Chapter 1: What is Clinical Psychology Flashcards
Clinical Psychology
Field of Psychology - Div 12 APA
Both a science and an art - uses the empirical method & research with creative application of knowledge
Definition of Clinical Psychology
The field of Clinical Psychology involves research, teaching, and services relevant to the applications of principles, methods, and procedures for understanding, predicting, and alleviating intellectual, emotional, biological, pschological, social and behavioral maladjustment, disability and discomfort, applied to a wide range of client populations
APA Definition of Clinical Psychology
Highlights activities in which clinical psychologists engage
Highlights the overall purpose of engaging in those activities
Clinical Attitude/Clinical Approach
Tendency to combine knowledge from research on human behavior and mental processes with efforts at individual assessment in order to understand and help a particular person;
Traits That Are Crucial for Clinical Psychologists
Interest in people
Honesty and integrity in dealing with others
Emotional stability
Training Requirements
Education - doctorate degree required; PhD (research based) or PsyD
Experience - Internship (1 year) and post-doctoral training (1 year)
Specialized training - (neuropsych, forensic) usually begun in internship and postdoc training; advanced certification available after licensing
Testing of Competence - National Exam - EPPP (Examination for Professional Psychology Practice) and State Exam required for Licensing; CE required thereafter
Advanced Certification - ABPP
Good Character
Independent Practice Privilege
Come after:
Trainee as completed a doctoral-level degree tat includes course work, research training, and an approved internship
Completed a certain number of hours of supervised practice
Passed a licensing board exam
Grey Areas in Clinical Psychology
How much knowledge of or training in a new therapy thechnique is necessary before a therapist can begin to ethically offer it to clients?
What kind of records should a therapist keep?
With whom should those records be shared?
If a potentially violent client reports seriously thinking of harming another person, what legal and ethical obligations (and liability) does the therapist have to report the danger?
What restrictions, if any, should there be if a therapist and a client (or former client or relative of a former client) begin to develop romantic interests in each other?
Can a clinical psychologist who has just read about an interesting new psychological test use it in the assessment of his or her next client?
How should a clinical psychologist respond if asked to testify in divorce court on behalf of one of two spouses whom he or she treated in marital therapy?
How should a clinical psychologist respond if a parent seeking custody of a child asks for a personal meeting, just before the psychologist is to conduct a court ordered custody evaluation of a child?
Familiarity with the Ethics Code & State & Federal Laws
Necessary for psychologists to be effective and to avoid professional mistakes that could have serious consequences
American Psychological Association
The largest organization of psychologists in the US
Clinical Psychologists
Core mental health professionals; includes counseling psychology, school psychology, social work, psychiatry, psychiatric nursing, and marriage and family therapy
Counseling Psychologists
Counseling psychologists can earn a PhD, PsyD, or EdD but different in emphasis; eligible for the same licensure, insurance reimbursement, and professional benefits as clinical psychologists, providing they meet requirements; concerned with treatment and prevention of psychological disorders but they also deal with normal transitions and adjustments people face
School Psychologists
Share a scientist-practitioner model of training, move through similar internship and licensure requirements, conduct assessments, design intervention at the individual and system levels, and evaluate programs
Social Workers
Provide direct services to clients or work to improve social conditions or both; trained in various psychotherapy techniques but focus on how social/situational variables, rather than intrapersonal and interpersonal variables affect functioning;
Psychiatrist
Deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders; complete psychiatric residency and take coursework in psychology, undergo supervision by qualified psychiatrists as they work with patient
Distinction between Psychologists and Psychiatrists
Psychiatrists are medical doctors; focus on biological views of the causes of mental disorders while Psychologists focus on the psychological view of the causes of mental disorders
Psychiatric Nurses
Trained in the care and treratment of persons with psychiatric discorders; usually work in hospital settings
Marriage and Family Therapists
Trained to treat psychological disorders as they occur within the context of marriages, couples, and families; training emphasizes family systems models and psychotherapy techniques applicable to the populations they treat
Paraprofessionals
Persons trained to assist in or supplemental health services; generally work as part of a treatment team, and their activities are supervised by professionals
Alternative Treatments
Persons who practice alternative treatments often describe teir work as falling within a holistic tradition that emphasizes the integration of mind, body, spirit
Activities of Clinical Psychologists
Assessment & Treatment (~50% of workload)
Research
Teaching (including Supervision)
Consultation
Administration
Assessment
Involves collecting information about people: their behavior, problems, unique characteristics, abilities and intellectual functioning; information is used to diagnose problematic behavior, guide client toward an optimal vocational choice, facilitate selection of job candidates, describe a client’s personality characteristics, select treatment techniques, guide legal decisions regarding the commitment of individuals to institutions, to provide a more complete picture of a client’s problems, to screen potential participants in psychological research projects, to establish pretreatment baseline levels of behavior against which to measure posttreatment improvement, etc.
Treatment
Designed to help people better understand and solve distressing psychological problems; interventions are known as psychotherapoy, behavior modification, psychological conseling
Research
Makes clinicians stand out among other helping professionals and it is an area where clinicians make their greatest contribution
