A lot of people ask what is the difference between a psychologist and a clinical psychologist. Believe it or not, this is not a straightforward answer, especially given the unwarranted higher status that clinical psychologists have been afforded by some people. Most psychologists have have completed rigorous educational requirements comprised of an undergraduate degree, then an honours year or post graduate diploma and then either a Masters degree or Doctorate.
What is one major difference between clinical psychologists and clinical psychologists?
Some psychologists have not completed their Masters or Doctorate, but instead have gained registration via two types of supervised practice following their fourth year of study. These latter pathways are somewhat confusing even to me, but they exist. Either way, once you have competed any of these pathways, you obtain generalist registration. This is regardless of whether you have completed a Masters or Doctorate in one of the major streams of psychology (Counselling, Clinical, Child and Adolescent, Forensic or Organisational).
Once you are registered as a psychologist, you then become eligible to obtain specialist endorsement in one of the abovementioned specialist fields. Endorsement involves a further period of supervision from an existing psychologist in that field. Once you have endorsement, you are able to call yourself either a clinical, counselling, organisational, forensic or child and adolescent psychologist. A generalist psychologist is simply someone who has not done the extra period of supervision to obtain endorsement. However, rest assured that all psychologists, whether endorsed or generalist have the same ongoing supervision requirements. Yes, psychologists must see their own psychologist to keep up their skills. A clinical psychologist is simply someone who has further endorsement in their chosen field of clinical psychology. In private practice, all psychologists should be able to provide the same level of service when it comes to assessment, diagnosis and treatment. We all choose from the same set of tools and competence is usually a matter of experience rather than what we call ourselves.