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What is Clinical Psychology? Nature and scope of Clinical Psychology

What is Clinical Psychology? Nature and Scope of Clinical Psychology

Clinical psychology is a fascinating and critical field that merges science, theory, and clinical knowledge to understand, prevent, and relieve psychological distress or dysfunction, enhancing individuals' well-being. In this post, we’ll explore essential concepts in clinical psychology, from defining the discipline to understanding its historical development, core constructs, and scope of practice.

Learning Outcomes

In this article, you will be able to:

  • Understand the definition and the basics of clinical psychology.
  • Explore the nature of clinical psychology.
  • Learn about the scope of Clinical Psychology.
  • Discover the diverse scope and activities of clinical psychologists.

Introduction

Clinical psychology is an applied branch of psychology which is related to the description, classification, diagnosis and prognosis of mental illnesses.

Clinical psychology is mainly related to the diagnosis and treatment of illnesses. Clinical psychologists treat patients in mental hospitals or private treatment homes. Depending on the severity of the illness, treatment is done in two ways.
Patients who suffer from serious mental illnesses are admitted to mental hospitals and treated. Here, all the needs and facilities of the patient are taken care of. There are some patients who do not require constant care. An attempt is made to understand the problems of such patients and treat them in the shortest possible time. Such monthly hospitals are also called out-patient treatment homes.

Defining Clinical Psychology

Despite the fact that the psychology as a separate discipline is about only one hundred years old, it is being taught as one of the most popular undergraduate course in many universities around the world. In recent times, clinical psychology is the field with highest popularity. So we must know exactly what is clinical psychology?

As defined by American Psychological Association, clinical psychology attempts to apply the principals of psychology so to predict & understand emotional, psychological, behavioural, intellectual, biological & social aspects of functioning of humans.
Clinical psychology is also aimed at the analysis, treatment & prevention from psychological disabilities or disorders & enhancement of adjustment & effectiveness as defined by Rodnick (1985, p.1929). Clinical psychology applies the already known principles of human behaviour help them to adjust to their hectic daily hassles or modify any abnormal and maladaptipe behaviour. For instance, a clinical psychologist may conduct a test and assess a school child on various educational tests to make a prognosis that whether the child is gifted or not, so to provide him with special care and treatments & educational programs to make sure the msximum use of his potentials.Thus clinical psychology can be applied successfuly and effectively to treat Hallucinations, substance abuse, suicidal attempts, depressive symptoms, eating problems, head injuries etc
Davison and Neale (1996) have given a brief definition of clinical psychology which is quite satisfactory. According to them, "Clinical psychology is a special field of psychology which is related to the study of mental disorder, its cause, prevention and treatment." "Clincal psychology is the special area of psychology concerned with the study of psychopathology, its causes, prevention and treatment." - Davison and Neals, 1996 P.5.5
Some definitions of clinical psychology given by psychologists also shed clear light on the nature of clinical psychology. According to Resnick (1991), the official definition of clinical psychology given by the Division of Clinical Psychology of APA is as follows, "The field of clinical psychology involves research, teaching and services relevant to the applications of principals, methods and procedure for understanding, predicting and alleviating insillechnal, emotional, biological, psychological, pociae and behavioural maladjustment, disability and disconfort applied to a wide range of client populations" Resnick: The Clinical Psychology, 1991, 44.p.3 Similarly, Davison and Neale (1996) have given a brief definition of clinical psychology which is quite satisfactory. According to them, "Clinical psychology is a special field of psychology which is related to the study of mental disorder, its cause, prevention and treatment." "Clincal psychology is the special area of psychology concerned with the study of psychopathology, its causes, prevention and treatment." - Davison and Neals, 1996 P.5.5 (Apart from these definitions, Watson (1951), Ratter (1971), Goldenbert (1973), Korchin (1986), Saccuzzo & Kaplan (1984) etc. have also defined clinical psychology.

Nature of clinical psychology

The nature of clinical psychology becomes even more clear by the analysis of these definitions, which can be seen in the following order.

