A clinical psychologist is a qualified specialist in the field of medical (clinical) psychology, engaged in research within this psychological area, diagnosis and correction of certain problems, including borderline conditions.
Despite the fact that in the context of clinical psychology a certain emphasis is placed on the medical component of the profession during training and work, specialists in this field also have basic psychological knowledge. This moment opens up more opportunities for a clinical psychologist for self-realization and helping people.
Before you get an idea of the main nuances of the profession, you need to understand what differences exist between the so-called “simple” psychologists and narrow medical specialists.
In the modern system of higher specialized education, the training of specialists in the field of psychology can be divided into two branches:
- pedagogical, which gives the opportunity to teach in schools or institutes;
- medical, due to which students must undergo a number of specialized subjects, resulting in a diploma of a medical psychologist.
However, despite this feature, psychology as a professional direction is dominant. If a qualified doctor, during diagnosis and treatment, relies on medical methods and has the ability to conduct drug therapy, then in the case of a clinical psychologist, the main methods of correcting the client’s (patient’s) condition remain psychological methods of influence.
What do these specialists teach?
You can obtain such a specialization at any higher educational institution where there is an appropriate department.
Unlike students studying in other fields (general, social, etc.), during their studies, future medical psychologists often study subjects such as neurology, narcology, psychiatry and others in depth and in more detail.
Within the clinical direction, special attention is paid to the following sections:
- psychosomatics;
- pathopsychology;
- neuropsychology.
Unlike doctors, a clinical psychologist does not have the task of completing an internship. Further training is usually carried out independently. Such a specialist can additionally take courses in counseling or running training groups, and study in detail certain psychological areas and techniques.
What are the features of their work?
A specialist in this field can be both a theoretician and a practitioner. In most cases, the emphasis is still placed on psychodiagnostics and psychocorrection.
A clinical psychologist needs to have the skills to work and interact not only with sick people, but also with individuals who are conditionally or completely healthy. Due to this nuance, such specialists do not exclusively deal with patients with borderline conditions, for example, neuroses or depression.
We work with people who have mental disorders due to somatic diseases (serious injuries, including traumatic brain injuries, strokes, cancer, and so on). The emphasis is on contact with the patient’s immediate environment when there is a need to teach family members how to properly interact with a sick person.
Intervention may be relevant to correct conditions in children, including those with increased anxiety, an abundance of fears, and the initial stages of neurotic conditions.
Another feature of this profession is that a specialist can engage in family counseling when the internal climate is disturbed and can negatively affect both physically and mentally. A psychologist trained on a medical basis often pays attention to social work. He can engage in educational activities, work with hospital and clinic staff, and participate in the development of plans for mental hygiene or psychoprophylaxis.
Such a specialist is part of a team to determine a person's condition before prescribing disability for any reason. Increasingly, the help of a clinical psychologist is being resorted to during medical and forensic examinations. As part of a general diagnosis of the patient’s condition, a clinical psychology specialist works together with psychiatrists, psychotherapists, neurologists and other representatives of medical professions.
The specifics of this profession involve conducting psychocorrection and diagnostic procedures with persons with various addictions, eating disorders, and in general.
Despite the fact that in recent years the states and Europe have been considering the option of expanding the rights, opportunities and responsibilities of medical psychologists, such a specialist does not have pharmacological therapy in the arsenal of basic methods. The main “working tools” in treatment and rehabilitation and what the specialist does are:
Working as a medical psychologist
Thanks to the peculiarities of this psychological education, the skills that specialists in the field of medical psychology possess after receiving a diploma, the scope of activity is as extensive as the places of employment. Where can a clinical psychologist prove himself after receiving the necessary qualifications?
Where do representatives of this profession work?
A medical psychologist, just like a psychologist of a different direction, has the opportunity to conduct consultations and engage in private practice. In this option, interaction often occurs with people who are not sick, but with those who are in a crisis situation when there is no way to cope with the problem or condition on their own.
