Feb 2006
Clinical psychology
A branch of psychology
concerned with the practical application of research findings and methodologies in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders.
Clinical psychologists
classify their basic activities under three main headings: assessment (including diagnosis), treatment, and research. In assessment,
clinical psychologists give and interpret psychological tests, either for the purpose of evaluating individuals' relative
intelligence or other capabilities or for the purpose of eliciting mental characteristics that will aid in diagnosing a particular
mental disorder. The interview, in which the psychologist observes, questions, and interacts with a patient, is another standard
tool of diagnosis.
For purposes of treatment,
the clinical psychologist may clinical psychology
a branch of psychology
concerned with the practical application of research findings and methodologies in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders.
Clinical psychologists
classify their basic activities under three main headings: assessment (including diagnosis), treatment, and research. In assessment,
clinical psychologists give and interpret psychological tests, either for the purpose of evaluating individuals' relative
intelligence or other capabilities or for the purpose of eliciting mental characteristics that will aid in diagnosing a particular
mental disorder. The interview, in which the psychologist observes, questions, and interacts with a patient, is another standard
tool of diagnosis.
For purposes of treatment,
the clinical psychologist may use any of several types of psychotherapy (q.v.), and recently the tendency has been toward
an eclectic approach, using a combination of techniques suited to the client. Clinical psychologists may specialize in behaviour
therapy, group therapy, family therapy, or psychoanalysis, among others.
Research is an important
field for some clinical psychologists because of their training in the use of experimental studies and statistical procedures.
Clinical psychologists are thus often crucial participants in research projects bearing on mental-health care.
Clinical psychologists
perform their services in hospitals, clinics, or in private practice, while others work with the mentally or physically handicapped,
prison inmates, drug and alcohol abusers, or geriatric patients. In some clinical settings, a clinical psychologist works
in tandem with a psychiatrist and a social worker and is responsible for conducting the team's research. Clinical psychologists
are also employed in industry, where some specialize in services to emotionally disturbed employees and others in services
for managerial officials. Other clinical psychologists serve the courts in assessing defendants or potential parolees, and
some are employed by the armed forces to evaluate or treat service personnel.
The training of clinical
psychologists usually includes the university-level study of general psychology and some clinical experience and amounts to
5–7 years of higher education in all. Because they have not earned a medical degree, clinical psychologists cannot prescribe
medications for patients.
(Encyclopaedia Britannica 2005)
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Jan 2006
Psychiatry
The branch of medicine that is concerned with the
diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders.
The term psychiatry is derived from two Greek words
meaning “mind healing.” Until the 18th century, mental illness or disorder was most often seen as demonic possession,
but it gradually came to be considered as a sickness requiring treatment. Many judge that modern psychiatry was born with
the efforts of Philippe Pinel in France and J. Connolly in England, who both advocated a more humane approach to mental illness.
By the 19th century, research, classification, and treatment of disorders had gained momentum.
Psychotherapy evolved from its origins in spiritual healing. The psychoanalytic theory of Sigmund Freud and his followers
dominated the field for many years and did not receive a serious theoretical challenge until behaviour therapy and therapies
deriving from humanistic psychology were developed in the mid-20th century. Insight therapies such as psychoanalysis, which
pursue greater awareness of the patient's internal conflicts, continue to be dominant in psychiatric practice.
The trained psychiatrist, who has completed medical
school and a psychiatric residency, commonly employs medical treatments in addition to psychotherapy. Lobotomy, or leucotomy, whereby nerve fibres running to the front of the brain are severed, is today used
only in severe cases and has generally lost favour as a treatment. Shock therapy (also called electroshock, or electroconvulsive,
therapy) continues to be used for severe depressions and certain forms of psychosis. The medical technique that is by far
the most widely used is drug therapy. The advent in the 1950s of psychotropic (mind-altering) drugs revolutionized treatment
of the mental patient. Like the other medical techniques, drug therapy has sometimes been abused in pursuit of patient “management”;
used properly, however, it can enhance a patient's outlook for recovery and return to the community.
The contemporary psychiatrist frequently functions
as a member of a mental-health team that includes clinical psychologists and social workers. As the therapeutic roles of these
three professionals are not necessarily clearly delineated, an uneasy balance in orientation and division of skills may exist.
(Encyclopaedia Britannica 2005)