(i) Clinical Psychology is an applied Psychology:

Practically Psychology means that which presents solutions to practical problems in the light of the principles and rules made by pure psychology. Clinical psychology also solves the practical problems of mental patients. In order to solve it, it uses the principles and rules of pure psychology.

(ii) Clinical Psychology attempts to understand the uniqueness of the client:

The aim of clinical psychology is to understand the unique behaviour of the client. To fulfil this aim clinical psychologists do research and use the principles and laws of psychology.

(iii) Clinical Psychology attempts to assess the abilities and characteristics of individual:

Clinical psychologists assess the abilities and characteristics of the patient using necessary tests (terms) and techniques. This helps in understanding the symptoms of the patient's disease. According to Bernstein and Nietzel (1978), one of the characteristics of clinical psychology is that under it the individual abilities and characteristics of the individual are assessed.

(iv) Clinical Psychology attempts to help people suffering from psychological difficulties:

Clinical psychology aims to help people who suffer from psychological difficulties. In other words, it can be said that the aim of clinical psychology is to provide psychological help, i.e., treatment to people suffering from mental distress.

(v) Clinical Psychology is concerned with diagnosis, prognosis and treatment:

Clinical psychology is concerned with the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of the symptoms of a patient suffering from mental disorder.

(vi) Clinical Psychology is based on clinical attitude or clinical approach:

Clinical Psychology is based on clinical attitude or clinical approach. In clinical psychology, attitude or approach towards clinical problems of a particular person is important. This particular person is always seen from clinical point of view. This is not found in other branches of clinical psychology. This characteristic makes clinical psychology unique.

🌊 Bernstein and Nietzel (1978) have also considered clinical attitude or clinical approach as an exclusive feature of clinical psychology.
(vii) Clinical Psychology is concerned with psychological adjustment:

According to Rotter (1971), clinical psychology is concerned with the study of various aspects of psychological adjustment of a person and efforts are made to enhance the person's prosociality. In short, it can be said that clinical psychology is an applied branch under which emotional and behavioral problems are diagnosed and treated. Mental illness, mental weakness, juvenile delinquency, marital and family conflicts, drug addiction, criminal behavior etc. are such problems towards which clinical psychologists have a special attitude which Korchin (1986) has called clinical attitude. For information and understanding of emotional and behavioral problems, emphasis is laid on the study of personality dynamics.

Scope of Clinical Psychology:

Every science has a definite area or subject area which reveals its work and usefulness in different directions and areas. As an applied branch, clinical psychology has developed more than other psychologies.It has grown rapidly over the decades. These days clinical psychology has developed as a profession. Its scope can be estimated by reviewing the various levels of work done by clinical psychologists. In this direction, the survey work done by Garfield and Kurtz (Garfield and Kurtz, 1976) and Norcross and Prochaska (Norcross & Prochaska, 1982) is noteworthy. They selected a group of clinical psychologists who were members of Division 12 of the American Psychological Association (APA), i.e., Division of Clinical Psychology. Each of them was sent a questionnaire by post in which they had to mention the main scope of a clinical psychologist. In the survey, about 800 clinical psychologists filled out the questionnaire and returned it. Similarly, Norcross and Prochaska described the main scope of clinical psychology in the form of answers to questions given in a questionnaire. In the light of these studies, Phares (1984) has mentioned the following scope of clinical psychology-

Activities of a Clinical Psychologist

Psychotherapy

🌊Psychotherapy occupies a prominent place in the field of clinical psychology. About 80% of clinical psychologists are engaged in psychotherapy.
Psychotherapy is a major method used in clinical psychology through which diagnosis and treatment of diseases is possible. There are many types or techniques of psychotherapy, among which psychoanalytic therapy, client-centred therapy, behaviour therapy, group therapy, rational emotive therapy etc. are prominent. According to Herink (1980), there are about 250 different types of therapy which clinical psychologists use directly or indirectly. Psychotherapy can be done both individually and in a group. There is no fixed duration for this therapy. Some patients get benefited in just two-three months, while some patients take years. This work of psychotherapy can be done by keeping the patient in the hospital or by calling the patient to his residence. The nature of psychotherapy is remedial, the aim of which is to solve the current problem of the patient. Some psychotherapy is also preventive in nature, the aim of which is to prevent the emotional and prosocial problems from arising in the person. Today, clinical psychologists are identified in the general public as a psychiatrist.

