Clinical Psychology: Definition and Training

Clinical Psychology: Definition and Training

• Clinical psychology was first termed in 1907.
• Lightner Witmer defined clinical psychology as a discipline similar to medicine, education, and sociology.
• A clinical psychologist works with others involving treatment, education, and interpersonal issues.
• Clinical psychology integrates science, theory, and practice to understand, predict, and alleviate maladjustment, disability, and discomfort
• The field promotes human adaptation, adjustment, and personal development.
• Clinical psychology focuses on intellectual, emotional, biological, psychological, social, and behavioral aspects of human functioning.
• Foci across the life span, in varying cultures, and at all socioeconomic levels.
• Clinical psychology involves rigorous study and applied practice to understand and improve the human experience, including issues of behavior, emotions, or intellect.
• Becoming a Clinical Psychologist require a Doctoral Degree, with entry often after a Bachelor's.
• A "Terminal" Master Degree has 4 years intensive Full-time classes, that involve conducting research, either for a master's thesis or Doctoral Dissertation, with hands on training and Predoctoral Internship

The Three Distinct Training Models

• The Scientist-Practitioner Model is a dominant method aiming for a balanced approach to train effective clinicians and researchers.
• It emphasizes research methodology, statistics, and independent research.
• Graduate students conduct both clinical work and their own empirical research, completing a thesis and dissertation under supervision.
• Graduate programs are housed in psychology departments at universities, awarding a PhD degree.
• The Practitioner-Scholar (Vail) Model was developed due to research emphasis concerns in the Scientist-Practitioner Model.
• Clinical skills and professional practice take priority over extensive research training.
• Focus is more on coursework directly related to clinical practice, like psychotherapy techniques, assessment procedures, and diagnosis.
• The PsyD degree emerged as an alternative to the traditional Ph.D.
• The Clinical Scientist Model prioritizes rigorous scientific research and training and argues that scientific principles should be the foundation of all clinical psychology practice.
• A strong dedication to research methodology, conducting independent research, and significantly contributing to the existing clinical psychology knowledge base.
• You would typically receive a Ph.D. degree
• Graduate programs want students to know professional options, earn high grades in undergraduate courses, know professors, gain research experience, and get clinically relevant experience.
• You need to maximize your GRE score
• You need to select graduate programs wisely, write effective personal statements, prepare for admissions interviews, and consider long-term goals.

Internship Information

• A Predoctoral Internship is a full-year, supervised clinical experience in a real-world setting before earning a doctoral degree and it is a transition from student to professional, for in depth, practical experience and specialized skill development.
• A Postdoctoral Internship is a 1-2 year supervised clinical experience after the doctoral degree and its purpose is further specialized training and development of clinical skills, with increase responsibility and independence
• You must meet licensure requirements in most states
• Complete a doctoral program, predoctoral internship, and postdoctoral internship, pass the EPPP (Examination for Professional Practice), and take CEU or Continuing Education Units to get licensed.

Clinical Psychology Workplaces

• Clinical Psychologists can work in a number of settings, private practice is the most common, and has been since the 1980's.
• Other places to work are, Universities, Psychiatric and general hospitals or Community mental health centers,

Clinical Psychology vs Other Professions

• Counseling Psychologists see less seriously disturbed clients and work less in inpatient hospitals or units. Tend to endorse humanism more
• They are often more interested in vocational and career counseling.
• Psychiatrists go to medical school, are medical physicians, have the ability to prescribe medication and are increasingly emphasizing biological/pharmaceutical rather than "talk therapy" intervention
• Social Workers emphasizes social factors in client's problems, earn a master's degree and their training emphasizes treatment and fieldwork compared to formalized assessment.
• School Psychologists work in schools, have a limited professional focus, often conduct school related testing, determining LD and ADHD diagnoses.
• Marriage and Family Therapist earn a master's degree, training focuses on working with couples and families, and less emphasis on research and psychological assessment is compared to clinical psychologists

Evolution of Clinical Psychology

• From the 1700s to 1800s Persons with mental illness were often viewed as possessed or deserving of their conditions.
• They were frequently rejected and often placed in prison.
• William Tuke (1732 - 1822) opened the york retreat residential treatment center where the mentally ill would always be cared with kindness, dignity, and decency.
• Philippe Pinel (1745 - 1826) moved those with mental illnesses out of dungeons in Paris.
• Eli Todd (1769 - 1833) raise funds to open The Retreat in Hartford, Connecticut, and in 1824.
• Dorothea Dix (1802 - 1887) collected data on the treatment of the mentally ill, present her data to local community leaders, and persuade them to treat the mentally ill more humanely and adequately.
• Lightner Witmer founded the first psychological clinic at the University of Pennsylvania, applying science of psychology to people's problems systematically and intentionally.
• Clinical Psychology requires a specially trained professional that would work collaboratively

