chap 1: current trends

How are people with severe disturbances cared for?

through psychotripic medications (drugs that primarilty affect the brain and redcuce many symptoms of mental dysfunction).

Deinstitutionalization:

practice that began in the 1960s of releasing hunderds of thousands of patients from public mental hospitals. Nowadays, those with severe disturbances are usually hospitalized for a short time and then provided with outpatient psychotherapy and medication in community programs and residences. 

How are people with less severe disturbances treated? 

through outpatient care. Before the 1950s, all outpatient care took form of private psychotherapy (where individuals meet with a self-employed therapiost for counseling services). Since the 1950s, most health insurance plans have expanded coverage to include private psychotherapy so that it is more widely availbve to people of all incomes.  

A growing emphasis on preventing disorders and promoting mental health:

rather than wait for psychological disorders to occur, many of todays community programs try to correct the social conditions that underlie psychological problems (like poverty or violennce in the community).

multicultural psychology:

field that examines the impact of culture, race, ethnicity, and gender on behaviors and thoughts, and focuses oin how such factors may influence the origin, nature, and treatment of abnormal behavior.

The growing influence of insurance coverage

Managed care programs often shorten therapy, unfairly favor treaments whose results are not always lasting, and pose a special hardship for those with severe mental disorders. Insurance coverage reimbirsemennts for mental disorders tend o be lower than those for physical disorders.

Parity laws:

directs insurance compaines to provide equal coverage for mental and physical problems. They have brought some important improvements in mental health insurance coverage.

Clnical psychologists:

professionals who earn a doctorate in clinical psychology by completing 4-5 yrs of grad trsaining .

Psychotherapy and related services are also provided by:

counseling psychologists, educational and school psychologists, mental health counselors, psychiatric nirses, marriage therapists, family theraposts, and clinical social workers.