Psychologists: Team Players
Tips for working in a multidisciplinary team
Many psychologists working in institutions are part of multidisciplinary teams. Working with a team takes a unique set of skills, but is ultimately very rewarding and effective for patient care. As a health psychologist for the past 12 years, I have worked with a variety of teams and learned what works and what can make a team less effective. Here are my top 10 tips:
Use team skills. Get to know the skill sets of the different team members and use them effectively. Psychologists may be able to link patients with community resources, but social workers typically are a whole lot better at it. If you have unique resources from different team members, don’t be afraid to call on them.
Respect each team member as an equally valuable colleague. Hierarchies only work to a certain extent on teams, and trust is important. You can have a team leader (which in some cases may be you as the psychologist), but teams where each player feels valuable function better.
Communicate, communicate, communicate. Scheduled team meetings can help to consolidate communication, while informal conversations and good visibility in clinic can help build relationships.
Share records. Using the electronic medical record to securely send information and review team member visits can help to provide a richer picture of the patient and facilitate better care.
Be available and flexible. This isn’t an environment where you see patients back to back behind closed doors for an hour at a time. Be prepared for warm hand offs, knocks on your door with questions, and squeezing in patients with emergent issues.
Avoid emotional voyeurism. Psychological data, especially sensational details, is interesting to the team; however, unless it’s relevant, you’re exploiting the patient. Keep it relevant to the treatment and the patient care.
Be a united front. Avoid splitting among team members, and between patients and the team. Appoint a spokesperson for the team and make sure that patients receive consistent messages from each member of the team.
Include patient voices. Let patients know when the team members are discussing difficult issues and help to empower patients to provide their perspective.
Be efficient. This is not the place for a 12 page report detailing every nuance of the patient issue. Keep it brief and to the point, with an action plan.
Maintain relationships with other psychologists. Many times a psychologist may be the lone person representing their field in a team. It helps to have a good network of psychologists for consultation. Organizations such as the APAPO and your state psychological association are excellent places to re-connect with your roots.
