Clinical Psychology Flashcards (Vocabulary)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key clinical psychology concepts from the provided notes.

Mental illness

Pattern of behavior, thinking, or feeling that causes significant personal distress and interferes with daily functioning.

Clinical psychology

A psychology specialty focused on assessment and behavioral health care, consultation, training, supervision, and research to inform practice.

• Uniform procedures for recognition , diagnosis , assemenet and treatment for physicial disorder exist across feilds of medicines

• Inconsistent identification of measurement of an interventions for mental health concerns 

• The concept of mental illness is debated 

• Definition of mental illness is under debate 

Individuals experiencing mental illness

• Unsure whether symptoms are a cause for concern or not 

• Unclear who to call on when experiencing mental health symptoms 

• Unsure whether the diagnosises and trreatments have been researched 

• Prognosis unclear 

Mental illness - pattern of behaviour, thinking or feeling that cause 

• Significant personal distress 

• Interference in daily functioning (

• 41% in need get professional help for mental illnesses 

Clinical psychologist

A psychologist with doctoral training who conducts research, clinical practice, teaching, consultation, and administration.

• Assessment and behavioral health care 

• Consultation with agencies and communities 

• Training, education , supervision , research to inform of it practices 

• Relies on clinical psychologist 

What distinguishes a clinical psychologis from other mental health professionals 

• Require a doctoral degree 

• Activities include research , clincial practice , teaching , consultation , administration 

• Trained scientifically and practically 

• Regarded to be very knowledgeable 

• Are critical thinkers 

Custody and access for courts 

• When judge orders a social work or psychologist on a family 

Psychiatrist

Licensed physician who diagnoses, assesses, and treats mental health problems, often attributing biological causes and using medical approaches. works in PP

Social workers (mental health)

Mental health professionals who provide psychosocial assessment and therapy to individuals or groups; often work in public agencies, clinics, or private practice.Involved with everyday lives , strresses of patients 

• Visit envoirments where patients spend lives 

• Social workers a third of mental health professionals 

  • Work for public agenices, mental health teams , private practice 

• Low-cost alternative to psychiatrist and psychologist 

Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC, BC)

Professional trained to work with individuals and groups; works in private practice or community settings; emphasizes listening and decision-making; not a regulated health profession.

Psychiatric nurse

Nurse specializing in psychiatric care; diagnoses and implements treatment plans; work in research, teaching, and admin; may prescribe meds in some states.

Marriage and family therapists

Licensed therapists who diagnose and treat mental, behavioral, and emotional problems; focus on relationships and involve family members in interventions. Attend to martial couples conflict , parent child conflict , substance abuse , sexual dysfunction , greif , dementia , depression , anxiety and schizophrenia 

• Focus on individuals behavior in relationships 

  • As couples or in families 

  • Involve family members in goal orientated interventions 

Psychotherapist

Unregulated title; training and licensing requirements vary; not a standardized credential.

Life coach

Unregulated title; training and qualifications vary; not a standardized credential.

Psychologist

Professional with training in psychology; may specialize in developmental, social, cognitive, behavioral, or quantitative subfields.

Counseling psychologist

Psychologist who works with individuals or groups facing adjustment issues; often in counseling centers; may assess academic abilities and career development.Address social relationships , career decisonsn, mild to moderate anxiety , eating disorder risks 

• Measure academic ablities , personality interest , vocational aptitude 

School psychologist

Psychologist working in schools to promote well-being; conducts assessments (giftedness, learning disabilities) and develops learning and behavior programs. May conduct assessments giftedness intellectual learning disabilities )

• Develop learning programs , behaviour modification programs

clinical psychologist

• Research , teaching , application of methods , principles , procedures to alleviate maladjustment, disbality and idscomfort 

• Understanding and prediciting intellectual, emotional , medical and psycholgogival , social, behaviourla maladjustment 

• Clinical psychocolgisht 

  • Work with wide range of client pop

  • Work in a large range of setting 

  • Work to solve extensive kinds of problems 

  • Adopt a holistic perspective 

• How is it different from other fields of psych 

  • Clinical psychology professionals are trained clinicians , employ scientific finsdings to inform and work with clients 

  • Trained researchers , contribute to knowledge base of their field

  • Critical thinkers 

  • Adopt wide range of roles in diverse settinging , pop , age groups, industries 

  • Holistic perspective

Why do ppl know less about mental health treatment 

• Uniform procedures for recognition , diganosos , assessment, and treatment of physical disorders across feilds of medicine 

• Inconsistent identification of measurement of and interventions for mental health concerns 

  • Defintions of mental illness under debate 

  • Experience of mental health symptoms questionable 

  • Unclear who to call 

  • Prognosis unclear 

Multicultural perspective

Approach that emphasizes diversity across gender, sexuality, culture, ethnicity, race, religion, and socioeconomic status; integrates diversity into research and practice.

