Career Series-Interview with a Psychologist

1 If you had to categorize the professions one can do in psychology, what would be the categories?

In Mauritius

• Public sector
  • Clinical psychologists – Ministry of Health
  • Educational psychologists – Ministry of Education
  • Psychologists in the Ministry of Gender Equality — Domestic violence cases, family issues, etc.
  • Psychologists in the Ministry of social security (in reform institutions such as prisons, elders, etc.) 
  • Part-time lecturer in public universities
  • Industrial psychology / organizational behavior

You also have psychologists who work more closely with social workers (for example in the education field). This is also a different category of function that psychologists do. It happens because psychologists provide psychosocial support, and not just psychological support. We need to consider that patients’ family’s support is also important for the patient to recover.

2 What authority regulates psychologists in Mauritius?

1. AHPC- Allied Health Professionals Council

They are a regulator of allied health professionals and their job is to protect the health and wellbeing of people who use the services of the allied health professionals registered with them. To protect the public, they set standards that allied health professionals must meet. Their standards cover allied health professionals’ education and training, behavior, professional skills and their health. They publish a register of allied health professionals who meet their standards.

  2 ) PSC- Public Service Commission that evaluates psychology degrees

The vision of the PSC is to be the benchmark for Integrity, Equity and Efficiency in a dynamic public service. Its mission is to ensure that the Republic of Mauritius has a professional and efficient Civil Service geared towards excellence. The latter helps to identify and appoint qualified persons with the drive, skills and attitude for efficient performance. It safeguards the impartiality and integrity of the Commissions regarding appointments and promotions in the Public Service and to ensure that these are based on merits.It takes disciplinary action with a view to maintaining ethical standards, encouraging good governance and safeguarding public confidence in the service.

3) Higher Education Commission ( HEC) which was known as the Tertiary Education Commission

(TEC), checks recognition of degrees. The objective is to develop, expand, enhance and manage the university’s research programs and to link research activities directly to the educational, social and economic priorities of the university and its broader community.

4 ) The Mauritius Qualifications Authority (MQA) was established as a body corporate under the Mauritius Qualifications Authority Act 2001 and falls under the aegis of the Ministry of Education and Human Resources, Tertiary Education and Scientific Research. The MQA became operational since 08 May 2002 and its main role as a regulatory body is to be the guardian of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) – a system designed to recognise the attainment of knowledge, understanding and skills by people in Mauritius; to ensure compliance with provisions for registration and accreditation of training institutions; to ensure that standards and registered qualifications are internationally comparable; to recognize and evaluate qualifications for the purpose of establishing their equivalence in the TVET sector and to recognize and validate competencies acquired outside the formal education and training systems.

In all these institutions, it is the panels that decide: panels are committees formed by people of various expertise within those organizations.  

3 What are the therapy types which psychologists practice in Mauritius?

CBT- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of psychological treatment that has been demonstrated to be effective for a range of problems including depression, anxiety disorders, alcohol and drug use problems, marital problems, eating disorders, and severe mental illness.

Person-centered therapy -Person-centered therapy, also known as Rogerian therapy or client-based therapy, employs a non-authoritative approach that allows clients to take more of a lead in sessions such that, in the process, they discover their own solutions.

DBT -Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a type of talk therapy for people who experience emotions very intensely. It’s a common therapy for people with borderline personality disorder, but therapists provide it for other mental health conditions as well.

Counseling and psychotherapy- “Counseling” is a brief treatment that targets a specific symptom or situation, while “psychotherapy” is a longer-term treatment that attempts to gain more insight into someone’s problems

Systematic desensitization – Systematic desensitization is used to treat extreme aversions through a combination of graded exposure and relaxation. It is an evidence-based behavioral intervention that is focused on helping clients overcome common fears or phobias.

Family therapy – Family therapy or family counseling is designed to address specific issues that affect the psychological health of the family, such as major life transitions or mental health conditions. It may be used as the primary mode of treatment or as a complementary approach.

4 Who are the professionals who work in collaboration with psychologists? 

Most common: 

• Occupational therapists—Occupational therapists are licensed health care professionals who help people find ways to do daily activities that they need or want to do.While the word “occupation” usually means a job or profession, it can also refer to everyday activities that let us live independently and bring meaning to our lives. Taking part in meaningful activities can have a positive influence on your health and overall wellbeing.

• Speech therapists- also called a speech-language pathologist — assesses, diagnoses and treats speech disorders and communication problems. They treat children with developmental delays, as well as adults with speech impairments caused by injury or illness.

