scientist-practitioner model
the concept underlying university training of doctoral clinical (or other applied) psychologists in the United States that is intended to prepare individuals both to provide services and to conduct research on mental health problems, essentially integrating these two functions in their professional work by making a laboratory of their applied settings and studying scientifically both the phenomena that are the focus of their services and the results of those services. The purpose of the model is to ensure that practitioners contribute to the scientific development of their field. The training emphasizes research techniques applicable to therapeutic settings. The model emerged from a conference held in Boulder, Colorado, in 1949, which was sponsored by the U.S. Veterans Administration and the National Institute of Mental Health. Also called Boulder model.