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InPsych 2019 | Vol 41

February | Issue 1

InPsych 2019 | Vol 41

Education and research : Research snapshot

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Living with tinnitus

Distress linked to tinnitus can be intensified by unhelpful healthcare consultations that emphasise ‘no cure’ rather than advice for reducing distress.

While tinnitus is a common experience and usually mild, for some people it can cause considerable distress. In a qualitative study, nine individuals with tinnitus were interviewed after receiving mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. This paper reports on their experiences living with tinnitus prior to that psychological intervention. Tinnitus can have a life-changing affect on thoughts, emotions, attention and behaviour. The experience of distress from tinnitus was heightened by unhelpful communications with health professionals and reduced by helpful consultations. With no medical cure available, tinnitus sufferers are often told “you just have to live with it”. None of the participants were given advice regarding help for tinnitus distress and none were informed that distress and intrusiveness decreases over time. Helpful consultations involved the clinician showing empathy for the patient’s experience of tinnitus, clear explanations, realistic advice and appropriate referral. The researchers suggest the need for early intervention that provides clear, helpful and realistic information about tinnitus, associated distress and its treatment.

doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12351

Media exposure to terrorism

Exposure to pictures of terrorist acts increases negative emotion, especially for those more sensitive to environmental influences and higher in stress reactivity.

Terrorist attacks increase distress and fear in the general population. A British study examined the effect of media exposure to terrorism on people’s perceptions of risk of further terrorist attacks. The researchers explored whether risk perceptions were influenced by environmental sensitivity and response to stress. University students (n=95) were randomly assigned to experimental conditions of viewing terrorist-related pictures or neutral pictures. Stress was induced in participants through a stress test and they completed questionnaires and had their heart rates recorded. Viewing of the terrorism-related pictures was associated with higher levels of negative emotion and lower levels of positive emotion. Individuals high in environmental sensitivity and stress reactivity were found to be particularly affected by terrorism-related pictures. In addition, individuals high in sensitivity who viewed terrorist-related pictures compared to neutral pictures were more willing to trade off their privacy in order to increase national security. These results suggest the need to raise awareness of how media coverage of terrorism can affect people’s mental health and behaviour.

doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12292

Psychology trainee competencies

The use of competencies to train and assess psychologists has a long history but needs further consultation to reach consensus on its use.

Increasing emphasis is being placed in the education, training and supervision of psychologists on developing and measuring competencies. This paper is a review of the origins of the competencies movement. The emphasis on competencies began with the World War II American aviation industry and vocational training sector. The approach is considered useful for developing and assessing the basic building blocks of clinical skills. The authors argue that it requires careful consideration when used for advanced competencies and needs to emphasise applications to real-world professional activities. They state that more stakeholder consultation is required to achieve consensus about a definition of competence and the necessary sub-competencies. Agreement is needed about the milestones at which competencies should be acquired. The acquisition of competences needs to be assessed with ecologically and psychometrically valid assessment tools. According to the authors, during the later stages of training it is especially important that competences are applied to authentic clinical situations.

doi.org/10.1111/cp.12143

Services in rural Canada parallel Australia’s challenges

Psychological service provision in rural and northern Canada is challenging but recommendations are provided to improve access to psychological care.

There is a shortage of psychologists in Canada, especially in rural and northern areas. In this paper, a group of psychologists working in rural and northern areas review the literature and share their experiences. The authors encourage increased overall support and funding for psychological service provision in rural and northern areas, including to assist with recruitment and retention of psychologists. This is particularly needed among Indigenous communities but cultural sensitivity and consultation with Indigenous communities is needed prior to implementing psychological services. The authors also recommend interprofessional collaborative care, with the inclusion of Indigenous traditional healing practices. They encourage increased use of stepped care models, but with further research needed about how to successfully implement them within rural and northern populations. Effective use of telepsychology is also advised. The authors recommend that graduate training opportunities provide experience with telepsychology, cultural diversity training and opportunities to practice in rural and northern locations. The findings also emphasised the importance of psychologists’ involvement in program evaluation at multiple levels of organisations.

doi.org/10.1037/cap0000158

References

Disclaimer: Published in InPsych on February 2019. The APS aims to ensure that information published in InPsych is current and accurate at the time of publication. Changes after publication may affect the accuracy of this information. Readers are responsible for ascertaining the currency and completeness of information they rely on, which is particularly important for government initiatives, legislation or best-practice principles which are open to amendment. The information provided in InPsych does not replace obtaining appropriate professional and/or legal advice.

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