduate students viewed our discipline and flocked to it, continuing its status among the most popular majors in our colleges and universities.

Change has its rewards

What does this brief look at history tell us? That change is a constant, and that change has its rewards. It also tells us that change is not easy; in fact, it is very, very difficult. But, we can and do succeed. There are many among us who well remember this earlier time, its demands and difficulties, and the effort it took from all in the discipline to adjust, to build and to define new areas of knowledge, ways to apply it and access to those markets and careers.

So too, the present period demands the same from us--all of us. As educators we have a responsibility to those who learn from us, to ensure that the knowledge, skills and attitudes we teach are not only learned well, but that those who learn from us have real opportunities to make valid choices, to develop fruitful careers and to build meaningful lives.

The national association and its Education Directorate must work to assist educators in these tasks. Over the years we have done so in many ways: through continuing education's introducing professionals to new areas and ways of working; through accreditation's efforts to stimulate program development as well as to recognize existing standards; through national conferences on the changing workplace; and through task forces to develop new curricula materials and resources to meet it.

We must continue to find new and better ways to assist our educators. And we must foster an approach to our discipline that recognizes the interdependence of all of its many parts--from teaching, to research, to practice. Without the success of each area, we lose the unique strength that makes us psychologists.



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