Talk:National Council of Schools and Programs of Professional Psychology

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This is a non-profit educational organization that has had an historically significant impact on training in professional psychology, much as the American Psychological Association has. It has existed for more than 30 years, and has been influential in enhancing clinical training, as well as making doctoral training accessible to a broader student population by advocating for diversity and more flexible educational paradigms. For instance, it has advocated for part time clinical psychology doctoral programs and internships so that students who have to support themselves and/or have families (and cannot attend school full time) can still work towards a doctorate. As you can see from the reference list (which is just a start - there are many other publications as well), NCSPP has contributed to the literature and public policy regarding the training in and practice of psychology. For these reasons, I thought it deserved a page.

Wuhwusdat also deleted a page that mere defined professional psychology, a term I am often asked to define (I'm a professor). I thought that would be a useful term to define and it doesn't sell anything. If you want to delete the reference to NCSPP in the definition of professional psychology, ok, but it needs definition.

In both cases, these pages are basic and I expect others will want to tweak them, including adding references...and adding the "s" on schools!

I'm not knowledgeable on the subject, but the article as it stands is still not convincing me of this organization's notability, in particular why it deserves to be in an encyclopedia. The sources cited don't seem to be about the organization itself. Although it may not meet the criteria for a G11 speedy delete, it still is rather more like a brochure than an encyclopedic article. You mention it has "had an historically significant impact on training in professional psychology", I would suggest going into more detail on how it has done that and citing reliable sources that back up that claim. -- œ ^™ 00:00, 30 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Also the fact that your username LynnHCollins (talk · contribs) can be found at the bottom of the http://www.ncspp.com website gives me concern about conflict of interest as well. -- œ ^™ 00:04, 30 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I am conscious of conflict of interest issues, but in reality anyone interested enough in any topic probably has a personal perspective on it. That's the irony about having a "hypothesis" when starting any research...you start with a bias.

You say you aren't familiar with the field, so here's a little history...Back in the 1950s - 1970s psychologists used to be trained to do research (in Psychology Ph.D. programs), but go into private practice after receiving their degrees, with little if any actual experience with patients! NCSPP's early members were key figures in the development of a new model of training (Doctor of Psychology; Psy.D.) that incorporated more training and supervised experiences treating patients in addition to the research training. They created the concept of the "local clinical scientist" who would apply research methods customized to work in community and private practice. There are pros and cons to the pedagogical paradigms that emerged, complicated by a range of business models (fyi, I actually graduated from an old style Ph.D. program). Currently, the main goal in psychology doctoral programs is to optimize the match between the type of training and the career goals of the students entering the program. My thinking is that I'd start by describing the organization. There are others who like to write about it's history (they were there, and have published peer reviewed pieces on it) and it's influence on the field. If that doesn't happen, I can write and reference that information. The books listed are by leaders in the field and organization. They were published by the American Psychological Association, which is the main association of the field, and a selective publisher. The books are scholarly publications that discuss theory and research on training and practice issues. NCSPP is represented on key APA inter-organizational committees. It remains an important influence in the field. — Preceding unsigned comment added by LynnHCollins (talk • contribs) 03:10, 30 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]