Diagnosis and Assessment

🌊Diagnosis and assessment of disease is the most important area of work in clinical psychology in which about 73.8% of clinical psychologists are employed.
Diagnosis means identifying the symptoms and classification of abnormality of the patient on the basis of observed qualities and characteristics. According to Williamson (1950), diagnosis is a brief summary of the problems of the person, their causes and other important qualities, which also implies the inner power to make adjustments and maladjustments. Assessment is the process by which various types of information about the person are collected, the purpose of which is to solve the problem. For assessment, clinical psychologists use diagnostic methods, observation, interview, case history method and psychological tests.

Teaching

🌊Teaching is a major field of work for clinical psychologists, in which about 61.7% clinical psychologists perform teaching work on full-time and part-time basis.
Under this, clinical psychologists teach subjects like testing, clinical interview, psychotherapy, personality theory, experimental clinical psychology, etc. Mostly it is based on lecture method but it is also done on one-to-one supervisory basis. Sometimes parapsychologists go to the community and conduct workshops on various topics for police officers, social workers, provincial officers. In this way, clinical psychologists work at various levels in the field of education and benefit the society.

Research

Research is an important area of work for clinical psychologists.In the field of clinical psychology, new theories, techniques etc. are established and created every day.

🌊About 52.7% of clinical psychologists are involved in research work. Through research, clinical psychologists gain new knowledge in different fields. Their research is mostly in the field of personality theory, development and validation of evaluation techniques, evaluation of therapeutic techniques.
These researches are mainly published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Psychological Assessment and Journal of Abnormal Psychology. In India too, scientific research in the field of clinical psychology is being promoted in various universities and institutes so that new methods and theories emerge in this branch of psychology so that clinical psychologists can get maximum help in understanding and treating the emotional problems of a person.

Consultation

Consultation is also a major field of work of clinical psychologists in which about 67.4% of clinical psychologists give special importance to this work. Consultation work is mostly related to teaching work. Consultation is a process in which a clinical psychologist tries to solve the problems of another person by giving some special kind of information to him on the basis of his knowledge and skills. Clinical psychologists have to do many types of consultation work. They give advice to industrial or commercial organizations and to their colleagues and other agencies. In an industrial or commercial organization, clinical consultants may be asked to give advice on the measures to motivate the executives of the organization. Similarly, they may be asked to give advice to increase the effectiveness of an organization. The nature of consultation is sometimes remedial and sometimes preventive. The service of some clinical consultants is obtained on a part-time basis and the service of some on a full-time basis, sometimes by spending appropriate money. In this regard D. Phares (1983) has rightly said that "Counselling, whatever the circumstances in which it is given or whatever its specific purpose, has today become a meaningful task for many clinical psychologists." "Consulting, regardless of the setting in which it occurs or the particular purpose it has, has become a significant activity of many clinical psychologists today (swensen at, 1978)" - Phares: clinical psychology, 1983, P.13.

Administration and management

Administration and management work also comes under the work area of clinical psychologists. In this field, apart from day to day work, some important administrative work has to be done which includes looking at files and giving proper instructions etc. The reason given behind getting administrative work done by clinical psychologists is that they have more sensitivity, interpersonal skills and research expertise etc. Head of psychology department, director of training program, director of student counseling center, superintendent of school system, chief psychologist of a hospital or treatment center, community psychologist.The job of a community mental health director falls under the administrative and management related work area of clinical psychologists. According to a study by Norcross and his colleagues (Norcross etal, 1989), clinical psychologists spend about 16% of their time in administrative and management work.

Mental Health Team

Comprehensive & good evaluation, assessment, diagnosis & treatment of patient’s problems involve a number of professionals who may gather information from several sources & help patient via varying perspectives. A patient may require having contact with various mental health professionals & social agencies, which then interact with each other in order to integrate all the available information to finally arrive at a treatment plan. These professionals may include clinical psychologist, counseling psychologist, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse, psychiatric socialworker etc.

