Professional Education in Psychology : Its Essential Characteristics

Professional education has a central role in preparing professionals to capably serve the community. In the field of psychology education, graduate professional psychology programs are clearly important given the potentially significant influence psychologists have on their patients and communities in general. Graduate professional program, including those in the psychological field, have distinct characteristics that differentiate them from academic-research program. This paper explores literature identifying and elaborating on such characteristics and analyses them in the context of professional psychologist education. The information provided here, along with the fact that psychology is now undergoing rapid global expansion, highlights the importance of conducting further research on the characteristics of professional psychology programs in cultures other than those of Western countries where psychology was originally developed.