- What does clinical psychology do?
- What is the work of a clinical psychologist?
- How to become a clinical psychologist?
- What distinguishes a clinical psychologist from other mental he alth professionals?
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Clinical psychology is a branch of psychology, which is mainly interested in the psyche of a sick person and the mechanisms that are associated with the emergence of diseases and how various diseases affect the functioning of the mind. Find out what the tasks of clinical psychology are, see what needs to be done to become a clinical psychologist and what distinguishes a clinical psychologist from other mental he alth professionals.
Clinical Psychologyis one of the speci alties that can be chosen by people studying psychology. The end of the 19th century is considered to be the moment whenclinical psychologyemerged - it was then, exactly in 1896, that Lightner Witmer opened the first psychological clinic in Philadelphia.
Contents:
- What does clinical psychology do?
- What is the work of a clinical psychologist?
- How to become a clinical psychologist?
Since then, this field of psychology has continued to develop - now we will meet a clinical psychologist not only in a place where we would most expect it, i.e. in a psychiatric hospital, but also in internal medicine or oncology departments.
What does clinical psychology do?
The interests of clinical psychology include, first of all, the relationships between various human diseases and their impact on the human psyche. The connection between clinical psychology and psychiatry and mental diseases and disorders included in it is quite obvious.
Psychopathology and the causes of such problems are, of course, among the issues analyzed by clinical psychologists, although this is not the only issue that such specialists are interested in. The functioning of the human psyche can be influenced by basically any disease, not only mental - a negative impact on the mind can be exerted by various chronic diseases, such as, for example, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or diabetes.
Patients may develop various psychiatric problems due to various organic diseases - some of the most common are various affective disorders (mainly depressive) andanxiety disorders. This is why clinical psychology is present at, for example, internal medicine or oncology departments - the role of specialists in this field is not only to detect possible mental disorders in patients, but also to take measures to eliminate them, which will be discussed below.
Clinical psychology is present not only in hospitals, but also in other facilities - incl. in centers of various crisis interventions. The scope of interest in this field also includes the functioning of the human mind in situations that simply overwhelm it.
What is the work of a clinical psychologist?
The obligations of a clinical psychologist generally depend on the place of work of a given specialist. Clinical psychology in hospitals focuses on supporting patients - and not only those who are suspected of having a mental disorder.
During hospitalization, the patient may be diagnosed with a new disease, which will often accompany him for the rest of his life. It does not even have to be an individual related to a direct threat to life or a problem that can shorten its duration - generally speaking, any chronic disease may, after its diagnosis, lead to the appearance of a mental crisis.
This is where the main task of clinical psychologists comes in. Their primary duty is to support patients - explaining to them that the disease can have a negative impact on their psyche, but also giving them ways to prevent minor deviations from turning into more serious disorders. It is the clinical psychologist who should have time to talk to the patient, to listen to his fears and worries.
Clinical psychologists often conduct therapeutic interventions - for this purpose, however, specialists in this field must acquire specialist qualifications. Sometimes clinical psychologists not only talk to patients, but also make a thorough psychological assessment of their condition, for which they can use specialized psychological tests.
In addition - when suspecting the existence of such - clinical psychologists can carry out assessments of cognitive disorders. Sometimes the role of clinical psychology in hospitals is considerable - a psychologist may pass on to the doctor who carries out the patient's treatment the most important conclusions from his observations, which may significantly affect the course of the entire treatment of the patient.
The scope of tasks of a clinical psychologist working in a hospital is listed above. LittleThe situation is different for those specialists who work in other places - we are talking here, for example, about clinical psychology in addiction treatment centers or about clinical psychologists in crisis intervention centers.
How to become a clinical psychologist?
A person who plans to work as a clinical psychologist must decide to study psychology, and in addition to choose one of the available specializations, i.e. clinical psychology. After completing these studies, it is possible to start working in your dream job.
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What distinguishes a clinical psychologist from other mental he alth professionals?
The clinical psychologist can influence the patient's treatment, albeit in a limited way. Specialists in this field can carry out psychological and therapeutic interventions on patients (e.g. some form of therapy), although they cannot decide, for example, about pharmacological treatment - this is the responsibility of doctors.
About the authorBow. Tomasz NęckiA graduate of medicine at the Medical University of Poznań. An admirer of the Polish sea (most willingly strolling along its shores with headphones in his ears), cats and books. In working with patients, he focuses on always listening to them and spending as much time as they need.Read more articles from this author