What is Clinical Psychology?

Question 1

Clinical psychology

Answer 1

Branch of psychology dedicated to the
understanding and treatment of
psychological problems. (Newer addition: Building upon psychological strengths)

Question 2

Mental health

Answer 2

Cognitive, emotional, and social well-being.
Statistics (WHO,2018)
1 in 4 adults in the USA meet criteria for a psychological disorder
Half of all psychological disorders begin before age 14
800,000 people complete suicide every year

Question 3

Barriers to accessing mental healthcare

Answer 3

1. Individual and national income
2. Provider availability
3. Resource availability
4. Stigma

Question 4

Clinical psychology activities

Answer 4

Therapy, assessment, research, teaching, administration, consultation, rehabilitation, prevention, testifying, and supervision.

Question 5

Clinical psychology settings

Answer 5

University, out/inpatient clinic, hospital, counseling center, medical school, military, prison, rehab center, corporation, and government.

Question 6

Activities: mean % of time

Answer 6

35% psychotherapy
15% assessment
14% research
13% administration
10% teaching
7% consultation
6% supervision

Question 7

Sub-specialties

Answer 7

1. Child clinical psychology
2. Clinical health psychology
3. Clinical neuropsychology
4. Forensic psychology
5. Geropsychology

Question 8

Child clinical psychology

Answer 8

Focus on children and families

Question 9

Clinical health psychology

Answer 9

Focus on psychological aspects of health concerns and habits

Question 10

Clinical neuropsychology

Answer 10

Assess neural and behavioral functioning, make recommendations to manage impairments

Question 11

Forensic psychology

Answer 11

Focus on criminal justice

Question 12

Geropsychology

Answer 12

Focus on the elderly

Question 13

Related clinical psychology fields

Answer 13

1. Counseling psychology
2. School psychology
3. Social work
4. Psychiatry

Question 14

Counseling psychology

Answer 14

Focus on life transitions, identity (multiculturalism) and support. Can diagnose, but does not include formal assessment process.

Question 15

School psychology

Answer 15

Psychoeducational assessment and intervention in school setting. School counselors cannot assess but can provide intervention, while school psychologists can assess and intervene, and can also diagnose learning disorders (ADHD) and mood disorders within the context of the school setting.

Question 16

Social work

Answer 16

Broadly support social welfare.
Macro: government agency, broad scope organizations
Micro: within government agency, individual therapy
Need your Master’s degree to provide therapy; need to get licensed/certified to become a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW)

Question 17

Psychiatry

Answer 17

Prescribe psychiatric medications, hold brief client sessions. Go to med school to get an M.D. (pre-med requirements need to be met). They do not provide therapy, contrary to false belief. Some do lots of appointments, some work in different settings like inpatient facilities.

Question 18

What does it take to be a clinical psychologist?

Answer 18

Curriculum Vitae (CV) that includes: 
1. Degree from accredited institution (usually)
a. Doctoral degree (Ph.D., Psy.D.)
b. Master’s degree (e.g., MFT, LCSW)
2. Supervised practicum experience
3. Licensure or certification (if wanting to practice)
4. Relevant experience
Personal qualities including:
1. Motivation (intrinsic)
2. Perseverance (as well as flexibility)
3. Openness to learning

Question 19

Stereotypical personal qualities of clinical psychologists

Answer 19

Empathy, compassion, warmth, extraversion, and advice-giving. These can be beneficial to being a clinical psychologist but are not required.
Excessive empathy can make setting boundaries difficult, can lead to becoming too emotionally invested to help the person. Similarly, excessive compassion can cloud the clinician’s judgment and blur relationship lines. Some clinicians are warm and that can be beneficial to their practice, but many interpersonal styles are useful for being a clinical psychotherapist. It is not necessary to be extraverted - introverts and people who are less extraverted can be clinical psychologists. The point of therapy is to guide the clients to give themselves the advice they need and to increase their insight through collaboration.

Question 20

Getting the degree

Answer 20

Acceptance rates:
1. Ph.D.: 3-10% of applications are accepted
2. M.A.: 40% of applications are accepted
Difficulty of getting accepted into graduate school for Ph.D. clinical psychology increases based on the # of applicants. Lots of people apply to clinical programs who are not qualified enough to meet the basic requirements.
There has been a greater change in M.A. programs compared to Ph.D. programs, with M.A. programs increasing by 55% and Ph.D. programs increasing by 30% between 2004-2013.
Master’s programs take less time, are often less competitive programs, and are less expensive than Ph.D. programs. The availability of Master’s programs is increasing as a result of their growing popularity and the inflation of education.

Question 21

What does society think about clinical psychology?

Answer 21

Psychology = clinical psych = therapy
- in reality, there are so many subfields and clinical psych is just one. Not all clinical psychologists do therapy, you can do so much more!
Society thinks that clinical psychology is not connected to research (+ Freudian)
- there is a perception that clinical psychology is not fact-based, which is not actually the case! Lots of statistics and data are used/needed for empirical research to inform the work that clinical psychologists do.
Easy education/career path
- the psychology major is rigorous! Being a clinical psychologist requires hard work and dedication. Career paths are varied and can require further education and specialization.
Pop culture representations typically show clinical psychologists only working as therapists. It does not take into account their role as researchers, administrators, supervisors, etc.