Clinical psychologists and critical community psychology: a grounded theory of personal professional development and practice

Clinical psychologists who have aligned themselves with critical community psychology (CCP) and/or who have implemented it in practice are in a minority (Boyle, 2011). The literature suggests significant difficulties and contradictions with such an orientation, but there is limited information available about the personal professional development and practice, of clinical psychologists who are interested in CCP. The aim of the current study was to develop an understanding of the social processes involved in clinical psychologists’ development of interest in CCP and how, if at all, this interest related to practice. Twenty clinical psychologists completed an online qualitative survey, of whom twelve were also interviewed. Social constructionist grounded theory methodology (Charmaz, 2014) informed the data collection and analysis. The findings formed five categories: ‘being drawn to CCP’ ‘navigating level of confidence’, ‘balancing clinical psychology and CCP’, ‘connecting with allies’ and ‘interacting with professional structures’. Findings are discussed in the context of existing empirical and theoretical literature.