Chapter 2 –
Contemporary
Clinical
Psychology
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Activities of Clinical Psychologists
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Clinical psychologists do a variety of activities
including:
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–
–
–
–
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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
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Activities of Clinical Psychologists

Percentage of Psychologists Who Engage in
Each Activity
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Assessment and diagnosis
Psychotherapy
Consultation
Research
Teaching
Supervision
Administration
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58
76
38
47
49
47
46
Adapted from Norcross & Karpiak (2012).
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rights reserved.
Activities of Clinical Psychologists

Percentage of Psychologists Time in Each
Activity
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Assessment and diagnosis
Psychotherapy
Consultation
Research
Teaching
Supervision
Administration

14
35
6
15
11
6
11
Adapted from Norcross & Karpiak (2012).
Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All
rights reserved.
Activities of Assessment in Clinical
Psychology

Assessment is very common and comes in
many forms
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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
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Planning
Monitoring
Evaluating
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The Assessment process
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Assessment is an ongoing process, not
defined by psychometric evaluations
It is an ongoing process of hypothesistesting
We adopt both the idiographic approachexploring the uniqueness of the particular
person and his/her circumstances
The nomothetic approach: What is common
to this person and other persons of this age
and other demographic variables?
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Steps in the assessment process
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Review referral information
Decide whether to accept
Obtain relevant background information
Consider the influence of relevant others
Observe the person in several settings
Select and administer an assessment
test battery
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rights reserved.
Steps (cont-d)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Review referral information
Decide whether to accept
Obtain relevant background
information
Consider the influence of relevant
others
Observe the child in several settings
Select and administer an assessment
test battery
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rights reserved.
Diagnosis
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Diagnosis involves assigning the
cluster of symptoms to a cat gory of
mental disorders
Diagnosis is based on the DSM
It enables the planning of intervention
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Activities of Intervention in
Clinical Psychology
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Intervention is very common as well
– Psychotherapy: talk therapy
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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)
In North America cognitive behavioral is most common,
followed by an integrative approach and psychodynamic
The Prescription Privileges Debate
– Currently only a select few psychologists can
prescribe (in New Mexico and Louisiana)
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– Highly debated
rights reserved.
Activities of Prevention in
Clinical Psychology
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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
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Prevention usually based in community settings
– Psychologist usually has several roles in prevention
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Developing programs
Implementing programs
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Evaluating outcomesrights
of reserved.
programs
Additional Activities of
Clinical Psychologists
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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
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Usually there is a needs assessment, program development,
program evaluation, and policy consultation
Research
– All psychologists are trained to conduct and evaluate
research
– APA’s ethics code requires a commitment to
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increasing scientific knowledge
rights reserved.
Additional Activities of Clinical
Psychologists

Research (cont)
– Small percentage produce research
– Much more common in university settings
– Range and content of research varies dramatically
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Can be on normal human functioning, psychopathology,
assessment, intervention or prevention
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.)
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Additional Activities of Clinical
Psychologists

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
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Research Supervision
– Assisting in the development and implementation of
a research study or program

Administration
– organization, program
development, meetings in
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rights reserved.
committees
First Pillar of Clinical Psychology:
Science

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
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Second Pillar of Clinical
Psychology: Ethics

Five general ethical principles of the APA (2010)
– Beneficence and nonmalficence: help and avoid
doing harm
– Fidelity and responsibility: developing trust and
show awareness of their professional responsibilities
– Integrity in professional relationships
– Justice: all people should have access to benefit
from the contribution of psychology
– Respect for people’s rights and dignity

Informed consent – all individuals in therapy
and participants in research must indicate that
they understand and are willing participants
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Ethical, Legal, and Professional
Issues
Laws:
 Imposed by legislative bodies
 Requires interpretation
 Distinction between civil and criminal
law
 Civil law uses less exacting standards
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Cont-d
Ethics:
 Derived from philosophical ideas and
professional norms
 Imposed on members of a profession
 Has a moral basis
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rights reserved.
Ethical Principles
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Autonomy: respect for rights of others
to make their own choices and hold
their own beliefs
Nonmaleficience: do no harm
Beneficence: promoting positive
growth & welfare of others
Justice: acting fair, impartial &
reasonable
Fidelity: faithful and trusting of others
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Con-d
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Develop ethical reasoning skills and
sensitivity
Be aware of motivations and interests
Exercise power with care
Learn limits of professional role
Understand implications of assessment
findings and recommendations
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rights reserved.
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Using client’s language
Considering school, environmental,
and political factors
Eliminating bias, prejudice, and
discriminatory factors
Documenting cultural and sociopolitical factors
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Additional Aspects to Clinical
Psychology

Training in Clinical Psychology
– Scientist-practitioner model (Boulder Model)
– Clinical scientist model
– Practitioner-scholar model (Vail Model)
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APA Accreditation in Clinical Psychology
Providing services that are competent for
the larger multicultural community
Licensure
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Ethical Violations
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Misuse of assessment instruments
Wrongful use of derived data
Performing outside of competence
Misinterpretations of assessment data
Invasion of privacy
Violation of confidentiality
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rights reserved.