Competence in professional psychology practice in Ghana: Qualitative insights from practicing clinical health psychologists

Issues concerning competence of practicing psychologists have not been critically investigated in Ghana. This study used the three-dimensional cube model of core competencies as a framework to explore competencies of professional psychologists in active clinical health practice in Ghana. Sixteen cli...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of health psychology Vol. 26; no. 7; pp. 1012 - 1025
Main Authors:	de-Graft Aikins, Ama, Osei-Tutu, Annabella, Agyei, Francis, Asante, Paapa Yaw, Aboyinga, Hannah, Adjei, Alexandra, Ahulu, Linda Dede, Botchway, Irene, Britwum, Marian, Agyei Wiafe, Samuel, Edu-Ansah, Kofi, Nkrumah, Rita, Ohenewaa, Esther, Vogelsang, Joycelyn Kalitsi, Ketor, Robert
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	London, England SAGE Publications 01-06-2021 SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects:	Clinical medicine Clinical psychologists Cultural competence Cultural Competency Ghana Health psychologists Humans Practice, Psychological Professional Competence Professional development Professional practice Psychologists Psychology Reflective practice Teaching Ghana clinical health psychology competence Ghana professional psychology critical psychology
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	Issues concerning competence of practicing psychologists have not been critically investigated in Ghana. This study used the three-dimensional cube model of core competencies as a framework to explore competencies of professional psychologists in active clinical health practice in Ghana. Sixteen clinical psychologists with 1 to 20 years of practicing experience were interviewed on adequacy of their graduate training for practice as well as maintaining post-training competence. The results suggested that training equipped the practitioners mainly for research and teaching but less so for clinical practice. Reflective practice was underdeveloped leading to critical challenges in emotional and cultural competencies. Structural support for continuous professional development was limited. Implications for professional psychology training, research and practice are discussed. This study is the first to explore competence issues in professional psychology practice in Ghana, and it contributes to the global discourse on continuous competence in psychology.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	1359-1053 1461-7277
DOI:	10.1177/1359105319859060