Competencies for Community Psychology Practice in Spain: Standards, Quality and Challenges in Social Intervention

Abstract

In this paper, competencies for community psychology practice are examined within the Spanish context, based on the experience of a Master in Psychology of Social and Community Intervention in the University of Seville. The list of competencies was developed specifically for monitoring the practicum of master students, and it was developed in a portfolio format, following the usual pattern in the European accreditation process "EuroPsy," designed by the professional associations of psychology. The portfolio consists of 29 generic professional competencies, grouped in seven blocks: needs specification, evaluation, product development and services, psychological intervention, assessment of psychological interventions, communication, and enabling competencies. At the national level, we analyze the impact that the new system of training and accreditation of psychologists who perform health activities is having on the professional recognition and the role of community psychologists. At the international level, we compare the EuroPsy proposal with the list of 18 competences proposed by Dalton and Wolfe (2012) and approved by the Society for Community Research and Action, APA Division 27. Finally, we discuss the advantages and limitations of a generic model of competency assessment, focused on the professional practice of psychology. EuroPsy is a system of accreditation of professional psychology in Europe, which has been implemented since 2010 with the coordination of the European Federation of Psychologists' Associations (EFPA). The European certificate of psychology aims to improve standards of professional practice, increase transparency and facilitate internal mobility of professional psychologists (Lunt, Peiró, Poortinga & Roe, 2015). EuroPsy is based on a shared competencies model that contributes to greater convergence in the training of psychologists and serves as a guide for the evaluation of professional practice. It is therefore a tool that promotes the search for common standards and a shared definition of the profession of psychology in Europe (Peiró & Lunt, 2002). Currently this recognition system is used in 20 countries, while 36 members of the EFPA approved their implementation and are eligible for the application of the certificate. One of the central elements of the EuroPsy system consists in defining core competencies that professional psychologists should develop. Those competencies include both the actual psychological content of the professional practice as well as the general capabilities that allow providing effectively a professional service of any kind (EuroPsy, 2015). The European certificate distinguishes four professional contexts: namely, clinical and health psychology; work and organizational psychology; educational psychology; and "other" (to be specified), among which may be included psychology of social and community intervention. There are also two types of expertise currently recognized by EuroPsy that result in specialization: psychotherapy and work and organizational psychology. In both cases (the professional contexts and specialties) the profile of community research and action appears to be less established in the professional field. Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice Volume 7, Issue 4 December 2016 Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice, http://www.gjcpp.org/ Page 3 In the Master in Psychology of Social and Community Intervention at the University of Seville (Spain) we carried out one of the first experiences in implementing the EuroPsy model of competencies in the field of community research and action (MayaJariego, 2009). Specifically, we rely on the "guidelines for the evaluation of skills through supervised practice" designed by professional associations of psychology in Spain (Consejo General de Colegios Oficiales de Psicólogos, 2008) to propose a monitoring system of the practicum in community intervention for Master’s students. In this case, the EuroPsy model provides the generic competency framework, while the guide of the Master specifically adapts the content to the characteristics and usual activities of psychologists of social and community intervention1. Thus, it was intended to fill a gap in the definition of professional profiles of psychology and thereby contribute to greater recognition of this area of practice. In this article, we briefly describe the use of the EuroPsy competencies model in the training of psychologists of social and community intervention, from the specific case of the University of Seville (Spain). The European accreditation model is compared with the 18 competencies for community psychology practice recognized by the Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA) (Dalton & 1 The Master in Psychology of Social and Community Intervention was designed following the requirements of the accreditation system of academic titles during the course of 2008-2009. The official title was established by the Agreement of the Council of Ministers of 12 November 2010 (BOE of 16 December 2010). The University of Seville published the curriculum of the Master with the Resolution of 20 July 2011. The guide for supervised practice was applied experimentally during the first three years of implementation of the title (2010-2011, 2011-2012 and 2012-2013). Wolfe, 2012). This allows us to reflect on the international validity of the 18 core competencies as well as the need to strengthen the role of the community psychologist in Europe. The professional competencies of psychology in the EuroPsy certificate The EuroPsy model proposes 20 primary competencies and 9 enabling competencies in the professional practice of psychology (Table 1). The primary competencies correspond to the workflow of psychologists in a sequence in which a) the customer request is received, b) evaluation or diagnosis are performed, c) services based on psychological theories are developed, d) interventions are designed and implemented, e) the actions carried out are valued and, finally, f) the results are reported (EuroPsy Team, 2009, cited in Peiro & Tetrick, 2011). This is a generic framework of capabilities that are deployed specifically depending on the professional context of intervention, whether this is clinical, educational, organizational or otherwise. The model implies the classic cycle of action research (Lewin, 1946), with a process of planning, action, and observation. Secondly, enabling competencies are general skills that contribute to the proper exercise of any profession. Professionals benefit from proper career planning, as well as the ability to stay current in their discipline knowledge, to develop relationships with colleagues or clients, and to reflect on professional practice itself, among others. Although they are not competencies specific of the psychologist, they are considered also necessary for professional practice. Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice Volume 7, Issue 4 December 2016 Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice, http://www.gjcpp.org/ Page 4 Professional roles Primary competencies Goal specification Needs analysis Goal setting Assessment Individual assessment Group assessment Organizational assessment Situational assessment Development Service or product definition & requirements analysis Service or product design Service or product testing Service or product evaluation Intervention Intervention planning Direct person-oriented intervention Direct situation-oriented intervention Indirect intervention Service or product implementation Evaluation Evaluation planning Evaluation measurement Evaluation analysis Communication Giving feedback Report writing Enabling competencies Professional development Professional strategy Continuing professional development Professional relations Research and development Marketing and sales Account management Practice management Quality assurance Self-reflection Table 1. The 29 competencies of psychologists in the EuroPsy model Source: EuroPsy (2015), . The competencies of the European certificate of psychology not only differ in content from the skills recognized by the SCRA (Dalton & Wolfe, 2012), but also in the assumptions and mode of operation. Specifically, the EuroPsy model, unlike the 18 competencies of the SCRA, (1) proposes generic skills of professional psychology, which develop transversely in different contexts of application, (2) is designed as part of a system of accreditation and professional recognition, and (3) includes some skills applicable in any professional activity (not only for psychologists). This Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice Volume 7, Issue 4 December 2016 Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice, http://www.gjcpp.org/ Page 5 makes it a meta-model that needs to be completed with the content that refer to a practice and a specific intervention context. The guide for supervised practice in psychology of social and community intervention The European certificate of psychology establishes as a requirement the realization of "at least one year of supervised professional practice full time, or equivalent." It is a form of professional training that can be performed as part of the external practices of the Degree in Psychology or working under the supervision of a licensed psychologist. In this context, the General Council of Associations of Psychologists published three "guides for supervised practice" to monitor the practical training of psychologists in the clinical, educational and organizational fields (Consejo General de Colegios Oficiales de Psicólogos, 2008). Each is a portfolio with concrete examples illustrating the type of activities, methods, and common strategies in each application context. Both psychologists in training and supervisors can use it as a model for detailing the activities they have done, justify the procedure followed in professional practice, and provide evidence of its realiz