Representatives of this profession work in clinics, at psycho-neurological dispensaries, in psychiatric hospitals and clinics, where they treat patients with neuroses and other borderline conditions. The clinical psychologist's place of work may be a hospice, children's or adult hospital. In this option, the psychologist provides support to patients with various forms of somatic diseases, “guides” the patient throughout the entire treatment period, monitoring the dynamics of the condition, correcting psychological problems and influencing the prevention of the development of mental illnesses.
A person with this specialization may be in demand in nursing homes, boarding schools and orphanages where there are children with various developmental disorders (physical, mental). Specialized educational institutions, sanatoriums and rehabilitation centers of various types also cooperate with such specialists.
The profession of a medical psychologist involves extensive work with completely different people who can influence the psychologist himself. Because of this, there is a risk of professional and emotional burnout. A person who chooses this path for himself must have certain personality traits, for example, resistance to stress, a significant level of patience and a desire to help others. And also be prepared for all possible difficulties that arise on your professional path.
Discipline program
"Clinical psychology"I. Organizational and methodological section
Purpose of the course
Formation of ideas about fundamental and applied research in the field of clinical psychology, the capabilities of this science, its methodology, theoretical foundations and empirical tasks.
Course objectives:
- introduce the object, subject and field of application of clinical psychology, its theoretical foundations and categorical apparatus;
- reveal the social significance, scale of tasks, interdisciplinary and interdisciplinary nature of clinical psychology;
- introduce the evolution of clinical psychology and the integration of its main sections (areas);
- give a meaningful description of the main methodological problems and methodological difficulties of clinical psychology;
- introduce the biopsychosocial approach to the study of mental disorders in psychology.
- show the role of clinical psychology in solving clinical and general psychological problems.
Place of the course in the graduate’s professional training
4th or 5th semester
Requirements for the level of mastery of course content
In the field of clinical psychology, a specialist must:
- understand the goals and objectives of clinical psychology; have an idea of its subject, main directions and scope of application of clinical and psychological knowledge;
- know the history of the formation and development of clinical psychology;
- know the principles of work and functions of clinical psychologists;
- know the main types of mental disorders and be able to analyze them;
- have an idea of the priority areas in modern clinical psychology;
- navigate the possibilities and means of psychological intervention.
Section I. Theoretical foundations and methodological problems of clinical psychology
Topic 1. Subject and object of clinical psychology.
Various definitions of clinical psychology in domestic and foreign science. Sections of clinical psychology. Basic concepts: etiology (analysis of the conditions of occurrence), pathogenesis (analysis of the mechanisms of origin and development), classification, diagnosis, epidemiology, intervention (prevention, psychotherapy, rehabilitation, health care). The relationship between clinical psychology and related psychological and medical-biological disciplines (behavioral medicine - behavioral medicine, abnormal psychology, medical psychology, health psychology, public health, psychiatry).
The main areas of clinical psychology (neuropsychology, pathopsychology, psychological rehabilitation and restorative training, psychotherapy, psychological correction and psychological counseling, psychosomatics and psychology of physicality, child neuro- and pathopsychology, clinical psychology outside clinical settings).
Topic 2. Historical roots of clinical psychology.
Manifestations of abnormality in the history of culture and their explanations. Historical review of the origins of clinical psychology: psychiatry (F. Pinel, B. Rush, P. Janet, E. Kraepelin, V. M. Bekhterev, Z. Freud); humanistic and antipsychiatric directions; general and experimental psychology; differential psychology and psychodiagnostics (F. Galton, V. Stern, A. Binet); philosophy of life, understanding psychology and phenomenology.
The main stages in the development of clinical psychology from the end of the 19th century to the present day. The founders of the main directions of clinical psychology in Russia and abroad (L. Whitmer, E. Kraepelin, T. Ribot, K. Jaspers, Z. Freud, I. P. Pavlov, A. R. Luria). Idiographic and nomothetic approaches in clinical psychology.
