Guidelines for postdoctoral training in rehabilitation psychology

This article describes the methods and results of a national conference that was held to (1) develop consensus guidelines about the structure and process of rehabilitation psychology postdoctoral training programs and (2) create a Council of Rehabilitation Psychology Postdoctoral Training Programs to promote training programs' abilities to implement the guidelines and to formally recognize programs in compliance with the guidelines.

Forty-six conference participants were chosen to include important stakeholders in rehabilitation psychology, representatives of rehabilitation psychology training and practice communities, representatives of psychology accreditation and certification bodies, and persons involved in medical education practice and research.

Consensus guidelines were developed for rehabilitation psychology postdoctoral training program structure and process and for establishing the Council of Rehabilitation Psychology Postdoctoral Training Programs.

The Conference developed aspirational guidelines for postdoctoral education and training programs in applied rehabilitation psychology and established a Council of Rehabilitation Psychology Postdoctoral Training Programs as a means of promoting their adoption by training programs. These efforts are designed to promote quality, consistency, and excellence in the education and training of rehabilitation psychology practitioners and to promote competence in their practice. It is hoped that these efforts will stimulate discussion, assist in the development of improved teaching and evaluation methods, lead to interesting research questions, and generally facilitate the continued systematic development of the profession of rehabilitation psychology.