Clinical Psychologist

A professionally trained person who on a daily basis deals with the issues of diagnosis & treatments of mental disorders is a clinical psychologist. They may also have the abilities to conduct researches on the diagnosis, assessment & treatment of these disorders along with exploring their causes or origins. Such practitioners are been trained to use the verbal methods of speech to persuade people to change their ways of feeling, thinking & behaving in order to reduce the levels of their distress & anxiety; a method popularly known as psychotherapy. They may achieve a graduation degree & pursue PhD in clinical psychology. They can be found practicing in hospital, university, mental health care center, clinics, juvenile court etc.

Counseling Psychologist

The work of a counseling psychologist may look similar to a clinical psychologist but actually they focus less on mental disorders & more on the daily life problems. They may deal with a person’s adjustment problems, education, prevention etc. They can be found practicing in various industries, schools, community health centers etc.

Psychiatrist

A psychiatrist needs to have a M.B.B.S & M.D degrees from a medical school with specialization in the field of psychiatry. They generally adopt a biological point of view to assess the causes of psychological disorders, diagnosis & treatment of the patient. They are ultimately responsible for interview & examination of hospitalized patients, & to decide & supervise the type of treatment/treatments to be used.

Psychiatric Nurse

Generally functioning as an immediate assistant to the psychiatrist, a psychiatric nurse may also help other members of the staff in developing & executing a plan for the treatment of the patient. Before practicing they should have a bachelor or master level of training in nursing but an additional specialization may help them to allow prescribing psychoactive medicines to patients. Observing the changes in the patient status, caring for patient, advising psychiatrists are some of the works of a psychiatric nurse.

Psychiatric Social Worker

A psychiatric social worker needs to earn a master’s degree in social work. He is responsible to explore the social, cultural, familial & other environmental conditions of the patient with the psychological disorder. They may also treat disorders but with a primary focus on the family & social problems of the individual.

Summary

Clinical psychology is a modern and essential field that contributes to making out and treating mental health issues. It involves various approaches and methods to defining abnormality and operates within a broad scope, from treatment to research. By working in a siruation where a team of professionals, clinical psychologists help foster a better understanding of mental well-being and behavioural issues.Clinical psychology try to utilize the principals of psychology to predict & understand emotional, psychological, behavioural, intellectual, biological & social aspects of functioning of human beings.According to DSM-IV-TR abnormality as cognitive, behavioral or emotional dysfunctions which are not expected in the context of their culture & that may lead to a personal distress or significant impairment of functioning. As far as the biological view of abnormality is concerned,the abnormal behaviours are due to the physical illness in a person’s body. The reason behind abnormal behaviours, thinking & emotions are biological dysfunctions. Psychodynamic perspective gives emphasis on the unconscious psychic forces & sexual impulses that led to an individual’s personality. According to this theory psychological problem, like hysteria, involves unconscious motives & conflicts that can be traced back to childhood. Humanistic approach proposed that every human has an inborn striving for self actualization i.e. the highest realization of one’s potentials. When this tendency to self actualize is hindered by environment it may result in a distorted self image & thereby abnormality. A number of mental helth professionals who may gather information from several sources & help patient via a number of perspectives and methodes. These professionals may include clinical psychologist, counseling psychologist, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse, psychiatric social worker etc. Some of the activities of the clinical psychologist are - assessment, treatment, teaching, consultation, administration, & research.

🔍 References & Citations
  • Cherry, K. (2023). The Everything Psychology Book. New York: Adams Media.
  • APA (2022). Culture and Psychology. American Psychological Association.
  • Korchin (1984). Modern Clinical Psychology.
  • Maslow, A.H. (1943). “A Theory of Human Motivation.” Psychological Review.

     

Writer's image
 By Abdur Rahim,
MA Psychology, MA English, B.Ed, D.El.Ed

Abdur Rahim is the founder of the platform 'Psyurge'. He is a multifaceted artist,educator, and writer. He is a renowned Shershabadia singer, songwriter, and composer, celebrated for his contributions to the preservation and modernization of Shershabadia pop,rap,and folk culture.

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