Lack of respect in Psychology?

[Diirez]

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Does anyone else feel a lack of respect for psychologists?

I have been just seeing a lot of lack of respect or validation for psychologist lately. Mostly from a book I have been reading which is about someone who had psychological symptoms but due to a physical cause. However, I have seen people responding, and even sometimes the author, making it seem like psychologists are fairly incompetent in health care because mental illness is physical and therefore only psychiatrists can do a good job diagnosing and treating. I have also seen many instances of things like this in other books I've read, mostly when I was doing pre-med and read a lot of psychiatry books.

In University I have seen much of this. Granted, my University really likes the fluffy side of psychology, but many of professors I have had and other colleagues at University seem to really dislike psychology. I have gotten, "Who here feels really strong in chemistry?" and then when I do not raise my hand I have gotten back, "Oh you're psychology? No wonder you aren't good in chemistry."

Or my favorite, "Psychology is a good break from real science."

I even know people who think Psychology is similar to reiki and others who think Psychology should not even be considered in health care.

Many people seem to think a Psychologists job is to just do supportive therapy or Freud and Psychiatrists are the only competent mental health providers.

Anyone else feel this way or is this just some selective things that are bothering me?

 

[smalltownpsych]

IMO and IME it has always been out there. I don't know if it has gotten any worse. Public perception of what we do ranges from caricatures of mind-reading to caricatures of soft-headed touchy-feely foolish types. I have found that my abilities as a psychologist meet with much respect from patients, employers, schools, jails, law enforcement, attorneys, judges, and medical professionals. Don't really care that much about how some dimwit chem professor tries to assuage his own feelings of inferiority by attacking my profession and scientific area of study.

 

[deleted343839]

Does anyone else feel a lack of respect for psychologists?

Not really. My medical and health care colleagues seem to respect my knowledge and skills.

Don't think the problem will be solved by going over to the psychiatry side - you could just as easily find yourself accused of being a pill pusher, greedy, etc.

 

[CheetahGirl]

...psychologists are fairly incompetent in health care because mental illness is physical and therefore only psychiatrists can do a good job diagnosing and treating.

Of course, I would completely disagree that we are "fairly incompetent," and for someone to say so, indicates they do not have knowledge of the depth and breadth of our profession.

What we do is diagnostic assessment, conceptualization, and treatment. Mental illness is certainly grounded in organic biocorrelates, neurobiology, and biosocial adjustment (think trauma reactions or conditions such as schizophrenia) but medication is not always the first or best course of treatment. I personally work closely with psychiatrists and behavioral neuroscientists to better understand the mechanisms of disorders. But, at the end of the day, my focus is the treatment interventions, how best to approach certain populations from my perspective, and actually working with those patients (by service delivery).

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Not really. My medical and health care colleagues seem to respect my knowledge and skills.

Same...though it took some education and modeling of what we do (and don't) provide, with a focus on utilizing empirically validated interventions and assessment measures. If you put out enough fires on a unit and are willing to be more hands on and teach support staff, you will be a respected and valued contributor.

 

[singasongofjoy]

I've never perceived any lack of respect in the medical settings that I have worked in- maybe I've been extra lucky that way. As @Therapist4Chnge said some education may need to occur as to what exactly the psychologist's role is- what they can and cannot do - but I have been fortunate to work in several settings where psychiatrists and psychologists work well and often with one another, and other hospital staff recognize psychology as helpful and consult with regularity. I care more about what the people I am working with, under, and for think about my skills and knowledge than some random person in another field. If they care to be educated about what psychology actually is, then I have no problem explaining in a non-judgmental way what we do and where some of their preconceived notions might come from; otherwise, I just ignore.

 

[deleted760483]

I work at a hospital and many of my referrals come from psychiatrists, family practice doctors, surgeons, etc. I have a great deal of contact with these people both pre and post contact with patients and have never once felt disrespected by any of them. If you have such experiences repeatedly I would say it is an attribute of that specific workplace rather than how our profession is seen as a whole.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Some of this depends on what prior psychologists have done, but with some effort you can (attempt) to change the roles/expectations.

On one unit I was initially only consulted for capacity evals and behavior plans bc that is what the prior neuropsychologist offered. It took some time working with the team and offering in-services to get everyone on the same page. I wasn't initially invited to Family Meetings unless there was testing, though now I'm a central piece at most of them (save for discharge planning/picking a SNF, etc). I admittedly don't do too much supportive counseling, as we have an excellent SW'er who does a great job in this area, but that is a common area for consultation too.

Psychologists are uniquely positioned to do some solid outcome research and program development/evaluation too, though we need to speak up. We also can provide research mentorship to the medical staff and/or work with administrators on how to deal with staff problems. These are all areas where we can stand out, but rarely are we offered these opportunities unless your predecessor did them.