• Art therapists – are master-level clinicians who work with people of all ages across a broad spectrum of practice. Guided by ethical standards and scope of practice, their education and supervised training prepares them for culturally proficient work with diverse populations in a variety of settings. Honoring individuals’ values and beliefs, art therapists work with people who are challenged with medical and mental health problems, as well as individuals seeking emotional, creative, and spiritual growth. ( there is currently only one in Mauritius) 

5 What do you do as a clinical psychologist? 

I work in the public sector, as a clinical psychologist in the Ministry of Health. 

Psychologists are associated with psychiatric units and work alongside psychiatrists. They offer psychotherapy,counseling and family therapy psychoeducation. They can help children as from their childhood so that they don’t eventually develop pathological disorders later in life.

Psychologists can work in regional hospitals and / or Brown Sequard.  

6 Is the perception that students have different from the actual day-to-day job?

Personally for me, there was no big difference between when I was a student and when I started working. My job matches what I was expecting it to be. 

However,there are some students who idealize the job, then their cognitive evaluation is flawed and this can result in disappointment. But it doesn’t usually happen. 

The biggest thing I enjoy in my day-to-day life is exploring minds – it’s a fascinating experience. I would say that most psychologists working for the Ministry of Health enjoy their work.

7 How much is tech a part of your job?

It is not really used in therapy sessions. It is mostly used in reporting.

Phones are used sometimes for logistics – setting patient appointments or changing appointments or  the Internet for research purposes. 

An example of a potential research is:

The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) signed a new collaborative agreement that will scale up joint public health efforts, primarily for the most marginalized and vulnerable populations.

This new framework for strategic collaboration, which builds on 70 years of close cooperation between the two organisations, emphasizes four strategic areas for attention and immediate action at all levels of both organisations: universal health coverage, based on a primary health care and health systems approach; mental health and psychosocial well-being and development; public health emergencies; and maternal and child nutrition.

In addition, the two organizations have agreed on a new joint program for the mental health and psychosocial well-being and development of children and adolescents. This 10-year collaboration will promote mental health and psychosocial well-being and development, improve access to treatment for mental disorders, reduce suffering and improve the quality of life of children and adolescents, as well as the people who take care of them.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed huge gaps in access to health services and those aimed at improving the well-being and nutrition of children and vulnerable populations. It has never been more urgent to collaborate. This new framework will help us strengthen health and food systems and invest in mental health and psychosocial support in all countries,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.

WHO and UNICEF have worked together for more than 70 years around the world to ensure that children survive, thrive and enjoy safe and healthy environments. The two organizations have worked together to deliver high-impact interventions in health, immunization, nutrition, HIV and early child development, as well as clean water and sanitation services in all regions of the world, including in situations of fragility and conflict.

“Our collaboration with UNICEF is fundamentally about ensuring that every child not only survives, but also thrives and plays a decisive role for their community and future generations. While valuing and respecting our unique and complementary roles, we are determined to achieve health for all together. As this pandemic shows, until everyone is safe, no one will be safe,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO.

Today, WHO and UNICEF continue to work together to end the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure that every woman and child has access to essential health services, including vaccinations and health checkups.

The two organizations are also collaborating to help countries introduce and deliver COVID-19 vaccines under the vaccines pillar of the Facility to Accelerate Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT Accelerator), alongside Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, CEPI and global immunization partners.

In addition, they strengthen health systems through primary health care, as agreed in the Declaration of Astana , and the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Declaration on UHC, to achieve faster universal health coverage and the targets associated with Sustainable Development Goal 3, set for 2030.

For more information you can visit the following site  WHO AND UNICEF COLLABORATION

8 What are the qualifications you need to become a clinical psychologist in Mauritius?

In the Ministry of Education, a Bachelor degree is required but in practice mostly people with Masters degree are hired. In the Ministry of Health and Quality of Life and Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Welfare, a Masters degree is mostly required.

After finishing studies, you need to get experience ideally, which is (ideally) under the supervision of experienced psychologists.

The path looks like this generally:

3-4 years BSc (if done full-time, maybe longer if part-time)

1-2 years Masters (if done full-time. Some countries let you do 1 year full-time while others will have you do 2 years)

Professional license (the PSC oversees this) 

Continuous professional education 

9 What about specialized degrees such as BSc Clinical Psychology, etc.?

Specializations exist such as the BSc Psychology with counseling services. However you need to check that these degrees are recognized by the Public Service Commission (PSC) which decides which degree they will accept. 

Students need to request information from the PSC directly.

10 What is the best aspect of your job, for you?

It consists of spending waking hours helping people / seeing them heal and become stable 

It is very rewarding to do and see that.

