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.
internship/residency
the period of supervised training in the provision of psychological services that is a requirement of the doctoral degree; sometimes referred to as residency; usually a one year, full time period.
informed consent
an ethical principle to ensure that the person who is offered services or who participates in research understands what is being done and agrees to participate.
scientist-practitioner model
a training model that emphasizes competencies in both research and provision of psychological services.
clinical-scientist model
a training model that strongly promotes the development of research skills.
practitioner-scholar model
a training model that emphasizes clinical skills and competencies as a research consumer.
accreditation
a process designed to ensure that training programs maintain standards that meet the profession’s expectations for the education of clinical psychologists.
licensure
regulation to ensure minimal requirements for academic and clinical training are met and that practitioners provide ethical and competent services; regulation of the profession helps to ensure the public is protected when receiving services.
classification validity
the extent to which the principles used in classifying and entity are effective in capturing the nature of an entity.
classification utility
the usefulness of a classification scheme.
categorical approach to classification
an entity is determined to either be a member of a category or not.
dimensional approach to classification
classified entities differ in the extent to which they possess certain characteristics or properties.
diagnostic system
a classification based on rules used to organize and understand diseases and disorders.
diagnosis
the result in applying the decision-making rules of a diagnostic system to the symptoms of a specific individual.
prototype model
members of a diagnostic category may differ in the degree to which they represent the concepts underlying the category.
developmental psychology
a framework for understanding problem behaviour in relation to the milestones that are specific to each stage of a person’s development.
dyscontrol
the impairment resulting from a disorder must be involuntarily or not readily controlled.
internal validity
the extent to which the interpretations drawn from the results of a study can be justified and alternative interpretations can be reasonably ruled out.
external validity
the extent to which the interpretations drawn from the results of a study can be generalized beyond the narrow boundaries of a specific study.
statistical conclusion validity
the extent to which the results of a study are accurate and valid based on the type of statistical procedures used in the research.
factor analysis
a statistical procedure used to determine the conceptual dimensions or factors that underlie a set of variables, test items, or tests.
moderator
a variable that influences the strength of the relation between a predictor variable and a criterion variable.
mediator
a variable that explains the mechanism by which a predictor variable influences a criterion variable.
structural equation modelling
a comprehensive statistical procedure that involves testing all components of a theoretical model.
randomized controlled trial
an experiment in which research participants are randomly assigned to one or two or more treatment conditions.
clinical significance
in addition to the results of a study attaining statistical significance, the results are of a magnitude that there are changes in some aspects of participants’ daily functioning.
effect size
a standardized metric, typically expressed in standard deviation units or correlations, that allows the results of research studies to be combined and analyzed.
