THE PRACTICE OF PSYCHOLOGY IN NIGERIA: CHALLENGES AND THE WAY FORWARD

Abstract

As the world witnesses great strides in scientific and technological breakthroughs, careers, disciplines and professions move from theory to practice with emphasis on the actual application or use of an idea, belief or method as opposed to theories. Back in the nineteenth century, the recognized professions were law, religion, and medicine simply because such disciplines emphasized practice rather than mere theories. Today, the number of professions is much wider and ever increasing, as occupations become more specialized in nature and more professionalized in terms of requiring certain standards of initial and ongoing education. A profession is a paid occupation involving a prolonged and specialized education, training or skill, qualification and ethical standards for the interest of others or the public. In general, a profession comprises of skill or expertise in a particular field and entails the application of such a skill or expertise. Psychology as a profession must develop standard and practical procedures or way of doing things. This is the practice of Psychology we are all yearning for. We need to have a convention, tradition, and method of doing things, and indeed, an abiding policy particularly in the developing nations. The practice of psychology must be expressed in action, skill and problem solving rather than thought, theory or ideas. This calls for the application of a scientific research to help people, organizations and communities function better (APA, 2011). Indeed, psychological practice aims at identifying and helping to address psychological problems in any given society. A profession is a vocation built upon specialized educational training, the purpose of which is to supply objective counsel and service to others for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gains. Technically speaking, a profession involves a defined, disciplined and distinct group of persons who measurably adhere to known/identifiable ethical standards, hold themselves together via qualifications and ethics and are accepted by the public as possessing special knowledge and skills in a widely recognized body of knowledge or learning, through research, education and training at a high level, and who are prepared to apply this knowledge and exercise their skills in the interest of others. Psychologists, no doubt, have all these attributes, but the application of the theoretical knowledge and development of appropriate skills still remain questionable among some of them. This, of course, directs the main thoughts of this discourse.