It can also be tiring, not just mentally but also physically. You would think that sitting and listening does not require as much physical effort as doing manual work, but you would be surprised at how much physical effort psychologists spend: the mind is connected to the body. A psychologist analyzes and thinks when listening / observing the patient. All this time, he has to do a mental evaluation.

11 How would that job be different for someone with the same job title but maybe a different specialization or country?

For example you can have a clinical psychologist working with paedo-psychiatrists. 

Different universities in different countries can also put different emphasis on what is taught. There are so many schools of thought in psychology.

The first school of thought, structuralism, was advocated by the founder of the first psychology lab, Wilhelm Wundt. Almost immediately, other theories began to emerge and vie for dominance in psychology.

In the past, psychologists often identified themselves exclusively with one single school of thought. Today, most psychologists have an eclectic outlook on psychology. They often draw on ideas and theories from different schools rather than holding to any singular perspective.

Structuralism is widely regarded as the first school of thought in psychology. This outlook focused on breaking down mental processes into the most basic components. Major thinkers associated with structuralism include Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener.

The focus of structuralism was on reducing mental processes down into their most basic elements. The structuralists used techniques such as introspection to analyze the inner processes of the human mind.

The introspective experimental technique used by the structuralists involved having trained observers examine their inner responses. Using this approach, also known as experimental self-observation, experimenters like Wundt trained people to analyze their thoughts as carefully and objectively as possible.

While these methods were understandably not the most empirically rigorous, the structuralist school of thought played an important role in the development of experimental psychology.

Functionalism formed as a reaction to the theories of the structuralist school of thought and was heavily influenced by the work of William James. It functioned on the mind’s functions and adaptations.

In a functionalist approach, for example, instead of trying to understand the underlying processes that cause mental states, the focus would be on understanding the function that those states serve. Gaining a better understanding of the purpose would allow psychologists to better understand how the mind allows people to respond and adapt to their environments.

The functionalist school was interested in the purpose of thoughts and behaviors, whereas structuralism was concerned with the elements that make up consciousness. While functionalism largely disappeared as a school of thought, its influence persisted in applied psychology, behaviorism, and educational psychology.1

Unlike some of the other well-known schools of thought in psychology, functionalism is not associated with a single dominant theorist. Instead, a number of functionalist thinkers are associated with this outlook, including John Dewey, James Rowland Angell, and Harvey Carr.

Some historians have questioned whether functionalism should be considered a formal school of psychology, given its lack of a central leader or formalized ideas.

Gestalt psychology was a school of psychology based upon the idea that people experience things as unified wholes. This approach to psychology began in Germany and Austria during the late 19th century in response to the molecular approach of structuralism.

Some thinkers associated with the Gestalt school of thought included Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Köhler, and Kurt Koffka. 

Instead of breaking down thoughts and behavior to their smallest elements, the gestalt psychologists believed that you must look at the whole of experience. According to Gestalt thinkers, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, a philosophy known as holism.

Some examples of Gestalt thinking include explanations for optical phenomena, such as visual illusions. Wertheimer described the phi phenomenon by observing how alternating railway lights created the illusion of movement. The phenomenon suggests that a succession of images seen in rapid sequence are perceived as moving.⁵

Behaviorism became a dominant school of thought during the 1950s. It was based upon the work of thinkers such as John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov, and B. F. Skinner.

Behaviorism suggests that all behavior can be explained by environmental causes rather than by internal forces. Behaviorism is focused on observable behavior. Examples of behavioral theories that emerged during this time include:

Classical conditioning: This is a type of learning that involves associating a previously neutral stimulus with a stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response. For example, pairing the sound of a bell with the presentation of food. After an association is formed, the previously neutral stimulus will produce the same response as the natural stimulus.

Operant conditioning: This type of learning involves using rewards and punishments to create an association between the behavior and the consequences of that behavior.

The behavioral school of psychology significantly influenced the course of psychology. Many ideas and techniques that emerged from this school of thought are still widely used today. Behavioral training, token economies, aversion therapy, and other methods are frequently used in psychotherapy and behavior modification programs.

Psychoanalysis is a school of psychology founded by Sigmund Freud. This school of thought emphasized the influence of the unconscious mind on behavior. Other major psychoanalytic thinkers included Anna Freud and Otto Rank and neo-Freudians such as Erik Erikson, Alfred Adler, and Karen Horney.

Freud believed that the human mind was composed of three elements: the id, ego, and superego.

• The id consists of primal urges.
• The ego is the component of personality charged with dealing with reality.
• The superego is the part of the personality that holds all the ideals and values we internalize from our parents and culture.

Freud believed that the interaction of these three elements was what led to all of the complex human behaviors.

Other important theories within the psychoanalytic school included the idea of the conscious and unconscious, Freud’s psychosexual approach to personality development, and the concept of life and death instincts.

