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Mental health clinicians invest in many years of hard work to develop their clinical competence through graduate coursework and through supervised clinical experiences. All this is done with the ultimate goal of becoming independently licensed to practice in one’s profession. Because licensure is such an important event, signifying the culmination of so much education and training, it may be natural to believe that becoming licensed means that one is now clinically competent. This chapter addresses how clinical competence and licensure should be viewed and understood. Licensure assesses one’s competence to enter the profession, but it cannot guarantee competence in all areas of clinical practice at the time of licensure or in the future. How to maintain, update, and expand one’s competence over time is addressed. Risks and threats to competence are discussed, and recommendations are provided for ensuring one’s ongoing competence over time. ...Less

Educational tests are used for a wide variety of purposes, including placing students in appropriate educational programs, diagnosing students’ strengths and weaknesses, certifying competence in specific knowledge and skill areas, selecting students for admission, and testing for the knowledge and skills required in licensure and certification testing. This chapter describes the use of educational tests in both national and international settings, focusing on the use of tests in two countries: the United States and Chile. Highlighting the educational testing practices in these two countries illustrates many of the similarities involved in educational testing, but also illustrates political differences that affect the use and evaluation of tests. International testing activities are described, such as those that compare the educational achievement of students across countries. The chapter also discusses the key issues in educational testing, such as technical quality and validity, as well as current trends and future directions. ...Less

Chapter 14 discusses the profession identity of the OBC psychologist, including professional affiliations, and licensure and certification. ...

This chapter introduces clinicians to the types of insurance coverage they should procure before they see their first clients. It discusses the concept of negligence in professional practice and summarizes provisions of professional liability insurance (including prior acts coverage), licensure defense coverage, and the business owner’s policy. It explains the availability of ancillary services, such as risk management education and consultation, from some insurance companies. The chapter makes clear that while professional coverage is essential, personal coverage through disability or income protection insurance and life insurance is just as important to the financial security of the clinician. It provides data regarding the often overlooked risk of disability during a clinician’s working years and considers the definition of “disability” in various policies. It points out that an office overhead policy can ensure that the clinician’s office expenses are paid if the clinician becomes disabled. ...Less