Hello people, new member here,
I was thinking lately about the vast differences of professional psychology training and practice between different countries. E.g. training to become a practicing clinical psychologist in the USA requires a doctoral-level degree followed by internship-fellowship whereas in many European countries a psychologist can practice with a Masters degree. In the UK only a PsyD is accepted whereas in other European countries the specialization is achieved by means of a Masters degree coupled with (or followed by) supervised clinical training. Then there is a problem with various sub-specialties such as Clinical Neuropsychology. In some countries such as Australia, Canada (the Montreal program in clinical. Neuropsych.) and a few European countries, Clinical Neuropsychology is a seperate field and not a sub-specialty of Clinical Psychology. It is sad that there is no world-wide legislation or a legal body or something that decides who is able to practice a psychological specialty and who is not!
So, what happens when someone who is trained in Clinical Neuropsychology comes to work to the USA? I am currently doing a three-year MSc in Clinical Neuropsychology offered by the medical school of the University of Athens, Greece (The program has various modules, labs and practica in psychological assessment, neuroanatomy, neurocognition,stats, methods and design, ethics, psychometrics, psychopathology, interventions, cog. rehabilitation etc. and the third year is an internship year comprised by 1900 hours of clinical work.) which can be followed by a 3-4 year PhD in Clinical Neuropsychology. Assuming that one gets the PhD in Clinical Neuropsychology and comes to the US, will he/she be able to practice clinical neuropsych? I read that APA accredits only USA programs/internships/fellowships and not individuals. Furthermore, all (or almost all) internships and fellowships in the USA accept only APA-accredited doctoral courses in Clinical Psychology. Can you get board-certified in ABCN from abroad? If not, can one practice clinical neuropsychology without ABPP-ABCN accreditation? It all looks really confusing for such an exciting and at the same time important field IMO. Sorry for the long post fellas
I was thinking lately about the vast differences of professional psychology training and practice between different countries. E.g. training to become a practicing clinical psychologist in the USA requires a doctoral-level degree followed by internship-fellowship whereas in many European countries a psychologist can practice with a Masters degree. In the UK only a PsyD is accepted whereas in other European countries the specialization is achieved by means of a Masters degree coupled with (or followed by) supervised clinical training. Then there is a problem with various sub-specialties such as Clinical Neuropsychology. In some countries such as Australia, Canada (the Montreal program in clinical. Neuropsych.) and a few European countries, Clinical Neuropsychology is a seperate field and not a sub-specialty of Clinical Psychology. It is sad that there is no world-wide legislation or a legal body or something that decides who is able to practice a psychological specialty and who is not!
So, what happens when someone who is trained in Clinical Neuropsychology comes to work to the USA? I am currently doing a three-year MSc in Clinical Neuropsychology offered by the medical school of the University of Athens, Greece (The program has various modules, labs and practica in psychological assessment, neuroanatomy, neurocognition,stats, methods and design, ethics, psychometrics, psychopathology, interventions, cog. rehabilitation etc. and the third year is an internship year comprised by 1900 hours of clinical work.) which can be followed by a 3-4 year PhD in Clinical Neuropsychology. Assuming that one gets the PhD in Clinical Neuropsychology and comes to the US, will he/she be able to practice clinical neuropsych? I read that APA accredits only USA programs/internships/fellowships and not individuals. Furthermore, all (or almost all) internships and fellowships in the USA accept only APA-accredited doctoral courses in Clinical Psychology. Can you get board-certified in ABCN from abroad? If not, can one practice clinical neuropsychology without ABPP-ABCN accreditation? It all looks really confusing for such an exciting and at the same time important field IMO. Sorry for the long post fellas
