Clinical Psychology – Weeks 1-4 Lecture Review

117 English vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, people, theories, assessment methods and therapeutic approaches from Weeks 1–4 clinical psychology lectures.

Clinical Psychology

A field involving research, teaching and services aimed at understanding, predicting and alleviating maladjustment and distress across intellectual, emotional, biological, psychological, social and behavioral domains.

Clinical Attitude

The desire to combine scientific knowledge about human behavior with individual-level assessment and treatment to help a client.

Scientific Attitude (in clinical work)

Commitment to applying empirical, systematic methods to understand psychological distress.

Licensed Psychologist (LP)

Doctorally trained mental-health professional who, after supervised experience and exams, may independently provide psychological services.

Licensed Practicing Counselor (LPC)

Master’s-level clinician licensed to practice psychotherapy independently.

CACREP

Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs; sets curriculum and 600-hour practicum standards for counseling master’s degrees.

Counseling Psychology

Psychology subfield focused on training clinicians who often work in community or college settings as LPs with person-centered orientations.

Terminal Master’s Degree in Counseling

Two-year (often part-time) degree emphasizing humanistic therapy skills and leading to LPC licensure.

Counselor Education PhD

Doctorate for LPCs who wish to teach or do research; does not confer a higher practice license.

Clinical vs. Counseling Psychology (focus)

Clinical emphasizes severe pathology, research and assessment; counseling emphasizes wellness, life adjustment and community settings.

Empirical Tradition

Historic movement to study psychology with laboratory methods like those of Wilhelm Wundt.

Psychometric Tradition

Effort to measure individual differences through standardized tests (e.g., Galton, Cattell, Binet).

Clinical Tradition

Historic attempts to classify and treat abnormal behavior, from Hippocrates to Pinel and Kraepelin.

Wilhelm Wundt

Founded the first psychology lab (1879) and promoted experimental study of consciousness.

Lightner Witmer

Established the first psychological clinic, applying assessment and team treatment to children’s learning problems; coined ‘clinical psychology.’

Phrenology

Discredited theory that skull bumps reflect mental faculties, promoted by Gall and Spurzheim.

Sir Francis Galton

Pioneer of mental testing and word-association; applied Darwinian ideas to heredity of abilities.

James McKeen Cattell

Created a battery of mental tests emphasizing practical assessment of individual differences.

Alfred Binet

Developed the first formal intelligence test, predecessor to the Stanford-Binet.

Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test

Adaptation of Binet’s scales measuring spatial, motor, memory, attention and moral reasoning abilities.

Emil Kraepelin

Proposed the first formal classification of mental disorders based on syndromes of signs and symptoms.

Signs vs. Symptoms

Signs are observable indicators noted by others; symptoms are subjective experiences reported by clients.

Post-WWII Growth of Clinical Psychology

Veteran PTSD needs in 1945 spurred expansion of psychotherapy and training programs.

Rorschach Inkblot Test

Projective test using inkblots to examine personality and emotional functioning.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Projective measure where clients create stories about pictures, revealing motives and conflicts.

Wechsler Intelligence Tests

Widely used scales (WAIS, WISC) providing IQ scores and cognitive indices.

Bender-Gestalt Test

Neuropsychological screener assessing visual-motor integration via figure reproduction.

American Psychological Association (APA)

Largest professional organization for psychologists; sets ethical codes and division standards.

American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP)

Body that certifies specialty competencies of professional psychologists.

Psychodynamic Theory

Model emphasizing unconscious processes and conflicts among id, ego and superego.

Id

Primitive, unconscious part of personality driven by instincts and the pleasure principle.

Ego

Reality-oriented mediator that balances id impulses with superego constraints.

Superego

Internalized moral standards producing guilt and guiding ideal behavior.

Freudian Psychoanalysis

Therapy aiming to bring unconscious conflicts to awareness through free association, dream analysis, transference and interpretation.

Humanistic Approach

Therapy emphasizing personal growth, self-actualization and viewing problems from the client’s perspective (e.g., Carl Rogers).

Conditions of Worth

Rogers’ concept that receiving approval only for certain behaviors fosters incongruence and distress.

Behavioral Approach

View that maladaptive behaviors are learned via conditioning and can be changed by altering contingencies.

Little Albert Experiment

Watson & Rayner’s demonstration of classical conditioning of fear in an infant.

Cognitive Approach

Perspective that dysfunctional thinking patterns cause emotional and behavioral problems.

Irrational Beliefs

Ellis’ term for unrealistic, self-defeating thoughts that generate distress.

Cognitive Distortions

Beck’s label for systematic errors in thinking (e.g., over-generalization, catastrophizing).

Cognitive-Behavioral Approach (CBT)

Integration of cognitive and behavioral techniques focusing on the interaction of thoughts, feelings and behaviors.

Social Systems Approach

Framework emphasizing the role of family, community and culture in psychological functioning.

Biological Approach

Model focusing on genetic, neurochemical and brain-based contributions to behavior.

Diathesis-Stress Model

Theory that predispositions (diatheses) interact with stressors to produce mental disorders.

Mechanisms of Change (transdiagnostic)

Underlying processes (e.g., emotion regulation) that operate across multiple disorders and treatments.

