1 introduction to clinical psychology Flashcards
What is clinical psychology?
focus on diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders
What are the basic activities of a clinical psychologist?
assessment, including diagnosis, of mental disorders; treatment; and research
In what types of settings do clinical psychologists work?
Clinics.
Mental health treatment facilities.
Hospitals.
Private practices.
Court systems.
Schools.
Business organizations.
What is the scientist-practicioner model? (Boulder model)
approach to integrate scientific research into clinical pactice
- importance of grounding clinical practice in empirical research and scientific knowledge
- evidence-based interventions and treatments
- training programs
- research skills
- ethical considerations
What are the pros of the scientist-practicioner model?
- evidence-based practice
- training and competence
- ethical standards
- advancement of the field
What are the cons of the scientist-practicioner model?
- lenghty training
- emphasis on research
- complexity
- limited focus
- funding, scope of the research project, role specification
What is the practicioner-scolar model? (Vail model)
trains consumers of research
highly-trained professional practitioner who applies knowledge and techniques to solve problems of clients
-> not actively researching
What are barriers to conducting research in clinical psychology practice?
- public health setting has higher capacity to undertake research
- organisational culture that doesn’t value research -> low engagement
What types of research activity can clinical psychologists do?
Audit (to assess whether current clinical practice is meeting a predetermined standard)
Service evaluation/improvement
Literature reviews
Meta-analysis/synthesis
Case studies/series
Single-case experimental designs (compare differences in an outcome before and after an intervention)
Qualitative designs
Experimental designs
Survey/questionnaire designs
Effectiveness studies (to examine effectiveness of an intervention when delivered in a routine clinical context)
RCTs (efficacy of an intervention compared to a control group)
What are determinants of successful research?
- role specification
- scope of research project
- managerial support
- making most of research time
- project marketing
- funding
- collaboration
- having progress
- dissemination (publication)
- feeling skilled
What are the main classification systems for mental disorders?
DSM-5
from APA
only mental disorders
ICD-10
(ICD-11 is out but not widely used)
medical disorders
used worldwide by non-mental health clinicians
What are the main problems with classification of mental disorders?
- psychiatric diagnosis suffers from relatively low reliability in clinical settings
(reliance on phenomenology = the way we perceive phenomena, manifestation of them) - overlapping fuzzy boundaries of the disorders
multiple causes, brain mechanisms - based on oversimplified medical models
- diagnostic constructs of mental illness are remarkably heterogenous
- complex cross-level mechanisms and social interventions
- multitude of factors
What is a current framework that conceptualises mental disorders?
The research domain criteria framework
- MDs are disorders of brain circuitry
- based on functional neuroimaging and clinical neuroscience
- uses complex biology
- question of: will biosignatures have sensitivity and specificity?
What are positive characteristics about the classification systems?
- facilitates growth of a body of expert knowledge
- facilitates the development of epidemiological information about incidence, prevalence and course of psychological problems
- provides language through which clinicians, researchers and others can communicate
- comprehensive cluster of symptoms and grouping
What are some criticisms of the classification systems?
- subjective interpretation is presented as objective fact
- lack of reliability
- lack of validity
- lack of clinical utility
- overemphasis on biological factors
- lack of emphasis on contextual factors
- lack of sensitivity to cultural and other types of diversity