Diagnostic Categorization

• Neurosis is have psychiatric symptoms while maintaining an intact grasp of reality (Example: Anxiety and depression)
• Psychosis is a break from reality in the form of hallucinations, delusions, or grossly disorganized thinking (Example: Schizophrenia)
• Emil Kraepelin is the father of descriptive psychiatry and he offered a different two-category system of mental illness
• Kraepelin's offer specific terminology such as paranoia, manic depressive psychosis, involutional melancholia, cyclothymic personality, and autistic personality
• Exogenous Disorder is Caused by an external factor and is more treatable. While an Endogenous Disorder is Caused by internal factors (Ex. imbalances in serotonin)

DSM History

• Publishing of DSM was in 1952 by the American Psychiatric Association, with version II not significantly different from the original
• DSM III signified an entirely new way of thinking about mental disorders (provide specific diagnostic criteria)
• DSM III- R allowed individuals to be rated on five dimensions or axes
• DSM-IV removed the distinction between organically based disorders and psychologically based disorders
• DSM-IV-TR helped clarify many diagnosis-related issues
• DSM-5 removed multiaxial system. Categories are based on empirical findings to identify the criteria for each diagnosis
• Alfred Binet with Theodore Simon created the "Binet-Simon Scale" in 1905 so compare mental age to chronological age. Calculated by divinding mental age with chronological age and multiplying by 100
• Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale - Binet's test was revised by Lewis Terman in 1937
• Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS - 1955)
• Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC)
• Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI)

Personality Assessing

• Rorschach Inkblot Test was Created by Hermann Rorschach
• Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) was created by Christiana Morgan and Henry Murray
• TAT cards cards depicted people in scenes or situations

Objective Personality Test

• Scoring and interpretation were more straightforward because of multiple choice or true/false
• Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was published in 1943 consisting of 550 true/ false statements
• In 1989, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) was released because norms were more appropriate and eliminated some of the outdated or confusing language
• In 1992 was the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent [MMPI-A] In the Mid-20th century, psychotherapy rose to a more prominent place in clinical psychology, the psychodynamic approach to therapy dominated.
• In the 1650s and 1960s, Behaviorism, with its Emphasized empirical Emphasis, with problems and progress measured in observable, quantifiable terms.

Development of Profession

• 1917: The American Association of Clinical Psychologists
• 1919: it transitioned into the Clinical Section of the American Psychological Association.
• 1921: The Psychological Corporation was founded
• 1949: The historic Boulder conference took place, to agree that both practice and research both essential facets of PhD clinical psychology training

Current Controversies and Directions in Clinical Psychology

Prescriptive Authority?

• Shortage of psychiatrists makes Clinical psychologists more qualified than primary care physicians.
• With Conveniences for clients and revenue for the profession
• However There are training issue. With potential influence of the pharmaceutical industry?
• And potential threats to psychotherapy and identidy confusion

EBPs / Manualized Therapy

• Those favoring EBPs prioritizes scientifically validated treatments(EBPs). Which Critics argue EBPs may limit flexibility and The debate centers on balancing scientific rigor and personalized care.
• Since the 1980s, research on manualized therapies has grown
• APA created list emphasizing research, clinician expertise, client factors
• Client preferences are crucial, success, fewer dropouts
• Advantages: Scientific legitimacy and Decreased reliance
• Diadvantages: Diagnostic Complications and Restrictions

Online Psychology

• Application in clinical psychology allows client interviews or treatments with videoconferencing emails and interactive sites and virtual-reality techniques which is accesible and affordable
• Telepsychology is as effective as tradditional therapy

Recent diversity emphasis

• Journals include cultural articles in Clinical Psychology
• DSM notes that key aspects should reflect culture

Defining Culture

• Narrow definitions focus on race with broad ones being cultural
• Culture is about communication, adaptation, and language
• And being open about your language and cultural awareness

Clinical Psychology, Ethical

• Confidentiality and consent are important
• Informed consent is about giving opportunity to be knowledgeable
• Avoid burnout and maintain boundaries
• Cultural Sensitivity and ethics in the small communites

Explore the origins and definition of clinical psychology, first termed in 1907 by Lightner Witmer. Encompassing treatment, education, and interpersonal issues, clinical psychology integrates science, theory, and practice. This field aims to understand, predict, and improve human adaptation, adjustment, and personal development across various aspects of life.