Experiences of Clinical Psychologists Working in Public Health Service Facilities

Abstract

Through a mail survey, this study investigated the work experiences of Clinical Psychologists employed in South African public health service facilities (n = 95; mean age 37.0 years; females = 69.5%). We surveyed the psychologists on aspects of job satisfaction, work support, career-pathing and salary issues. The data were analysed using SPSS v19 for descriptive statistics and cross-tabulations. Results suggest that 61.1% of respondents were satisfied with their clinical work, while 33.7% felt unsupported in their work context. Among those experiencing their work context as supportive, significantly more felt satisfied with their clinical work, reported that their work context allowed research, and planned to do a PhD or already had one. The results suggest that supportive work contexts and research opportunities are important correlates in job satisfaction.