Professionals require the application of theory to all cases to meet the needs of all clients.

Theory promotes service delivery to diverse clients, whereas tips and tips limit the scope of services.

Professionals use theory to organize and evaluate their tips and tricks. Technicians only use tips and tricks.

For nearly every professional continuing education workshop and graduate class in psychology, someone will be overheard evaluating the quality of the educational experience by whether the information contained is practical or theoretical. Practical is good, clear, and useful. Theoretical is esoteric and not useful. This strikes me as exactly the wrong framing. Certainly, there is the Lewin quote that "there is nothing so practical as a good theory." Beyond that, eschewing theory in professional development or even pre-practice professional preparation leads to an approach to clinical practice that is bad for service delivery, bad for clients and patients, and bad for professional credibility. Theory is not something to be suffered through in graduate school. Theory is the critical ingredient in quality clinical practice and requires renewed emphasis at all levels of training.

Why Tips and Tricks Are Not Enough for Quality Clinical Practice

Being a professional psychologist is far more than implementing a collection of tips and tricks. Tips and tricks are those little procedures, processes, or ideas that can be immediately applied to specific settings and specific situations. As we become more experienced, we collect new therapy techniques, new assessment techniques, time savers, and shortcuts like a carpenter who collects a variety of........

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