Lilienfeld, Ph.D. BOX4.3 Clinical Psychologist Perspective: Scott O.
Dr. Heiby is a Professor of Psychology at the University
of Hawaii. Her research interests include theories of
self-control, emotional disorders, and adherence to
health behaviors, and she has published extensively in
these areas. Dr. Heiby is also known for her leadership
among those who oppose seeking prescription privi-
leges for psychologists. We had a chance to ask Dr.
Heiby about her own background as well as her views
regarding prescription privileges.
What originally got you interested in the field of
clinical psychology?
When I entered graduate school in 1974, I intended to
become an academic in a behavioral psychology pro-
gram. This was an exciting time in behavioral psychol-
ogy when the works of scientists like Wolpe, Staats,
and Skinner were demonstrating the generalizability
of basic laboratory principles to the understanding of
complex human behavior and the alleviation of
human suffering. I realized I wanted to contribute to
the synthesis of behavioral principles and applied psy-
chology. I also understood that clinical psychology was
a growing profession with frighteningly few scientifi-
cally based guidelines for the selection of effective
prevention and treatment programming. So I chose to
complete doctoral training in both clinical and behav-
ioral psychology, knowing that clinical training was
essential to being able to concentrate my career on
the integration of psychological science and practice.
Describe what activities you are involved in as a
clinical psychologist.
I’m a professor in the Department of Psychology at the
University of Hawaii at Manoa and am licensed. I teach
two psychological assessment courses in our clinical
program and an undergraduate abnormal psychology
course, supervise graduate and undergraduate clinical
research, conduct several of my own research pro-
grams, serve on the State of Hawaii Board of Psychol-
ogy, and am a member of the Board of Advisors for the
organization Psychologists Opposed to Prescription
Privileges for Psychologists (www.poppp.org). I had a
small part-time psychotherapy practice for about ten
years. Now my applied work is limited to consultations
and serving as an expert witness. Consultations have
included developing assessment and treatment proto-
cols for behavioral health providers, conducting treat-
ment outcome evaluations in mental health settings,
and providing psychological assessments for family and
criminal courts.
What are your particular areas of expertise or interest?
My interests include (a) developing integrative theories
of self-control, emotional disorders (depression, anxi-
ety, anger, and mania), and adherence to health
behaviors; (b) construction of assessment devices that
measure not only problem behaviors but also vulnera-
bility and resilience factors that can guide the selection
of empirically supported treatments, and (c) applying
chaos theory to the understanding of fitful and transi-
tional emotional states.What future trends do you see for clinical psychology?
I find this to be a very exciting time for clinical science
and scientist-practitioners. The health care environ-
ment now requires evidence of cost-effective services.
These market demands are congruent with the basic
tenets of science that involve pursuit of parsimony and
empirical support for predictions. Managed care can be
rewarding for the scientist-practitioner whose
approach involves the value that scientifically sup-
ported services are the most humane ones. Applied
psychologists will be needed to train therapists in the
most effective procedures, conduct prevention pro-
gram and treatment outcome evaluations, provide
direct services for the more difficult cases, and consult
with medical providers, government agencies, busi-
nesses, and other organizations. Clinical scientists will
find more grant monies to support research on the
development of cost-effective assessment devices and
treatment procedures. So I think that in the future, the
scientifically trained clinical psychologists will find the
most job opportunities and be the most satisfied with
their work.You have been an outspoken critic of the movement
to seek and obtain prescription privileges for clinical
psychologists. Why?
I believe psychology’s plate is full. There are many
unmet societal needs for effective psychological ser-
vices. Psychologists are the only mental health service
providers trained in the science of human behavior and
positioned to make the most informed clinical deci-
sions. Researchers have barely scraped the surface in
understanding the psychological level of human
adjustment and suffering. For psychology to take on
the task of medical training and practice, something
else will have to give. At the training level, the under-
graduate psychology major will include premedical
courses that will probably not draw many of the
(Continued)CURRENT ISSUES IN CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY 79