As for issues with outside specialities....it can happen. Again, education and being visible can both help. I've made a point to try and collaborate with psychiatrists who want to work with my unit, and it can be a positive experience in most cases. They are great for pt's w delirium and I get curbside consulted about capacity and cog questions.

Our neurosurgeons won't cut on someone w/o an eval from us, as they want to avoid problem cases bc they are often linked for life.

It's not all puppy dogs and rainbows, but having equal rights as faculty and access to the various committees helps us. While some clinicisns aren't wild about research, it is a place where we can still play a major roll.

 

[PsyDr]

In my work, I am honored to be treated as an equal by most.

But there's a few reason for that:

1) my professional writing is based upon medical dictation. I spent a significant amount of time learning the correct terms in medicine.

2) I stay well within my professional boundaries and defer to my physician colleagues as expected. I have no qualms about admitting something is outside my purview by merit of education, license, or experience.

3) I readily ask to learn from my physician colleagues and spend a great deal of free time filling in the gaps.

4) my professional opinions are only based upon empirical research. And I can quote the names. Tends to win some respect.

5) I don't put up with intellectually lazy Ideas, or statements. There's a lot of people who offer animal therapy, moonbeam therapy, etc. They damage the profession, and I approach them as someone who is hurting my livelihood and innocent patients who are really suffering. If you think that combing horses helps with depression, I sure as hell hope you can quote me some empirical research including effect size, and a proposed method of action that excludes confounding variables like exposure to sunshine and behvarioal activation.

6) I dress like my physician peers.

7) when I get a blanket negative statement about psychology, when I have done nothing to deserve it, I will tend to say something. In the case of your chem professor, I would make a statement like, "I know that in chemistry you have to have proof to make statements. Can you show me where in the literature it's found that psychology and chemistry share a negative correlation? Or am I wrong about how science works?" . Of course, I am established so I don't have to put up with that. You probably do at this point.

 

[Diirez]

It seems it is just situational for me. And I'm a little too thin skinned on this.

In might have to do with how my University treats psychology. The General Psychology course the professor purposely skips over any of the brain and biological chapters because he does not feel it is useful to psychology to learn about how the brain works. The abnormal psychology professor teaches that biological therapies do not work but that the Rorschach ink blot test is a useful measure for diagnosis of individuals.

 

[WisNeuro]

In might have to do with how my University treats psychology. The General Psychology course the professor purposely skips over any of the brain and biological chapters because he does not feel it is useful to psychology to learn about how the brain works. The abnormal psychology professor teaches that biological therapies do not work but that the Rorschach ink blot test is a useful measure for diagnosis of individuals.

Definitely situational. Unfortunately, you seem to be at a university with incompetent, willfully ignorant professors. The Rorschach is more useful in wasting an inordinate amount of time than it is at diagnosing most things. Seek out some additional reading and hopefully look afar for graduate level training as this place will likely hinder your development.

 

[singasongofjoy]

It seems it is just situational for me. And I'm a little too thin skinned on this.

In might have to do with how my University treats psychology. The General Psychology course the professor purposely skips over any of the brain and biological chapters because he does not feel it is useful to psychology to learn about how the brain works. The abnormal psychology professor teaches that biological therapies do not work but that the Rorschach ink blot test is a useful measure for diagnosis of individuals.

Oh dear. That's really unfortunate for you. Know that your experience is not typical. Find classes with different profs if possible, and def look elsewhere if you plan to go on to grad school.

 

[Ollie123]

What Psydr said. Also, if you bring in a couple million dollars in grant funding...people tend to change their tune quickly.

As you indicated, a lot is also context dependent. From what you are describing, it sounds like the issue might be people don't respect the psychologists at your university. That may be true. If what you indicate is true, they likely are not deserving of respect and I wouldn't give them much either.

 

[Occlumentia]

Funny...if you look at "Similar Threads" below you will see "Lack of respect in family medicine" and "Lack of respect for psychiatry"...

I think in general there is a hierarchy with what is seen as more tangible, physical, having higher degree of positivism at the top, which is reflected in the healthcare provided "pecking order". Often e.g. surgeons are glorified, whereas "fluffier" medical specialties, and also non-medical healthcare professionals, are not as highly respected. And overall I'd say that medical doctors tend to have more power and status, e.g. more often tend to be in leadership positions.

Personally I haven't experienced many instances of professional disrespect from other health professionals, researchers or peers, but there's a fair bit of misinformation about psychology present in the general population (although often people who don't understand psychology are just as likely to disrespect psychiatry as well).

 

[bmedclinic]

To me, the lack of respect seems directly related to the number of uninformed people we're around. Of course, there's a much higher percent of people like that the lower you go in education (e.g. undergrad vs being a grad student) and the farther you go away from healthcare. My current perspective while working as a psychologist is that nearly everyone either respects what I do or is at the very least smart enough to not look terrible in front of their peers by saying rude things about our profession.