Defining Clinical Psychology as a Profession - Term Paper Example

Details: Due Philosophy and Psychology Clinical psychology is a specialization in psychology that canbe best described basing on the philosophy is a mental health profession that employs the use of clinical knowledge in the management of psychological distress and promote the well being of an individuals mind. Clinical psychology finds its settings in private practice. The topics in clinical psychology are very much centered on the various conditions and the methods that have been put forward that are used in the management of the mental health conditions. The topics in this field range from psychological assessment, advanced psychopathology, to psychopharmacology (Buchanan 2002, p. 244). Psychological counseling on the other hand entails the exploration of an individual’s feelings, thoughts and other aspects in life to gain insight of the client’s condition in order to promote one’s well being. Psychological counseling finds its practice in a health care set up too. However, the counseling is no t so much restricted to the medical field as clinical psychology. Counseling in this case touches on the resolution of conflicts as well as various conditions that deal with the social interlinkages within the society. Counseling offers the various options that are available that help maintain the social linkages or relationships in the society. The topics in counseling are broadly classified into two groups. These topics include the therapeutic modalities and coaching as well as mentoring intersections (McFall 2006, p. 28). The school psychologists are found mainly in the school set up. The school psychologist role is to promote intellectual, emotional, social and development of the lives of the students within the school. They are often involved in activities such as psychological testing especially of the achievement and intelligence forms of evaluation. Through this forms of psychological tests, they are able to establish the learning disabilities that the students have (Stricker and Trienweiler 2006, p. 40). The five major milestones that have brought numerous changes to the psychology discipline occurred in the last 75 years. The distinction of clinical psychology as a science in its own rights has taken place over many years. The transformation of psychology has taken place over the years with various steps being made. Philosophy was a wide discipline that was arrived at during the ancient Greek times. Philosophy comprised of all the elements that dealt with the human logic and mental well being. Psychology was viewed to be part of philosophy. This can be attributed to the interlinkages which at that time had not been clearly separated from the philosophy. However, with the advent of more scholars dedicating their time in research, various notions were given on how to demarcate psychology from philosophy. As a result of the intense studies, it was only until the late 18th century that a distinct boundary was established to clinical psychology as a discipline on its own. Clinical psychology began with the inception of the Witmer’s psychological clinic. The establishment of the clinic was based on the establishments that Wundt made with regard to psychological research such as measurement of perception and introspection (Benjamin 2005, p. 2). Clinical psychology was further developed with the various psychological experiments in the second world war period and other researches carried out such as the Ebbinhaus and memory experiments that gave rise to the forgetfulness curve. The curve provides an insight in understanding the mental capacity of the human beings and how long they are able to retain an event in their memories. The other developmental milestone in differentiating philosophy from psychology, the notion of behaviorism was developed. Their theory was based on the notion that a stimulus is the antecedent of producing the varied forms of behavior. Their theory on behaviorism was also supported by the effect of reinforcement on an individual. They suggested that reinforcement leads to the establishment of a conditioned reflex that influences one’s behavior. According to their view, positive reinforcement is what makes a person to always repeat a certain activity and this leads t the building of one’s behavior. However, negative reinforcement enables an individual to avoid certain forms of behaviors (Cherry, Messenger and Jacoby 2000, p. 564). It is based on the notion of behaviorism that the gestalt theory came into existence. The gestalt theory further reinforces the development of clinical psychology. The gestalt theory establishes the linkages of perception. The theory is based on the organization of reality. According to the Gestalts theory, the environment plays a vital role in one’s perception. The theory puts forward the idea of shapes being key in influencing one’s perception. The perception of shapes is based on the previous experience as well as the stimuli (Routh 2000, p. 240). Another important milestone in the development of the discipline of psychology is notion of psychoanalysis. The notion of psychoanalysis was put forward by Freud. The Freud theory builds the foundations of psychoanalysis. According to Freud’s theory, consciousness is part and parcel of the mental process. The theory points out the various mental states that exist mainly the conscious and sub-conscious conditions. The theory offers the modalities that are used to confront the patients based on their memories (Peterson 2000, p. 252). Freud’s theory offered the foundation for the development of cognitive behavioral therapy. The cognitive theory has undergone transformations over time. The cognitive theory links the physical world to the psychological world and forms one of the major milestones in the management of psychological conditions. The cognitive process interlinks the thought, language memory and perception n processes in the management of psychological conditions (Cherry, Messenger and Jacoby 2000, p. 564). More developments on the Freud theory lead to the identification of the various mental states that are present in an individual. This marked the hallmark in getting to understand the various mental states that exist. Klinger and Greenwald add more expounding to the mental states. Previously, the only mental states that existed are the consciousness and sub-consciousness states. However, Klinger and Greenwald pointed out the unconscious state as one of the existing mental states (Buchanan 2002, p. 244). Conclusion The clear line that demarcates the boundary between psychology and philosophy has not been elaborately defined. However, various transformations have taken place over the decade in trying to differentiate the two disciplines. Nevertheless, the exact boundaries of the two disciplines still provide a challenge due to the co-existence of some aspects in the respective fields. Work Cited Benjamin, L. T., Jr. (2005). A history of clinical psychology as a profession in America (and a glimpse at its future). Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, Reprinted by permission of Annual Reviews, Inc., via the Copyright Clearance Center. Buchanan, T. (2002). Historically grounding the practice of psychology: Implications for professional training. History of Psychology, 5(3), 240-248. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the PsycARTICLES database. Chang, K., Ling Lee, I., & Hargreaves, T. A. (2008). Scientist versus practitioner: An abridged meta-analysis of the changing role of psychologists. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 21(3), 267-291. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Academic Search Complete database. Cherry, D. K., Messenger, L. C., & Jacoby, A. M. (2000). An examination of training model outcomes in clinical psychology programs. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 31(5), 562-568. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the PsycARTICLES database. McFall, R. M. (2006). Doctoral training in clinical psychology. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 2, 21-49. Reprinted by permission of Annual Reviews, Inc., via the Copyright Clearance Center. Peterson, D. R. (2000). Scientist-practitioner or scientific practitioner? American Psychologist, 55(2), 252-253. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the PsycARTICLES database. Routh, D. K. (2000). Clinical psychology training: A history of ideas and practices prior to 1946. American Psychologist, 55(2), 236-241. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the PsycARTICLES database. Stricker, G., & Trienweiler, S. J. (2006). The local clinical scientist: A bridge between science and practice. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 51(1), 37-46. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the PsycARTICLES database. Read More