| Psychology Residency Program |
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Summary of the Training Model: The Empirical Clinician
The MCG-Charlie Norwood VAMC Residency supports the foundational value of the scientist-practitioner model of training for the professional psychologist. Scientific methods can both inform us of the human experience and guide in the development and implementation of therapeutic responses to life problems. Therefore, training in scientific methods should be a core endeavor for the development of the professional psychologist. For the information achieved through scientific methods to be effectively integrated into clinical practice, however, systematic methods of observation and inquiry along with critical reasoning must be employed from an idiographic perspective. Furthermore, the practice of professional psychology entails an intense interpersonal experience that requires essential skills of communication and social interchange that enable the Clinician to successfully engage another in diagnostic and therapeutic processes.
Our model of training emphasizes two primary facets of training the development of professional psychologists: (1) Training in an empirical approach to practice - critical thinking processes and the application of empirically validated treatments, and (2) Training in the attitude of reflection – capability for dynamic reflection entails a system of practice that incorporates routinized habits that encourage the Clinician to “stop and think” and also requires developing capabilities to reflect while in action.
For a detailed description of our training model, please read The MCG/Charlie Norwood VAMC Training Model: The Empirical Clinician.
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