Procedural knowledge in clinical psychology and psychotherapy: A comparison between different groups providing psychotherapy in the German healthcare system

The differences between groups working in the German psychotherapeutic care system are incomprehensible to laypeople, as the job titles are very similar despite the protection of titles. However, the differences in access requirements, training, examinations and liability between groups are significant (Hollunder, 2017). The main aim of the project is to compare different groups working in the German psychotherapeutic care system as well as laypersons regarding their abilities in clinical psychology and psychotherapy. We aim to compare four groups: 1) psychologists (postgraduate psychotherapy trainees), 2) psychology students, 3) non-academically trained providers of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM, e.g., so called “Heilpraktiker”, psychological counsellors, coaches or similar professions), and 4) laypersons. An online study will be conducted using video case vignettes (the Pro CliPs Task) to assess procedural clinical knowledge. We will further assess participants’ declarative clinical knowledge and their psychotherapeutic self-efficacy (except for laypersons).