Reflection: ‘Doctor who?’ – Personal reflections on constructing the role of Clinical Health Psychologists in a multidisciplinary team

Abstract

This reflective piece explores the role development of a newly qualified Clinical Psychologist in a Clinical Health Psychology setting. The position of the British Psychological Society is outlined initially as a benchmark of how the profession has developed over time. Clinical Health Psychology is expanding and gaining traction as a specialised field. Experiential examples across clinical and research settings are described to illustrate how difficult it can be to establish a sense of a clearly defined and valued role among non-psychology colleagues. These roles are embedded in the socio-cultural milieu of teams and organisations. Therefore a social constructivist approach is taken and proposes that role development is a dynamic emergence within the relational and linguistic context of the team. This piece argues that it is not the content of our input but the quality of compassion in our understanding of, and communication with others that actualises the role of the Clinical Health Psychologist in a multidisciplinary team.