Chapter 2 Contemporary Clinical Psychology INTRODUCTION TO CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY 2E HUNSLEY & LEE PREPARED BY DR. CATHY CHOVAZ, KING’S COLLEGE, UWO.

Chapter 2 Contemporary Clinical Psychology

INTRODUCTION TO CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY 2EHUNSLEY & LEE

PREPARED BY DR. CATHY CHOVAZ, KING’S COLLEGE, UWO

Contemporary Clinical Psychology

Activities Two Pillars

Assessment & Diagnosis

Intervention Prevention Consultation Research Teaching Supervision: Clinical

& Research Administration

Science Ethics

Clinical psychologists do a variety of activities including: providing psychological assessment providing psychological intervention conducting research providing clinical training consulting with other professionals and agencies

Clinical psychologists work with Individuals, couples, families, groups and

organizations All across the life span

Activities of Clinical Psychologists

Percentage of professional activities of Canadian clinical psychologists

Assessment 30.5Intervention 36.6Consultation 12.9Research 4.6 Teaching 7.7Other 7.7

Adapted from Cohen, Hunsley, Westmacott, & Flear (2008).

Activities of Clinical Psychologists

Assessment is very common and comes in many forms Evaluating the functioning of an individual client Evaluating a family or social unit of some sort Diagnosis Formal standardized testing (cognitive, behavioral

or personality) Assessment in psychotherapy

Planning Monitoring Evaluating

Activities of Assessment & Diagnosis in Clinical Psychology

Intervention is offered by the majority of clinical psychologists. Psychotherapy: talk therapy

Most people attend fewer than 10 sessions regardless of problem

Different approaches (psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, experiential, etc) focus on different issues, (although most challenge thoughts and validate emotions)

Most popular theoretical orientations in Canada is cognitive behavioural (84%) followed by an interpersonal approach (28%) and a psychodynamic approach (24%)

Activities of Intervention in Clinical Psychology

The Prescription Privileges Debate Highly debated Strong support from CPA section –

Psychopharmacology Canada’s publicly-funded health care system

means federal government has concerns about increasing number of practitioners eligible to prescribe expensive pharmacological treatments

Intervention in Clinical Psychology (cont.)

Prevention is less common but growing Primary prevention: prevention of a disease before

it occurs Secondary prevention: reducing the recurrence of a

disease Tertiary prevention: reducing the overall disability

that results from a disease Prevention usually based in community

settings Psychologist usually has several roles in prevention

Developing programs Implementing programs Evaluating outcomes of programs

Activities of Prevention in Clinical Psychology

Consultation Clinical consultation: offering advice and

information for others treatment professionals Organizational (or community) consultation:

evaluating a service, or providing an opinion on how an organization is doing Usually there is a needs assessment, program

development, program evaluation, and policy consultation

Additional Activities of Clinical Psychologists

Research All psychologists are trained to conduct and

evaluate research APA & CPA’s ethics code requires a commitment to

increasing scientific knowledge Small percentage produce research Much more common in university settings Range and content of research varies dramatically

Can be on normal human functioning, psychopathology, assessment, intervention or prevention

Additional Activities of Clinical Psychologists (cont.)

Teaching University courses (graduate or undergraduate) in variety of

areas related to clinical psych Also can teach in several other settings (e.g., community

colleges, in clinics training professionals, to medical students, in workshops/seminars etc.)

Clinical Supervision Close monitoring of training clinicians Done in an individual meeting or with a number of training

clinicians (group supervision) Some supervisors have supervisees audio or videotape their

sessions

Additional Activities of Clinical Psychologists (cont.)

Research Supervision Assisting in the development and implementation

of a research study or program

Administration organization, program development, meetings in

committees

Additional Activities of Clinical Psychologists (cont.)

1. Science of Clinical Psychology Clinical psychologists must maintain their

knowledge of research relevant to their activities This is true for all theoretical orientations However, how research informs practice differs for

many clinical psychologists Balance between open-mindedness and

skepticism

Two Pillars of Clinical Psychology: Science & Ethics

II. Ethics of Clinical Psychology Canadian Code of Ethics – CPA (3rd edition)

Respect for the dignity of persons Responsible caring Integrity in relationships Responsibility to society

Informed consent – all individuals in therapy and participants in research must indicate that they understand and are willing participants

Two Pillars of Clinical Psychology: Science & Ethics

Training in Clinical Psychology Scientist-practitioner model (Boulder Model) Clinical scientist model Practitioner-scholar model (Vail Model)

CPA Accreditation in Clinical Psychology Providing services that are competent for the

larger multicultural community

Additional Aspects to Clinical Psychology

Licensure in Canada Must meet minimal academic & clinical

requirements Required by law to provide ethical and competent

services In all provinces except Quebec and the Yukon

must complete supervision (1 year to 5 years)

Additional Aspects to Clinical Psychology

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