As others see us: General practitioners' perceptions of psychological problems and the relevance of clinical psychology

Abstract

Structured interviews were carried out with 30 randomly selected general practitioners, to discover how they perceived and handled psychological problems in their patients. In addition, the doctors' perceptions and expectations of their professionals who might assist in the management of such problems were examined. Much of the previously published work was confirmed by the present investigation, but some new information was also uncovered. Thus, although almost all the GPs were sympathetic towards the wish of some clinical psychologists to work at the primary health care level, almost half the doctors would not want a psychologist within their practice, even if finance and accommodation were not problematic. Clinical psychologists were viewed, primarily, as therapists and, as such, were mostly expected to provide a regular part-time service to the practice. Only a minority of GPs wished to acquire skills from clinical psychology, but a large majority were in favour of direct referrals. The results of this study are discussed in terms of their implications for clinical psychology services.