Topic 3. Methodological problems of clinical psychology.
The problem of norm and pathology. The norm as a really existing and stable phenomenon. Possibility of dichotomy between norm and pathology. Stability of the boundaries of the norm: psychopathology of everyday life, borderline and transient disorders. Socio-cultural determination of ideas about the norm. Relativistic ideas about the norm. Norm as a statistical concept. Adaptation concepts of the norm. The norm as an ideal.
Individual and species concept of norm.
The problem of the development crisis. A crisis is the impossibility of development under unchanging conditions. Crisis as a cause of pathological development. Crisis as a source of normal development. Normal and pathogenic crises.
Regression. The concept of regression. Types of regression (according to A. Freud, K. Levin, J. McDougal). The problem of development and decay in clinical psychology. Decay as a negative development. Jackson's Law. Decay as a specific form of development. Inconsistency between the laws of decay and development. The role of compensation during decay.
Topic 4. The problem of method in clinical psychology.
The problem of measurement and assessment in clinical psychology. Methods of clinical psychology. The problem of assessing the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions in clinical psychology. Placebo effect and the mechanism of its functioning. Basic research into the effectiveness of psychotherapeutic interventions (Menninger Psychotherapy Research Project: O. Kernberg and R. Wallerstein). Factors of the effectiveness of psychotherapeutic influence (belief in the psychotherapeutic system, relationship with the therapist, payment, etc.).
Limits and possibilities of an objective approach in clinical psychology. Structure and constituent elements of Hempel and Oppenheim's model of scientific explanation (conditions of adequacy). Explanans (explanatory) and Explanandum (explained).
Section II. Private clinical psychology
Topic 5. Clinical psychology in somatic medicine.
Psychosomatics and psychology of physicality. Disease concept. The concept of the internal picture of the disease (IPD). Alloplastic and autoplastic picture of the disease (K. Goldscheider). Sensitive and intellectual autoplastic picture of the disease (R.A. Luria). Levels of VKB: direct-sensual, emotional, intellectual, motivational. The structure of the dynamic picture of VKB: sensory tissue, primary meaning, secondary meaning. Personal meaning of the disease and its types. Disease as a semiotic system.
Topic 6. Clinical psychology in psychiatry. Basic classification systems for mental disorders.
Classifications of mental disorders in medicine: principles of construction and limitations. Nosological and syndromic classification systems. The structure of the main classification (using the example of DSM-IV and ICD-10): classes, units, axes, principles of assignment.
Topic 7. Basic models of mental disorders in psychology and general medicine.
Medical-biological model of mental disorders. Causal principle. Development of the disease: predispositional factors, triggering factors, maintaining and chronicizing factors. The relationship between external and internal factors in etiology.
Psychosocial model: the role of society and intrapersonal factors. Biopsychosocial model as an integrative one. Limitations of each model and possible methodological and practical difficulties that arise when applying them in clinical psychology.
Topic 8. Psychological models of schizophrenia and schizophrenia spectrum disorders.
Historical outline of schizophrenia research: B. Morel, E. Bleuler, K. Schneider. “Reality Index” by P. Janet and its role in the development of modern clinical psychology. Schizophrenia: prevalence, cultural and socio-economic factors, prognosis factors. The problem of the etiology of schizophrenia. Various models of mental disorders and schizophrenia: psychosocial theories, cognitive-behavioral theories, personality defect theory, psychoanalytic theories, polyetiological models (diathesis-stress hypothesis). Psychotherapy of patients with schizophrenia.
Topic 9. Psychological models of delusional disorders.
History of the development of ideas about delusional disorders: Esquirol, Galbaum, Heinroth. Delusional (paranoid) disorders: prevalence, average age, prognosis. The main types of delusions (erotomanic, grandeur, jealousy, persecution, somatic, invention). Various models of delusional disorders. Paranoid pseudo-community. Prognosis factors and psychotherapy.