Freud’s work also played an important role in the development of talk therapy as an approach to treating mental illness. Many traditional Freudian approaches to treatment are no longer in favor, but modern psychoanalytic therapy continues to play an important role in psychology today. Research has shown that using self-examination can play an important role in emotional growth.

Humanistic psychology developed as a response to psychoanalysis and behaviorism. The development of this school of thought in psychology was heavily influenced by the work of humanist thinkers such as Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, and Clark Moustakas.

While early schools of thought were primarily centered on abnormal human behavior, humanistic psychology differed considerably in its emphasis on helping people achieve and fulfill their potential. Humanistic psychology instead focused on topics such as:

• Becoming a fully functioning person: A person who is in touch with their innermost desires and trusts their own instincts
• Individual free will: The capacity that individuals have to make choices, select courses of action, and control their own lives
• Hierarchy of needs: A theory introduced by Maslow suggesting that people were motivated by a series of increasingly complex needs, starting with their basic physiological needs up to the need to achieve an individual’s full potential
• Peak experiences: Moments of pure, transcendent joy that play an important part in the reaching self-actualization
• Self-actualization: A state of reaching one’s full potential

Cognitive psychology is the school of psychology that studies mental processes, including how people think, perceive, remember and learn. As part of the larger field of cognitive science, this branch of psychology is related to other disciplines such as neuroscience, philosophy, and linguistics.

Cognitive psychology emerged during the 1950s, partly as a response to behaviorism. Critics of behaviorism noted that it failed to account for how internal processes impacted behavior.

Examples of theories that grew out of the cognitive school of thought include:

• Stages of cognitive development: A theory proposed by Jean Piaget, which suggested that children go through a series of progressive stages of intellectual development.
• Sociocultural theory: This theory, introduced by Lev Vygotsky, looked at how the interaction of cultural and social factors contributed to cognitive development.
• Informational processing theory: This theory suggests that the mind functions much like a computer to process and interpret information about the world.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) was also heavily influenced by this psychological perspective. CBT is an approach to treatment that focuses on how automatic negative thought patterns influence behavior and psychological problems.

 12 What is the future of psychology in the next 5 years in Mauritius? Be specific to the categories you outlined.

There is a need for more psychologists and the categories outlined in the first question are the main ones in need: 

• Clinical psychologists – Ministry of Health
• Educational psychologists – Ministry of Education
• Psychologists in the Ministry of Gender Equality — Domestic violence cases, family issues, etc.
• Psychologists in the Ministry of social security (in reform institutions such as prisons, elders, etc.) 
• Part-time lecturers
• Private psychologists

But you have a consistent supply: students are graduating in this field.So it is a quite competitive job market.

13 What should a student freshly out of HSC or starting their psychology degree be prioritizing on, if they want to pursue the same career as you?

In Mauritius if they can afford to do an internship, they should.

They can look into these: 

• The youth employment plan (YEP) will offer a subsidy on the stipend paid to the youth during his/her first year of placement/training.

Registered employers can either recruit directly, or use the SWG Database to select youth that satisfy their requirements. The Database will provide the opportunity for youth to specify their fields of interest.

The SWG will refund 50% of the youth’s monthly stipend subject to a maximum of Rs 4000 per person for HSC holders, Rs 5000 for Diploma holders and Rs 7500 for individuals holding a degree from a tertiary education provider accredited by the Tertiary Education Commission, or such equivalent qualification overseas, the maximum monthly refund is Rs 7500 per person.

Should the youth’s stipend exceed Rs 8000 for HSC holders, Rs 10000 for Diploma and Rs 15000 for degree holders, the amount refunded will not exceed Rs 4000, Rs 5000 and Rs 7500 respectively.

Employers are encouraged to provide training where this is desirable. The SWG will subsidize the cost of MQA approved training up to 50% (not exceeding Rs 7500 per person).

An independent consulting group will carry out the monitoring and evaluation of the programme and provide feedback to the SWG on a regular basis.

•  Service-To-Mauritius-Programme – Meant for unemployed graduates and postgraduates who are under 45 years old to beneficiate from work experiences and to share their knowledge. It is a programme meant for the youngsters to acquire leadership skills to innovate in their respective organization and in the society.

Alternatively, you can also volunteer in an NGO. 

14  Where can students go for resources about psychology opportunities? Who can they ask?

Government psychologists can counsel students with approval of the ministry.

15 Can you talk more about international psychology? Meaning working with people from different cultures / nationalities?

Social psychology overlaps with sociology cross – cultural counseling/ psychology 

International universities require this type of psychologist specialization due to the diverse student population.