CPD, Self-care and Burnout Flashcards
Who registers psychologists?
The Psychology Board of Australia (governed by AHPRA)
Who is the professional peak body for Australian psychologists?
Australian Psychology Society
APS
They have created the code of ethics which has coincidentally been adopted by the Pyschology Board of Australia
and APS has a service for logging registration CPD that helps for registration (done through PBA)
What are the requirements for CPD each year?
30 hours continuing professional development per year
10 must include peer consultation (supervision and consultation in individual or group format for the purposes of professional development and support in the practice of psych)
- providing peer consultation counts as CPD but not as the 10 hours of your own peer consultation
What is the purpose of peer consultation
- critically reflective focus on the psychologists own practice
- goals of the overall CPD plan
- done with a peer or senior psych
- person to person
- document this in a log book
What are some types of CPD?
- conducting / attending workshops, seminars, lectures or courses of study
- writing, assessing, reading and analysing peer reviewed journal articles, scholarly books, research proposals and grants
- producing, reviewing and analysing professional videos, audios, internet resources, scientific posters
- providing peer consultation to another psych
What is active CPD and is it mandatory?
No mandatory, but recommended to have 10 hours.
Active training through written and oral activities than enhance / test learning.
- seminars with a written test
- role playing
- providing peer consultation to others
- oral presentations
In the context of CPD, what is the ‘approved area of practice’
To maintain endorsement in an approved area of practice (i.e. specialization as a neuropsychologists, etc) you must do 15 hours of your CPD within that area of practice.
You must have an up-to date CPD portfolio that contains:
- A learning plan (desired outcomes)
- How the CPD relates to psychologist’s professional development
- All CPD activities undertaken (proof, receipts, invoices, certificates)
How to renew registration / endorsement?
- psych must declare they have completed the minimum requirements of the CPD standard in the previous 12 month registration period (30 hours CPD, 10 inclusive hours of peer consultation)
What are punishments of non-compliance
- refusal of registration
- registration contingent on the completion of specified CPD activities
- must undergo performance assessment
- must undergo an examination
- disciplinary proceedings instigated
What is the point of ongoing professional development?
- important for self-efficacy, professional competence, feeling equipped to do your job
- linked with job engagement and wellbeing
- failure to do so is linked with burnout, lower professional standards and unhappiness with one’s profession
Poor self-care can affect:
- motivation, energy, resilience
- wisdom, judgement, regard for others
- self-awareness
- capacity to think clearly and solve problems
- capacity to deal effectively with our feelings
Burnout is especially prevalent in:
caring professions –> particularly psychologists and counsellors
What are the 3 dimensions of burnout?
Maslach and colleagues found 3 dimensions of burnout:
Exhaustions: stress, distress, anxiety, worry –> impacting cognitive capacity and causes withdrawal
Cynicism: increasing callousness / cynicism, depersonalization of the client, self-protective mechanism (emotional / cognitive, distancing)
Ineffectiveness
- feeling ineffective
- being ineffective
Australian researcher Tavella found 5 factors, measuring burn out in 6 facets:
Maslach’s dimensions:
- exhaustion
- loss of empathy
- impaired work performance
AND
cognitive impairment
withdrawal and insularity
unsettled mood
Symptoms of burnout:
- most people have some of these symptoms at times without having burnout
- having several symptoms doesn’t automatically mean burnout - but may indicate you are headed in that direction
What situational factors influence burnout?
Type of occupation
Working conditions: overload, insufficient resources, nature of employer
Outline how mismatch theory contributes to burnout
Mismatch theory = burnout is far more likely when there is a mismatch between the employees needs / capacity and working conditions in 6 areas:
- workload
- control
- rewards
- community
- fairness
- values
Outline mismatch theory - going through each area
Workload: the amount, type (does it match your skills / interests)
Control: resources, decisions –> are your responsibilities possible given your resources
Rewards: financial, social, intrinsic
Community: cooperative, respectful, enjyable vs isolating, conflict prone?
Fairness: inequities, how management handles cheats
Values: have you been asked to be unethical?W
Outline factors within the person that impact burnout
These influence burnout less so than situational factors
Demographics
- age: younger are more at risk (<30)
- marital status: unmarried greater burnout (especially single men)
- education: higher education correlated to greater burnout
Personality: likelihood of burnout is greater for those who have:
- low hardiness
- external locus of control
- poor coping styles
- low self-esteem
- stress prone individual
- high in trait anxiety, hostility, depression, self-consciousness, vulnerability
- prone to emotional instability and psychological distress
- type A personality type
- feeling rather than thinking types
Attitudes:
- those with higher expectations are possible more at risk of burnout
How to combat burnout
Change the organisation:
- promote job engagement
- prevention is key
Change individual (not as helpful as it only changes individual facets)
- self-care strategies
How to prevent burnout by increasing job engagement
Make each job important, meaningful, challenging.
Job engagement is characterised by energy, effort, persistence, feelings of effectiveness, pride, involvement, enthusiasm, resilience, immersion.
How can organisations actively promote well-being for staff?
Reduce conditions where mismatches between employee and job are likely in the 6 areas:
- workload
- reward
- values
- control
- community
- fairness
What are some personal strategies for burnout
Generally related to the ‘exhaustion’ component of burnout and are best put in place prior to burnout.
- stress inoculation training
- interpersonal and social skills training
- relaxation training
- time management training
- meditation
These can help change an individual’s ability to prevent / cope with exhaustion component of burnout, but not those related to cynicism or feelings of ineffectiveness
