A
longer than typical message this week, for a variety of reasons.
First,
a thank you to all those responsible for our extremely successful annual
conference in Birmingham last week. - thanks to much hard work by Dr Jen Unwin,
Reshma Oza from the BPS offices, and the conference committee. For the first
time we opened the conference with a free public lecture on the topic of sleep,
by Prof Colin Espie of the University of Glasgow. This attracted not only
psychologists but a good number of A-level students and members of the public,
thanks to the extensive publicity organised by press officer Jonathan Calder.
The theme of sleep was developed further the next day, with a very enlightening
overview by Prof Allison Harvey from the University of California. Clearly the
idea of an opening, public lecture on a topic that crosses specialties and
appeals to the general public is one we should pursue.
Other
keynote speeches were given by Prof Max Birchwood on early intervention with
young people, Prof Barbara Wilson's overview of neuropsychological
rehabilitation, Dr Carol Goodheart, President of the APA, on new designs for
psychology practice, and Prof Chris Eccleston on chronic pain. Highlights from
the conference were broadcast by Twitter throughout the day via @DCPInfo. The
conference concluded, late on the Friday afternoon, with an overview of the new
commissioning landscape, featuring Prof Steve Field (the former president of
the Royal College of GPs brought in by David Cameron to lead the ‘pause’ or
‘listening exercise’ during the passage of the Health and Social Care Bill (whose
discussion of the potentially controversial issue of choice in healthcare
included the quote that... "you could choose to take antidepressants that
poison your brain, or you could choose to see someone who will actually help
you - a clinical psychologist"). Copies of presentations and other materials
used during the conference will, I am told, be available soon on the DCP conference website.
On
another subject, some of you will know that there is growing disquiet about the
forthcoming edition of DSM 5, due in 2012, for reasons including the expansion
of diagnostic categories (e.g. 'Attenuated psychosis syndrome'); the proposal
for dubious new diagnoses (e.g. 'Apathy syndrome'; 'Parental Alienation Disorder');
and the increased emphasis on biological theory along with reduced
acknowledgement of sociocultural contexts and causal factors. The BPS, along
with other organisations, was consulted on the proposed revisions and the
response expressed serious reservations about these developments. This inspired
one of the divisions of the American Psychological Association, the Society for
Humanistic Psychology, to write an open letter to the DSM committee summarising
their concerns and requesting a scientific review of the document and its
revisions. The Society for Humanistic Psychology has set up a coalition of
organisations who endorse this request, and about 40 have now signed up,
including our American counterparts APA Division 12 (the Division of Clinical
Psychology). In addition, nearly 8,000 individuals have also signed the
petition.
The
BPS is currently discussing how we should work with the American Psychological
Association (as both the BPS and APA are, in effect, the 'federal' authorities
for semi-autonomous divisions') to respond authoritatively and collectively to
the invitation to join the coalition. In the meantime, DCP members can sign up
as individuals if they wish. Please note that this would not imply a particular
position about the use of psychiatric diagnosis in general; it is simply a way
of registering specific concerns about developments that are not strongly
evidence-based and that have potentially damaging implications for vulnerable
individuals and groups. See the open letter and the petition.
On
a similar vein, please note that the Good Practice Guidelines on Psychological
Formulation (lead author Lucy Johnstone; co-authors Stuart Whomsley, Samantha
Cole and Nick Oliver) have now been launched and are available as a free
download to DCP members from the BPS
shop. We hope they will be an important and useful resource in ensuring
best practice in one of the profession's core skills.
Finally...
I have decided to step down as DCP Chair and take up the role of 'past chair'
with immediate effect - two years early. I'm sorry about that, I know
it's not what you voted for. But I think that it was necessary for me to make
that decision. The role of DCP Chair is 'officially' two and a half days a
week. I had arrogantly assumed that this was a notional commitment, and that I
would be able to combine the role with my normal salaried job. But I was
finding that commitment increasingly difficult, and I am afraid that the DCP
duties - most particularly the communication of strategic decisions amongst the
people who needed to know and act - were suffering. As we look forward to the
new commissioning arrangements, and in particular the urgent and significant
need to engage with local commissioning groups and health and well-being
boards, that coordinating role is going to be increasingly important. While I
do (perhaps still arrogantly) feel I can articulate a vision and purpose for
clinical psychology in the modern world, I feel that a) I can continue to
articulate that vision and b) we need more than envisioning; we need
coordinated action on the ground to make that vision a reality. In trying to
keep up with two full-time jobs, I fear that my well-being was suffering. I
actually do believe what I promote - I think a man whose well-being is at
threat is less efficient in his role, and it is wrong, even foolish, to
continue. I was not - I'm sorry - prepared to put my academic career further at
threat, and I believe the decision I have taken is the right one, for now.
The
DCP has asked Jenny Taylor to act as acting Chair until we advertise for a
replacement (which I hope will happen swiftly), and I will now take on the role
of 'past chair'. As I say, I hope I will be permitted still to articulate a
vision and purpose for clinical psychology in the modern world, and that might
involve remaining in contact with DCP members... but in a slightly different
capacity!
Peter