Topic 10. Psychological models of affective disorders.
Clinical psychology of affects and emotions. Holothymic and catathymic affects. A short essay on depression: Hippocrates, Bonet, J. Falret, J. Beyarger, K. Kahlbaum, E. Kraepelin. Main symptoms of depression and their frequency. Prevalence and classification of affective disorders (syndromic, nosological, by course - ICD-10, by etiology, etc.). Biological factors in the development of depression. Cognitive-behavioral model of depression: affective, behavioral, motivational, physiological and cognitive symptoms. A. Beck's cognitive triad of depression. “Depressive style” - cognitive errors in depression (arbitrary conclusion, selective abstraction, overgeneralization, exaggeration or understatement, personalization, absolutist dichotomous thinking). Methods of cognitive psychotherapy. Psychoanalytic model of affective disorders: anaclitic depression and perfectionistic (narcissistic) melancholia.
Topic 11. Psychological models of anxiety, somatoform and conversion disorders.
Neurotic, stress-related and somatoform disorders. Anxiety-phobic disorders: panic disorder, agoraphobia, social phobias, specific (isolated) phobias, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder. Various models of mental disorders in relation to anxiety disorders: cognitive-behavioral models, psychoanalytic model. Somatoform disorders: somatization disorder, hypochondriacal disorder, somatoform autonomic dysfunction, chronic somatoform pain disorder. The main models of somatoform disorders: behavioral, cognitive and psychodynamic.
Conversion and dissociative disorders. Basic symptoms and psychological mechanisms (in the context of cognitive-behavioral and psychodynamic models).
Topic 12. Psychological models of substance abuse disorders.
Substance abuse disorders (PSA). Acute intoxication, use with harmful consequences, dependence syndromes, withdrawal states, psychotic and amnestic disorders. Data on the prevalence of addictive behavior and substance abuse. Main etiological factors: biological (including genetic), sociological, psychological (psychoanalytic, behavioral).
Topic 13. Psychological models of personality disorders.
Psychopathy and personality disorders. Clusters “A” (personality disorders associated with impaired assessment of reality), “B” (personality disorders associated with impaired self-esteem and interpersonal communication) and “C” (personality disorders associated with impaired self-esteem and interpersonal communication) in the DSM classification. Clinical and psychological analysis of the main personality disorders: paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal, hysterical, narcissistic, borderline, antisocial, avoidant, dependent, passive-aggressive. Criteria for a mature personality.
Topic 14: Recent areas of research and areas of special interest in clinical psychology.
The influence of modern technologies for satisfying need states (fast food technologies, plastic surgery, the media, etc.) on the dynamics of the boundaries of normality and pathology. Clinical psychology of organizations and corporations (in the field of business and production): “psychotic” corporation, “borderline” organization, “neurotic” company. Using the “reality index” criterion by P. Janet. Other areas of interest.
Topics of essays and term papers
- Priority areas of research in modern clinical psychology.
- The problem of norm and pathology in clinical psychology.
- The place of clinical psychology in the system of psychological knowledge.
- The relationship between the social and the biological in the formation and pathology of the psyche.
- The contribution of clinical psychology to the solution of fundamental general psychological problems.
- Theoretical foundations and methodological principles of clinical psychology.
- Psychological research in the clinic of schizophrenia spectrum disorders.
- Psychological research in the clinic of affective spectrum disorders.
- Psychological research in the personality disorder clinic.
- Psychological research in the addiction clinic.
Sample exam questions for the entire course
- Subject and object of clinical psychology. Ideas about the clinical method.
- Medical model of mental disorders. Basic principles and limitations.
- Psychosocial model of mental disorders. Basic principles and limitations.
- Biopsychosocial model of mental disorders. Basic principles and limitations.
- The problem of the relationship between decay and development in clinical psychology.
- The problem of developmental crisis in clinical psychology.