DSM-5

2013 edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual providing criteria for mental disorders.

DSM-5-TR

2023 text revision of DSM-5 with minor updates and added research findings.

Differential Diagnosis

Process of distinguishing one disorder from others with similar features.

HiTOP

Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology; dimensional model viewing disorders as extremes of personality traits.

Research Domain Criteria (RDoC)

NIH framework conceptualizing mental disorders as brain-circuit dysfunctions studied dimensionally.

Bandwidth vs. Fidelity

Assessment trade-off between breadth of information and depth/precision of measurement.

Availability Heuristic

Bias where easily recalled events unduly influence clinical judgment.

Illusory Correlation

Perceiving a relationship between variables when none exists, affecting diagnosis.

Anchoring Bias

Over-reliance on initial information when forming clinical impressions.

Actuarial (Statistical) Prediction

Use of algorithms or data-based formulas to forecast outcomes, often outperforming clinical intuition.

Client Satisfaction Survey

Post-treatment questionnaire asking clients to rate therapy helpfulness; typically high endorsement.

Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT)

Outcome study randomly assigning clients to treatment or control conditions under controlled protocols.

Evidence-Based Practice (EBP)

Integration of best research evidence, clinician expertise and client characteristics/preferences.

Empirically Supported Treatment (EST)

Specific therapy shown in rigorous studies to be efficacious for a particular disorder.

Therapeutic Alliance

Collaborative bond and agreement on goals/tasks between therapist and client; predicts outcomes.

Transference

Client’s unconscious redirection of feelings about significant others onto the therapist.

Countertransference

Therapist’s emotional reactions to the client, influenced by therapist’s own history.

Resistance (psychoanalytic)

Client behaviors that impede therapy progress by avoiding painful material.

Working Through

Extended exploration of insights until they are emotionally and behaviorally integrated.

Object Relations Theory

Psychodynamic focus on internalized representations of relationships formed in early attachments.

Adler’s Individual Psychology

Theory stressing striving for superiority and social interest to overcome feelings of inferiority.

Jung’s Analytical Psychology

Approach positing collective unconscious and archetypes alongside personal growth drives.

Ego Psychology

Psychodynamic branch emphasizing adaptive ego functions and current coping.

Relational Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

Modern approach viewing healing as arising within the interactive therapist-client relationship.

Systematic Desensitization

Graduated exposure paired with relaxation to reduce conditioned anxiety responses.

Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)

Technique exposing clients to feared stimuli while preventing ritualistic responses (common in OCD).

Social Skills Training

Behavioral instruction, modeling and rehearsal of interpersonal behaviors to increase social reinforcement.

Behavioral Activation

Scheduling rewarding activities to counter avoidance and improve mood, especially in depression.

Aversion Therapy

Pairing unwanted behaviors with unpleasant stimuli to decrease their frequency.

Functional Analysis

Behavioral assessment identifying antecedents, behaviors and consequences maintaining problems (ABC).

Classical Conditioning

Learning where a neutral stimulus acquires the ability to elicit a reflexive response through pairing.

Operant Conditioning

Learning in which behavior is shaped by its consequences of reinforcement or punishment.

Observational (Vicarious) Learning

Acquiring behaviors by watching others and noting consequences.

Cognitive Triad

Beck’s model of negative views of self, world and future underlying depression.

Automatic Thoughts

Quick, habitual cognitions that influence emotions; often biased or distorted.

Socratic Questioning

Guided discovery technique using strategic questions to challenge maladaptive beliefs.

Thought Record

Worksheet for monitoring situations, emotions, automatic thoughts and alternative responses.

Mindfulness

Non-judgmental, present-moment awareness of experience, central to many third-wave therapies.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

Treatment enhancing psychological flexibility by encouraging acceptance, mindfulness and values-guided action.

Psychological Flexibility

Ability to stay in contact with the present moment and act according to values despite distress.

Value Bullseye

ACT exercise mapping life domains to clarify personal values guiding behavior change.

Decentering

Observing thoughts as transient events rather than literal truths; fosters cognitive distance.

Unified Protocol

Transdiagnostic CBT program targeting common emotion-related processes across disorders.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

CBT variant teaching mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness, originally for BPD.

Core Mindfulness (DBT)

Set of skills fostering non-judgmental awareness of the present moment.

Distress Tolerance

DBT skill for surviving crises and accepting reality without making things worse.

Interpersonal Effectiveness

DBT skills module teaching assertiveness, boundary setting and relationship maintenance.

Emotion Regulation (DBT)

Skills aimed at identifying, labeling and modulating emotional responses.

Biosocial Theory (DBT)

Model positing biologically based emotional vulnerability interacting with invalidating environments to produce dysregulation.

Clinically Significant Change

Improvement large enough that post-treatment functioning resembles that of non-clinical populations.

Structured Interview

Assessment with standardized, fixed questions and order, yielding high reliability.

Semi-Structured Interview

Interview with specified topics but flexible wording and follow-up, balancing reliability and rapport.

Unstructured Interview

Open-ended, conversational assessment guided by clinician; high rapport but lower reliability.

Intake Interview

Initial meeting to assess presenting problems, suitability for services and establish rapport.