CLINICAL
PSYCHOLOGY I
Fall 2022
Aslıhan Koyuncu, MS.c.
Chapter 2
Contemporary Clinical
Psychology
Activities of Clinical
Psychologists
Assessment and
Diagnosis
• Two thirds of the respondents
engaged in assessment and
diagnosis (Norcross, Karpiak, &
Santoro, 2005)
• Assessment and Diagnosis involve
evaluating the psychological
functioning of an individual or a
relationship (e.g., a parent–child
relationship, a family).
• The precise nature of the
assessment activities depends on
the purpose of the assessment.
Why is having a
diagnosis very
important?
Assessment and Diagnosis
• Diagnosis provides a concise statement about the nature of a
person’s disorder or dysfunction.
• Having established a diagnosis, the psychologist can efficiently
search the scientific literature to update his or her knowledge of the
disorder’s etiology, course, prognosis, and beneficial treatments.
• Diagnostic systems that are used by clinical psychologists all over
the world are
1. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) by APA
2. the World Health Organization (WHO)
3. International Classification of Diseases (ICD),
Intervention
• The majority of clinical psychologists offer psychotherapy.
• A large minority of clients attends only one or two sessions, and the
median number of therapy sessions is in the range of 5 to 13.
• Current stressors related to the client’s problems and interpersonal
relationships or relationship patterns are discussed.
• The most commonly reported techniques were to identify or
challenge thoughts, relate thoughts to feelings, focus on affect by
validating or labeling emotions, gather information, and guide or
direct the client.
Intervention
Intervention
• Different theoretical approaches emphasize different aspects of
human experience in understanding and treating psychological
distress and disorder.
• The dominant approaches are psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral,
experiential, and interpersonal (which is closely related to
psychodynamic)
• A number of clinicians describe their orientation as eclectic or
integrative (blending concepts and strategies from two or more
approaches).
Intervention
• Cognitive-behavioral approach is the most popular orientation among
clinical psychologists.
• Substantial numbers of clinical psychologists describe their practice as
eclectic.
Intervention
Cognitive-behavioral clinicians are significantly more likely
• to spend time providing psychoeducation by informing the client about the
nature of the presenting problem
• to encourage the client to ask questions,
• to collaboratively set an agenda for the session with the client,
• to encourage the client to engage in specific activities (including homework
assignments to be done between therapy sessions), and
• to teach coping skills.
Intervention
Psychotherapist who are using Psychodynamic approach are more likely
• to explore the client’s childhood experiences,
• to relate the client’s reactions to the therapist to patterns in the client’s
family of origin, and
• to explore dysfunctional patterns of behavior and relationship expectations.
Prevention
• Only a small percentage of clinical psychologists devote professional time to this
activity
• Prevention services are categorized according to the stage in the course of a disorder
at which they are introduced.
o Primary prevention involves the prevention of a disease or disorder before it actually
occurs.
o Secondary prevention is designed to reduce the recurrence of a disease or disorder
that has already developed and been diagnosed.
o Tertiary prevention refers to efforts to reduce the overall disability that results from
the disease or disorder.
What is the role of
psychologists?
Prevention
• The role of the clinical psychologist is to develop, implement, and evaluate
the prevention programs.
Consultation
• Clinical psychologists often act in the role of consultant.
• Clinical Consultation includes providing information, advice, and
recommendations about how best to assess, understand, or treat a client
• Organizational/Community Consultation includes developing a prevention
or intervention program, evaluating how well an organization is doing in
providing a health care or related service, or providing an opinion on
policies on health care services set by an organization
• A clinical psychologist sometimes receives requests to provide guidance
about a patient who is under the care of another professional.
Research
• All clinical psychologists are trained to conduct and evaluate research.
• Only a minority of clinical psychologists regularly engage in producing
research.
• Himelein and Putnam (2001) found that conducting and supervising
research accounted for only 17% of professors’ work time.
Research
Clinical psychologists conduct research on a range of topics including
• normal human functioning (e.g., personality, memory processes, intimate
relationship)
• psychopathology (e.g., depression in the elderly, gambling, insomnia)
• assessment,
• intervention, and/or prevention (e.g., treatments for marital conflict, early
intervention strategies for childhood anxiety disorders).
Teaching and Supervision
Courses
• Clinical psychologists also engage in different types of teaching activities.
• The type of courses taught depends on the areas of specialization and
expertise (e.g., psychopathology, personality theories, psychological
assessment, introduction to clinical psychology etc.)
Teaching and Supervision
Clinical Supervision
• Clinical supervision is offered in either a group or an individual format.
• Supervisions are offered by licenced/certified clinical psychologist.
• There are some steps required to become Licenced/Certified clinical
psychologist.
Teaching and Supervision
Clinical Supervision
Steps that are required to become a Beck Institute CBT Certified Clinician
https://www.bilisseldavranisci.com/akreditasyon-hakkinda
Employment Settings
• Clinical psychologists are often employed in residential treatment clinics,
correctional and forensic settings, government agencies focused on
personnel selection and training, and private research and consulting firms.
• Some clinical psychologists with expertise in public policy are employed in
government ministries and departments, public health organizations, and
research granting agencies.
Science and Ethics
• After the second World War, The American Psychological Association
developed a code of ethics for psychologists and has revised most recently
in 2002.
• The code underlines the central role of science in psychology.
‘‘Psychologists are committed to increasing scientific and professional
knowledge of behavior and people’s understanding of themselves and others
and to the use of such knowledge to improve the condition of individuals,
organizations, and society.’’
APA Ethics Code (2002a, p. 3).
Science and Ethics
• In all their professional activities, clinical psychologists must always remain
aware of the importance of questioning one’s services (e.g. ‘‘What is the
evidence for what I am planning to do?’’)
• Most clinical psychologists agree that professional services should be
informed by research evidence.
• However, some of the problems facing clinicians cannot be studied by
scientific methods.
Science and Ethics
• In all their professional activities, clinical psychologists must always remain
aware of the importance of questioning one’s services (e.g. ‘‘What is the
evidence for what I am planning to do?’’)
• Most clinical psychologists agree that professional services should be
informed by research evidence.
• However, some of the problems facing clinicians cannot be studied by
scientific methods.
o Peterson (2004) argued that we must rely on intuition and experience in
such cases.
What is the problem with
using intuition and
experience to guide our
work ?
Science and Ethics
• Intuition is often described as a felt-sense about something that cannot be
entirely described.
• So, intuition is the opposite of a systematic, questioning, and self-critical
approach.
• Also, experience does not necessarily guarantee the highest quality service.
• Therefore, a scientifically oriented clinical psychologist must be constantly
aware of the need to check his or her assumptions and activities.
Science and Ethics
• When no research evidence is available, the clinical psychologist can optimize services
by maintaining a scientific frame of mind.
• Lilienfeld, Lynn, and Lohr (2003) à evidence based approach requires the clinician to
strike a balance between excessive open-mindedness (i.e., ‘‘anything goes’’) and
excessive skepticism (i.e., ‘‘only proven services are acceptable’’).
• Basing clinical psychology services on research is crucially important, but so is the
need to provide services ethically.
• Psychologists also have an ethical obligation to ensure that their services are not
affected by their own distress. If their own emotional health gets in the way of doing
their job effectively, psychologists should not offer psychological services.
Thank you!
Any Questions?