- The problem of the relationship between “norm and pathology” in clinical psychology. Basic models of “norm and pathology” in clinical psychology.
- The problem of measurement and assessment in clinical psychology.
- The problem of assessing the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions in clinical psychology.
- Basic research into the effectiveness of psychotherapeutic interventions.
- Factors of effectiveness of psychotherapeutic influence.
- Limits and possibilities of an objective approach in clinical psychology.
- Basic classification systems for mental disorders. Design principles and limitations. Nosological and syndromic classification systems.
- Internal picture of the disease. Basic models.
- Disease as a semiotic system.
- Sensory tissue and the “primary meaning” of the disease. Features of the formation of the “primary meaning” of intraceptive sensations.
- “Secondary meaning” and mythologization of the disease. Symptom as a mythological construct.
- Basic personality structures in modern psychoanalysis.
- Psychological models of schizophrenia and schizophrenia spectrum disorders.
- Psychological models of delusional disorders.
- Psychological models of affective disorders.
- Psychological models of anxiety disorders.
- Psychological models of somatoform disorders.
- Psychological models of conversion and dissociative disorders.
- Psychological models of addictions.
- Psychological models of personality disorders.
III. Distribution of course hours by topics and types of work
Name of sections and topics
Total hours Classroom classes – lectures (hours)
Independent work (hours)
Section I. Theoretical foundations and methodological problems of clinical psychology 1. Subject and object of cynical psychology 2. Historical roots of clinical psychology 3. Methodological problems of clinical psychology 4. The problem of method in clinical psychology Section II. Private clinical psychology 5. Clinical psychology in somatic medicine 6. Clinical psychology in psychiatry. Basic classification systems for mental disorders 7. Basic models of mental disorders in psychology and general medicine 8. Psychological models of schizophrenia and schizophrenia spectrum disorders 9. Psychological models of delusional disorders 10. Psychological models of affective disorders 11. Psychological models of anxiety, somatoform and conversion disorders 12. Psychological models of substance abuse disorders 13. Psychological models of personality disorders 14. Latest areas of research and areas of special interest in clinical psychology Total IV. Final control form
V. Educational and methodological support of the course
Literature
Main
- Zeigarnik B.V. Pathopsychology. M.: Publishing house Mosk. University, 1986.
- Kaplan G.I., Sadok B.J. Clinical psychiatry. M.: Medicine, 2002. T.1 (Chapters 1-3, 6-8, 10-13, 19, 20), T.2 (Chapter 21, Appendix).
- Carson R., Butcher J., Mineka S. Abnormal psychology. St. Petersburg: Peter, 2005.
- Clinical psychology / Ed. B.D. Karvasarsky. St. Petersburg: Peter, 2002/2006
- Clinical psychology / Ed. M. Perret, W. Baumann. St. Petersburg: Peter, 2002.
- Clinical psychology: Dictionary / Ed. N.D. Tvorogova. M.: Per Se, 2006.
- Kritskaya V.P., Meleshko T.K., Polyakov Yu.F. Pathology of mental activity in schizophrenia: motivation, communication, cognition. M.: Publishing house Mosk. University, 1991.
- Luchkov V.V., Rokityansky V.R. The concept of norm in psychology // Bulletin of Moscow State University, ser.14. Psychology, 1987, No. 2.
- Medical and forensic psychology: Course of lectures / Ed. T.B. Dmitrieva, F.S. Safuanova. M.: Genesis, 2005.
- Psychoanalytic pathopsychology / Ed. J. Bergeret. M.: Publishing house Mosk. University, 2001.
- Sokolova E.T., Nikolaeva V.V. Personality features in borderline disorders and somatic diseases. M., 1985.
- Tkhostov A.Sh. Psychology of physicality. M.: Smysl, 2002.
- Khomskaya E.D. Neuropsychology: Textbook for universities. St. Petersburg: Peter, 2003.
Additional
- Bleikher V.M., Kruk I.V., Bokov S.N. Clinical pathopsychology. M.: MPSI, 2006.
