Leading Class Discussion

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Leading Class Discussion Paper For my class discussion, I chose to talk about the history of Pediatric Psychology. I was curious about the development of Pediatric Psychology, as most of my training has focused on the history of general psychology and school psychology. John E. Anderson was the first person to truly define the possible role of child psychologists around 1930. Over 30 years later, Jerome Kagan, without using the words “pediatric psychologist,” described the specific role that child psychologists could play in the medical setting. He described the colloboration between doctors and psychologists as a marriage, which is still a challenging merger today. The term “pediatric psychologist” was coined by Logan Wright in 1967, …show more content…

Balancing the scientific-practitioner model currently remains a challenge. Based on our class discussion, it appears that students across programs recognize the barriers (e.g., funding) in balancing research and clinical practice. Additionally, the research to practice gap can generate challenges for those attempting to integrate evidence-based practices in areas that are not ready to transition. Mesibov (1983) also spent time discussing Logan Wright’s predictions. He noted that Wright accurately predicted the importance role of pediatric psychologists, particularly regarding short-term interventions. Although psychologists are becoming more integrated into the primary care and integrated care settings, it is still necessary, and will likely remain necessary for a long time, that psychologists advocate for their roles and educate other health professionals about their areas of expertise. Mesibov also noted that Wright underemphasized the additional roles that pediatric psychologists can be utilized. For example, parent training is an area were pediatric psychologists can help in the medical setting. Additionally, educating the community in ways to assist developmentally handicapped clients could generate beneficial …show more content…

His prediction is somewhat accurate with the creation of the Journal of Pediatric Psychology and expansion of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. However, the training of Pediatric Psychologists is variable. Training of pediatric psychologists may occur in clinical, school, or counseling programs. Mesibov also encouraged physicians to utilize psychologists to communicate child-rearing practices of typically developing children. As pediatric psychologists began to integrate into the medical setting, physicians appeared to only seek assistance for crisis interventions. Pediatric psychologists were only utilized less intensive interventions if there was extra time. Although there are some integrated care centers that utilize psychologists in general well visits, it appears that this trend still remains consistent today. The trend of only utilizing psychologists for crisis related concerns somewhat mirrors school personnel’s use of school psychologist. From my experience in the schools, it appeared that teachers and principal were aware of school psychologists’ role with assessment and extreme behavioral issues, but they were not necessarily aware of their role with school-wide interventions, consultation, or classroom

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