Topic 1-3

• Clinical psychology


  Integrates science, theory, and practice to understand, predict, and alleviate maladjustment, disability, and discomfort as well as to promote human adaptation, adjustment, and personal development
• Clinical psychology


  • Focuses on the intellectual, emotional, biological, psychological, social, and behavioral aspects of human functioning across the life span, in varying cultures, and at all socioeconomic levels
• Clinical psychology


  Branch of psychology that focuses on developing assessment strategies and interventions to deal with maladjustment or psychopathology
• Professional activities of clinical psychologists

  • Psychotherapy
  • Assessment
  • Education
• When many people hear of a "psychologist," they immediately think of a "clinical psychologist" practicing psychotherapy or assessment
• The discipline of clinical psychology simply didn't exist until around the turn of the 20th century, and it didn't rise to prominence for decades after that
• William Tuke


  • Raised funds to open the York Retreat, a residential treatment center where the mentally ill would always be cared for with kindness, dignity, and decency
• Philippe Pinel


  • Created new institutions in which patients were not kept in chains or beaten but, rather, were given healthy food and benevolent treatment
  • Advocated for the staff to include in their treatment of each patient a case history, ongoing treatment notes, and an illness classification of some kind
• Eli Todd


  • Physician in Connecticut in 1800
  • Able to raise funds to open The Retreat in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1824
  • He and his staff emphasized patients' strengths rather than weaknesses, and they allowed patients to have significant input in their own treatment decisions
• Dorothea Dix


  • Devoted the rest of her life to improving the lives and treatment of the mentally ill
  • Typically, she would travel to a city, collect data on its treatment of the mentally ill, present her data to local community leaders, and persuade them to treat the mentally ill more humanely and adequately
• Tuke, Pinel, Todd, and Dix DID NOT create clinical psychology
• Their efforts do, however, represent a movement prevalent through much of the Western world in the 1700s and 1800s that promoted the fundamental message that people with mental illness deserve respect, understanding, and help rather than contempt, fear, and punishment
• Lightner Witmer


  • He introduced the term "clinical psychology" and is often credited with founding the field that it describes
  • Founded the first psychological clinic at the University of Pennsylvania in 1896
  • Encouraged colleagues to open their own clinics —to "throw light upon the problems that confront humanity"
  • Worked with children whose problems arose in school settings and were related to learning or behavior
• Elements of culture


  • Ethnicity
  • Race
  • Socioeconomic status
  • Gender
  • Religion
  • Age
  • Political affiliation
• Multiculturalism (Fourth Force)


  • Clinical psychologists have recognized that the people who might seek their professional services represent a growing variety of cultural backgrounds
  • Culture shapes the way the client understands the very problem for which he or she is seeking help
• Respect for the Dignity of Persons and Peoples

  The most fundamental and universally found ethical principle across geographical and cultural boundaries, and across professional disciplines
• Cultural competence


  The counselor's acquisition of awareness, knowledge, and skills needed to function effectively in a pluralistic democratic society . . . and on an organizational/societal level, advocating effectively to develop new theories, practices, policies, and organizational structures that are more responsive to all groups
• Cultural self-awareness


  • Learning about one's culture
  • We come to understand that our viewpoint is unique and idiosyncratic
  • Explore our own biases and take steps toward minimizing them and the negative impact they might have on our clients
• Knowledge of diverse cultures

  • Know your client's culture
  • Learning through reading, direct experiences, interactions with people in various cultures, etc.
  • Do not assume that every individual is typical of his or her cultural group
• Culturally appropriate clinical skills

  • Develop suitable strategies for assessment and treatment
  • The approaches and techniques that a psychologist uses should be consistent with the values and life experience of that client
  • Practice cultural adaptation of treatments with empirical support (e.g. guided imagery)
• Microaggressions


  Comments or actions made in a cross-cultural context that convey prejudicial, negative, or stereotypical beliefs and may suggest dominance or superiority of one group over another
• Are we all alike or are we all different?
• Tripartite model of personal identity

  • Individual level: "all individuals are, in some respects, like no other individuals"
  • Group level: "all individuals are, in some respects, like some other individuals"
  • Universal level: "all individuals are, in some respects, like all other individuals"
• Code of ethics


  • Reflect professional concerns and define the guiding principles of professional activities
  • Helps clarify the professional's responsibilities to clients, to the public and society, and to colleagues, the profession, and self
  • Adherence to ethical principles in the context of their work contributes to a stable society that enhances the quality of life for all human beings
• Ethical principles


  • Beneficence and Non-maleficence
  • Fidelity and Responsibility
  • Integrity
  • Justice
  • Respect for People's Rights and Dignity
• Confidentiality


  • The psychologist's assurance that information the client divulges will remain between the two of them
  • If information is to be shared, it will be shared only with those designated by the client
  • Confidentiality may breached if: 1) Danger to self and others, and/or 2) Suspicion of abuse/neglect
  • Relative confidentiality refers to the informal sharing of information that occurs in an agency or organizational setting among co-workers or treatment team members and supervisors
• When the Client Is a Child or Adolescent, therapists often negotiate an arrangement with their clients and their parents whereby the parents will not expect to be informed of what the client discloses in therapy except under specified conditions
• Informed consent


  It ensures the person with whom the psychologist is working the opportunity to become knowledgeable about the activities in which they may participate, and it facilitates an educated decision. It is an ongoing process rather than a one-time event
• Boundaries and multiple relationships


  Occurs when a psychologist is in a professional role with a person and (1) at the same time is in another role with the same person, (2) at the same time is in a relationship with a person closely associated with or related to the person with whom the psychologist has the professional relationship, or (3) promises to enter into another relationship in the future with the person or a person closely associated with or related to the person
• What makes multiple relationships unethical? A psychologist refrains from entering into a multiple relationship if the multiple relationship could reasonably be expected to impair the psychologist's objectivity, competence, or effectiveness in performing his or her functions as a psychologist, or otherwise risks exploitation or harm to the person with whom the professional relationship exists. Multiple relationships that would not reasonably be expected to cause impairment or risk exploitation or harm are not unethical.
• Competence


  • Competent clinical psychologists are those who are sufficiently capable, skilled, experienced, and expert to adequately complete the professional tasks they undertake
  • When psychologists become aware of personal problems that may interfere with their performing work-related duties adequately, they take appropriate measures, such as obtaining professional consultation or assistance, and determine whether they should limit, suspend, or terminate their work-related duties
• Psychologists do not engage in sexual intimacies with current therapy clients/patients
• Psychologists may have opportunities to engage in a wide variety of nonsexual multiple relationships