- Bratus B.S. Personality anomalies. M.: Mysl, 1988.
- Korsakova N.K., Moskovichiute L.I. Clinical neuropsychology. M.: Academy, 2003.
- Lebedinsky V.V. Mental development disorders in childhood. M.: Academy, 2003.
- Jaspers K. General psychopathology. M.: Medicine, 1997.
- Smulevich A.B. Personality disorders. M., 2007.
- Sokolova E.T. Psychotherapy: Theory and practice. M.: Academy, 2002/2006.
- Tkhostov A.Sh. Depression and psychology of emotions // Depression and comorbid disorders / Under. ed. A.B. Smulevich. M., 1997.
- Davison G.C., Neale J.M. Abnormal psychology. Sixth edition. N.Y., 1994.
- Rosenhan D.L., Seligman M.E.P. Abnormal psychology. Second edition. N.Y., L., 1989.
Technical training aids
Projector, slides.
The program was compiled by
, Doctor of Psychology,
Professor (MSU named after M.V. Lomonosov)See also:
- Methodological development for the course "Clinical Psychology"
Last update: 02/23/2015
Clinical psychology is concerned with the assessment, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental disorders. Although they work in medical settings, clinical psychologists are not doctors and are not licensed to prescribe medications in most states in the United States.
Clinical psychology is one of the largest areas of psychology, with a huge number of areas. Within clinical psychology, a psychologist may work in areas ranging from child or adult mental health, learning disabilities, emotional disorders, to substance abuse, geriatrics or health psychology.
What do clinical psychologists do?
Clinical psychologists often work in hospitals, in private practice, or as teachers. Clinicians are trained in a range of techniques and theoretical approaches. Some specialize in treating specific psychological disorders, while others work with clients dealing with a wide range of problems. Clinical psychologists treat some of the most severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia and depression.
How much do clinical psychologists earn?
In 2001, the average salary for a licensed clinical psychologist was $72,000, according to an APA study. Of the psychologists surveyed, 65% were in private practice, 19% worked in medical settings, and 2% worked in the service industry.
It is believed that the demand for psychologists will grow faster than the demand for specialists in other specialties.
In a 2009 report, CNN reported that the average annual salary for experienced clinical psychologists was $81,100, with the top salary in the field reaching $172,000. Clinical psychology was named one of the best fields; The report noted that there were almost 60,000 jobs available for clinical psychologists at the time, a number projected to grow by 16% by 2016.
Requirements for a candidate
Jobs in this field can be found with a master's degree, but most psychologists require a doctorate in clinical psychology to be hired. Clinical psychologists must have excellent communication skills. In addition, it is necessary to be creative in developing treatment and care plans.
What are the pros and cons of a career in clinical psychology?
One of the benefits of a career in clinical psychology is that helping people overcome problems can be extremely rewarding for the psychologist himself: the varied needs of clients allow clinicians to seek creative solutions and determine their own employment.
However, there are also disadvantages. Insurance companies require detailed client records, so clinical psychologists have to do a lot of paperwork. They are always at risk of burnout due to the demanding nature of the work: they spend long hours with nervous, unstable, impatient clients.
A clinical psychologist is a specialist in medical and psychological problems who diagnoses and treats various mental disorders.
general information
In the 90s, medical and clinical psychology meant the same thing. Today these are still two different disciplines. They should not be confused with psychiatry. They have similar tasks, but different treatment methods. Psychiatry is aimed at eliminating pathologies and defects that require hospitalization or inpatient treatment. These diseases are schizophrenia, manic-depressive psychosis, epilepsy. Clinical psychology studies the problems of maladaptation and borderline mental states, when a person is not yet pathologically ill, but is no longer normal.
