Sammanfattning
Recently, several Norwegian psychologists have raised concerns about reduced clinical
autonomy as a result of reorganization and routines of control in the health care system. We argue
that clinical autonomy is essential for the application of clinical expertise and skills and constitutes a
prerequisite for making decisions in the therapeutic process that will benefit the patient. In this article
we claim that there are no indications of reduced clinical autonomy for psychologists in the
Norwegian legislation or professional guidelines. However, routines of control and production
pressure in clinical practice may impede the potential for clinical autonomy. This conceivable conflict
between giving each patient the best possible treatment and meeting organizational norms and
policies can potentially be unbeneficial for the patient.