Clinical Psych Chapters 1-4 definitions Flashcards
What is mental health
“Mental health is a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community”
What is clinical psychology
“Clinical psychology is the branch of psychology that focuses on developing assessment strategies and interventions to deal with these painful experiences that touch everyone’s life.
The importance of evidence-based practice
“psychologists, we have an ethical and professional responsibility to provide the most efficacious and cost-effective psychological interventions available. This means that it is crucial for psychologists to keep up to date on the research literature, evaluate published articles carefully, and use the best evidence available to inform each clinical decision we make and treatment strategy we utilize. Psychologists not only need to read and distill the scientific literature but apply it within the context of a client’s unique characteristics, cultural background, and treatment preferences. Not all research evidence is equal. When evaluating the scientific literature, “psychologists should first consider findings that are replicated across studies and that have utilized methodologies that address threats to the validity of obtained results (e.g., internal validity, external validity, generalizability, transferability)” (Dozois et al., 2014, p. 156). In addition to using the research literature to inform our clinical decisions, it is also important that we regularly monitor and evaluate our interventions throughout treatment to determine whether what we are doing in therapy works. Evidence-based practice is particularly important because, as humans, we are prone to a range of biases that lead to errors in judgment and, potentially, in the use of ineffective treatment strategies. Science sets up safeguards against biases.”
Evidence-based practice is….
a practice model that involves the synthesis of information drawn from research and systematically collected data on the patient in question, the clinician’s professional experience, and the patient’s preferences when considering health care options.
biopsychosocial approach
a theoretical framework that takes into account biological, psychological and social influences on health and illness.
What did Kraeplin assist in?
He assumed that by considering the entire range of symptoms exhibited by the patient, it should be possible to identify the precise disorder from which he or she was suffering. Helped form what is now DSM5.
syndrome
group of symptoms that frequently co-occur.
clinical utility
usefulness of assessment data to provide information that leads to a clinical outcome that is better (or faster or less expensive} than would be the case if the psychologist did not have the assessment data.
service evaluation
activities designed to examine whether or not services work.
Meta-analysis
a review technique by which groups of studies are statistically combined and compared.
efficacy
evidence that a treatment has been shown to work under research conditions that emphasized internal validity.
effectiveness
evidence that a treatment has been shown to work in real-world conditions.
clinical consultation
the provision of information, advice and recommendations about how best to assess, understand or treat a client.
organizational consultation
services to an organization focused on developing a prevention or intervention program, evaluating how well an organization is doing in providing health care or related service, or providing an opinion on policies on health care services set by an organization.
Two Pillars of Clinical Psychology
Science and Ethics. Risk and benefit ratio of treatment informed by research evidence.
practicum
the initial supervised training in the provision of psychological services that is a requirement of the doctoral degree; usually part-time.