The distinction between pathology and norm is a rather complex process. At the moment, the corresponding norms for age-related development are divided; each period has its own criteria for feeling the world and relating to it. The psychologist assesses how harmoniously developed a person is - how he gets along with himself and others, whether he knows how to be flexible, the ability to think objectively, resistance to stress, the ability to plan and adjust his daily routine, and observe a work and rest schedule. The norm is how a person copes with life’s difficulties, enters society, works productively, and how critically he thinks.
When diagnosing, a clinical psychologist and psychiatrist use their personal experience, adhere to the recommendations of general psychology, as well as information from the ICD and the Handbook of Mental Disorders.
The subject of clinical psychology can be:
- Preparation and implementation of psychotherapy methods.
- Disturbances in mental development.
- The emergence of destructive changes in the psyche.
- The use of psychological techniques to influence the patient’s consciousness for the purpose of treatment and as prevention.
- Organizing research using specific tools and defining principles for this, methodology.
- Finding out how various disorders affect the patient’s psyche.
- The role of the psyche in the emergence, progression and prevention of disorders.
So, clinical psychology is a discipline that involves assessing mental health, planning and conducting research in the scientific field to diagnose and identify mental problems.
Psychologists develop and conduct psychocorrection and psychotherapy. They also explore issues of general psychology, compare normality and pathology, study the boundaries of the normal, determine how the social and biological relate in a person, and try to resolve the problem of mental decay.
History of appearance
Clinical psychology began to develop at the turn of the 19th century by French researchers and Russian psychiatrists. Among the French we can single out J.-M. Charcot, R. Ribot, P. Janet, I. Taine. Russian scientists include V. M. Bekhterev, S. S. Korsakov, V. Kh. Kandinsky, I. A. Sikorsky and other prominent psychiatrists of those years.
Thus, V. M. Bekhterev founded the first psychological laboratory in Russia in 1885. It is on the basis of the Psychoneurological Institute named after. A large number of studies have been carried out on Bekhterev.
I. P. Pavlov, V. P. Osipov, V. N. Myasishchev, G. N. Vyrubov influenced the direct development of Russian clinical psychology. A special role in psychology in general was played by L. S. Vygotsky, and then his ideas were supported and continued by A. R. Luria, P. Ya. Galperin, A. N. Leontyev and others.
During the Second World War, all famous psychologists, the best of them, were sent to military hospitals and learned the basics of medical psychology in practice. Among them were B.G. Ananyev, S.L. Rubinstein, A.N. Leontyev, A.V. Zaporozhets, B.V. Zeigarnik. This entire galaxy of scientific minds helped soldiers cope with injuries, stress, and survive brain damage. It was this practice that allowed them to formulate the first provisions of clinical psychology, since unique extensive material was collected on mental disorders that are associated with localized brain disorders.
Branches of clinical psychology
5. Pathopsychology. He studies issues of mental disorders, disorders, violations of the objectivity of perception of the surrounding world, occurring due to destructive processes in the central nervous system. This section explores the patterns of dysfunction of mental processes in various psychopathologies in connection with the factors that contribute to their appearance, and also allows us to find effective methods of correction.
Methods
A clinical psychologist uses various methods and techniques for an objective and differentiated assessment of the client’s condition. Diagnostics helps a specialist to competently consider the variant of normal and pathological conditions for an individual person. He chooses one or another technique depending on each individual patient, signs of his mental disorder, level of education, and degree of mental development.
- The following methods are distinguished:
Creativity Research; - Experimental methods of psychology - standardized and original;
- Observation;
- Anamnestic method of collecting information about past diseases, past complications, causes of the current disorder;
- Conversation and survey;
- Biographical;
- Psychophysiological – EEG, for example.
Differences between a psychologist and a psychiatrist
A clinical psychologist specializes in the medical field of the origin of mental illnesses, examines them using diagnostics, applies correction, but does not always have the right to prescribe medications for these remedies. The psychologist’s “tool” is communication, therapy, but not pills. Such a specialist uses a complex of psychodiagnostic and psychocorrectional techniques in his work, focusing on a theoretical basis that combines the knowledge of a psychologist and a doctor. Thus, he significantly expands his professional capabilities for helping patients and his own development.