• How to integrate diverisity 

  • Culturally informed resources to sensitivelty assist members of all diverse groups 

  • By increasing representation of diverse clinical psychologgist in training, leadership positions 

  • By incorporating diversity factors in decision making processes 

  • Include underrepresented 

Lightner Witmer

Founder of modern clinical psychology; early advocate; helped establish clinical psychology and its assessment practices.

Army Alpha

WWI test developed to assess verbal and nonverbal abilities for military screening.

Army Beta

Nonverbal version of the Army Alpha for illiterate or non-English speakers.

Boulder model

1949 graduate training model for clinical psychology combining science and practice (scientist-practitioner).

Practitioner-scholar model (Vail)

1973 model emphasizing practice-oriented training for clinical psychology; focus on professional practice over research.

phd year is shorter in research

Evidence-based practice

Clinical decision-making that uses the best available research evidence, clinical expertise, and client preferences.

Clinical science model

Training model emphasizing scientific research and measurement as the basis for clinical work.

Health psychology

Subfield focusing on how biological, psychological, and social factors influence health and illness.

Diversity in clinical psychology

Efforts to increase representation of diverse groups in training and leadership and to integrate diverse perspectives in practice.

PhD admission rate (clinical psychology)

Approximately 8% acceptance rate for PhD programs in clinical psychology in the United States.

Activities of clinical psychology

Research, teaching, clinical services in hospitals or clinics, consultation for organizations, and administrative duties; diagnosis and treatment; supervision.

• Teaching - at collages, uni and undergraduates 

• Clinical supervisions - of trainees 

• Consultations - to companies , legal system and physsicans 

• Administration - managing client records, serving on university or departmental committees 

Accessibility through diversity

Diverse perspectives help make mental health treatment more accessible by broadening approaches and representation.

who is a clinical psych

They are mental health care providers and
researchers
– Specialists deal with diverse behavioral health
problems
• The field emphasized intelligence testing for
children, adolescents prior to World War II
– Early: racist and misleading biases
– Science attributed intelligence differences to SES and
educational opportunities
– These were not equitably distributed

Post World War II: need for clinical psychology
practice to combat stress reaction among war
veterans
• National Institute for Mental Health funded
training of clinical psychologists at universities
– Created a cultural shift toward mental health
• Clinical psychology training programs larger than
graduate programs in other areas of psychology

The Scientist-Practitioner Model (The
Boulder Model

Conference on graduate education in clinical
psychology held in Boulder, Colorado, in 1949
– Explained scientist-practitioner model for training
clinical psychologists; remains principle guideline
• Clinical psychologists shall:
– Pursue training in university departments
– Achieve competence in psychological assessment and
treatment
– Receive training as researchers
– Be required to complete a clinical internship
– This earns them doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

A systematic union between clinical skill land
logical empiricism of science
• Graduates able to read, understand, contribute
to, critique, and utilize science when considering
treatment decisions in mental health
• Clinicians contribute to clinical knowledge by
translating experiences into testable hypotheses
• Clients’ progress evaluated scientifically
• Treatments selected using empirical evidence

Critiques of the boulder model

Training in practice should be prioritized over
research training
• Research conducted in graduate school seems
trivial
– More focus on statistics, theories of conditioning, or
principles of biological neuroscience
– Less focus on diagnosis, assessment, psychotherapy
• Clinical psychology seen as an “art” not science

The Practitioner-Scholar Model (The Vail
Model)

Practitioner-scholar (Vail) model alternative to Boulder
model; critics of latter met in Vail, Colorado in 1973
• Model emphasizes more practice, less science
• Model rejected by academic clinical psychologists who
adopted the scientist-practitioner approach
• Led to creation of new doctoral degree
– Doctor of psychology (PsyD); similar to PhD programs in first
two years of training;
– Years 3–4 more therapeutic experience and assessment
– A few PsyD programmes in Canada (one in public university,
one publicly funded private university, one private USA based
institution)

clinical scientisit model

The Clinical-Scientist Model
• Popularity of Vail model and PsyD disturbed
science-minded clinical psychologists
• In 1991 a prominent clinical psychologist McFall
opposed some in his profession:
– Practitioners employed ineffective treatments not
supported by research or clinical studies
– They relied on unreliable and invalid assessment
techniques, questioning positive outcomes

McFall reasoned legitimacy of science in training
and in practice of clinical psychologists
• 1995: Academy of Psychological Science
formed; is affiliated with Association for
Psychological Science (APS)
• Clinical-scientist model of training involves
instruction in empirical methods of research with
clinical work

primary goals of the academy of psychological science

tranining , research and theory, resocures and oppurtunites , application , disssemination

orgin of the psyd degree

The PsyD degree was created with the
practitioner-scholar model (Vial model) that
emphasized clinical skills and de-emphasized
research competence.
• Due to high demand, PsyD programs began to
be offered at for-profit institutions, professional
schools of psychology (mostly in the USA)