University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Australas Psychiatry. 2021 Aug;29(4):446-449. doi: 10.1177/1039856221992649. Epub 2021 Feb 24.
Clinical psychologists are practitioners with expertise in mental health, who apply advanced psychological theory and knowledge to their practice in order to assess and treat complex psychological disorders. Given their robust specialised mental health training, clinical psychology is an integral component of the Australian mental health workforce, but is under-utilised. Recent reviews have identified significant problems with Australia's mental health system, including unequal access to clinical psychology services and fragmentation of service delivery, including convoluted pathways to care.
Clinical psychology is well placed to contribute meaningfully to public mental health services (PMHS). We describe what clinical psychologists currently contribute to team-based care in PMHS, how we could further contribute and the barriers to making more extensive contributions. We identify significant historical and organisational factors that have limited the contribution made by clinical psychologists and provide suggestions for cultural change to PMHS.
临床心理学家是具有心理健康专业知识的从业者，他们将先进的心理学理论和知识应用于实践，以评估和治疗复杂的心理障碍。鉴于他们扎实的专业精神健康培训，临床心理学是澳大利亚精神卫生工作队伍的一个组成部分，但未得到充分利用。最近的评论指出，澳大利亚精神卫生系统存在重大问题，包括获得临床心理学服务的机会不平等以及服务提供的碎片化，包括护理途径复杂。
临床心理学在公共精神卫生服务（PMHS）中可以做出有意义的贡献。我们描述了临床心理学家目前在 PMHS 中的团队护理中所做的贡献、我们如何进一步做出贡献以及扩大贡献的障碍。我们确定了限制临床心理学家做出贡献的重大历史和组织因素，并为 PMHS 提供了文化变革的建议。