However, psychiatrists and psychologists have one task - to help and cure a person from mental pathologies and disorders. Set the patient up for positive results, change his worldview, worldview, guide him along the right path, reduce destructive behavior. However, a psychiatrist is a doctor first and foremost. For 5 years he undergoes exclusively medical training, like any other specialist from the medical field, goes on to practice as an internship, as a result of which he chooses his future profession and is determined with a narrow specialization. For example, he may prefer to work with children or only with disabled people. Psychiatrists use the medical model when communicating and treating patients. That is, they use, of course, psychological knowledge and techniques, but they focus more on the medical position. And, like doctors, they prescribe drugs - psychotropic, heavy sedatives. Drug therapy is the prerogative of psychiatrists. But not without psychotherapy. Psychiatrists deal with much more complex cases of mental illness than clinical psychologists.
Clinical psychologists do not resort to drug treatment, although such methods are practiced in some states in America. But, nevertheless, for this they undergo special training in order to understand medications and have the right to prescribe them. The range of drugs used in this area includes sedative and psychotropic drugs.
A clinical psychologist often works in conjunction with a psychiatrist to expand on the information gained through therapy.
Features of the work of a clinical psychologist
A medical psychologist can work as a theorist and as a practitioner. But for the most part, he is, of course, involved in psychocorrectional activities and focuses his activities on psychodiagnostics.
A clinical psychologist develops communication skills, since he has to communicate not only with patients, but also with relatively healthy people. That is, interaction occurs at a variety of levels. A special role is played by working with patients suffering from nervous disorders.
Patients also include people with somatic disorders - head injuries, oncology, strokes. The psychologist also interacts with the relatives of patients, since their help is very important in the treatment and restoration of human health.
A medical psychologist deals with the correction of children’s behavior, helps them cope with anxiety, a large number of fears, and nervous manifestations.
One of the advantages of the profession of a clinical psychologist is the ability to conduct family consultations in cases where relationships between family members are tense and the stressful situation of each of them is provoked. This specialist, thanks to his medical education, is able to express himself in the social sphere. He can educate the population and carry out preventive measures to maintain psychological comfort.
A medical psychologist, along with other specialists, also influences the determination of disability for any indication. His consulting assistance is used during forensic medical examinations. In order to give an accurate diagnosis, clinical psychologists work in conjunction with a psychotherapist, neurologist, psychiatrist and specialists from other fields of medicine.
Place of work
A clinical psychologist, like any other, can advise privately. This work is aimed at helping in crisis situations, especially emergencies that do not require delay and, accordingly, when there is insufficient time to wait in clinics. A person should not necessarily be considered sick, because each of us faces situations that are difficult to understand on our own.
Medical psychologists also work in hospitals in psychoneurological departments, in psychiatric clinics, as well as in specialized institutions aimed at treating neuroses and borderline conditions, various mental disorders.
A clinical psychologist also works in hospices and diagnoses both children and adults in clinics. He supports patients with various diseases in any of the departments. Such a psychologist monitors the general psychological state of the patient, helps to cope with the difficulties of adaptation and living, and corrects emerging destructive tendencies in a person’s behavior and thoughts.
The help of a medical psychologist is also needed in nursing homes, orphanages and boarding schools, in specialized institutions for children with disabilities in physical and mental development. In addition, such a psychologist works in sanatoriums and rest homes, works with correctional classes in schools, and in rehabilitation centers of various directions.
Clinical psychologist - a wide range of work with a wide variety of categories of people who need psychological help, but sometimes can influence the consultant himself. Therefore, in this profession there is a high risk of emotional burnout. A specialist must have a certain set of professionally important qualities in order to cope with stress, be patient with human manifestations, and also have a great desire to help others. A clinical psychologist is always ready to overcome the difficulties that await him on a difficult but important professional path.