Clinical psychology
Chapter 1 - Introduction to Psychopathology 1
Chapter 2 - Classification and Assessment in Clinical Psychology 9
Chapter 3 - Research Methods in Clinical Psychology 19
Chapter 4 - Treating Psychopathology 26
Chapter 6 - Anxiety and Stressor-Related Problems 35
Chapter 7 - Depression and Mood Disorders 48
Chapter 8 - Experiencing Psychosis: Schizophrenia Spectrum Problems 0
Chapter 9 - Substance Use Disorders 0
Capita Selecta - Symptom perception, interpretation and response 0
Capita Selecta - The impact and outcomes of illness: patient perspective 0
Capita Selecta - The impact and outcomes of illness: families and informal caregivers 0
Capita Selecta - Clinical Forensic psychology 0
Lecture 2 - Psychopharmacology 0
Lecture 4 - Diagnosis and Treatment 0
Lecture 7 - Psychotic disorders 0
,Chapter 1 - Introduction to Psychopathology
Psychopathology = the in-depth study of mental health problems
Clinical psychology = the branch of psychology responsible for understanding and treating
psychopathology.
1.1 - A brief history of psychopathology
Demonic possession = a historical explanation of psychopathology referring to the fact that
the individual had been ‘possessed’ in some way, because people’s personality changed.
→ by drilling holes in the skull, or other forms of physical attacks, demons could leave the
mind.
→ continued adoption of demonic possession as an explanation is often linked to local
religious beliefs and may often be accompanied by exorcism as an attempted treatment.
Trepanation = hole made into the skull, so that demons could leave the mind.
Medical model = an explanation of psychopathology in terms of underlying biological or
medical causes.
→ Descartes said that because minds could not be diseased, mental health problems must
be located in the body (brain).
→ has some important implications:
● Medical or biological causes underly psychopathology
● Medical model adopts what is basically a reductionist approach by attempting to
reduce the complex psychological and emotional features of psychopathology to
simple biology
● Assumption that psychopathology is caused by ‘something not working properly’
→ is problematic, because:
● psychopathology might just represent a more extreme form of normal
behavior
● by this implication, it may have an important influence on how we view people
suffering from mental health problems and how they view themselves
Recovery model = broad-ranging treatment approach which acknowledges the influence
and importance of socio-economic status, employment and education and social inclusion in
helping to achieve recovery from mental health problems.
Psychiatry = a scientific method of treatment that is based on medicine, the primary
approach of which is to identify the biological causes of psychopathology and treat them with
medication or surgery.
Asylums = hospices converted for the confinement of individuals with mental health
problems.
→ developed eventually into Community care = care that is provided outside a hospital
setting
Bethlem Hospital = one of the first psychiatric hospitals originally established in London
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,1844 → american psychiatric association
1892 → american psychological association
1930 → veterans administration was founded, because soldiers came back with shellshock
now termed as ptsd (veterans administration founded)
personality tests and intelligence tests were used to select soldiers, to prevent soldiers
from getting shellshock (MMPI, Stanford-Binet, Wechsler)
Boulder model
1947: APA committee on training in clinical psychology
→ report on current programs
→ recommended new content
→ set up standards: doctorate + clinical internship
1949: Boulder conference → Shakow report
→ focus on “holy trinity” of assessment, therapy and research
→ clinical psychologists are scientist-practitioners
Moral treatment = approach to the treatment of asylum inmates which abandoned
contemporary medical approaches in favor of understanding, hope, moral responsibility and
occupational therapy.
Social breakdown syndrome = confrontational and challenging behavior, physical
aggressiveness and a lack of interest in personal welfare and hygiene.
→ as a result of In the twentieth century, the growing numbers of in‐patients diagnosed with
mental health problems led to untrained nurses resorting simply to restraint as the main form
of intervention
Milieu therapies = first attempt to structure the hospital environment for patients, which
attempted to create a therapeutic community on the ward in order to develop productivity,
independence, responsibility and feelings of self-respect.
→ mutual respect between staff and patients
Token economy = a reward system which involves participants receiving tokens for
engaging in certain behaviors, which at a later time can be exchanged for a variety of
reinforcing or desired items.
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, Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) = outreach services that can include psychiatrist,
clinical psychologists, social workers, nurses and in more complex cases a care programme
approach.
Assertive Outreach Teams = to help individuals with mental health problems who find it
difficult to work with mental health services or have related problems such as violence,
self-harm, homelessness or substance use.
1.2 - Defining psychopathology
Practical component:
Psychopathology = symptoms which may indicate a mental disorder
Scientific component
Psychopathology = academic study (of symptoms) of mental disorders
Abnormal psychology = alternative definition of psychopathology, though with stigmatizing
connotations relating to not being ‘normal’.
→ may affect our willingness to include such individuals in every day activities and may lead
us to treating such individuals with suspicion rather than respect
Service user groups = groups of individuals who are end users of the mental health
services provided by e.g. government agencies such as the NHS.
1.
Abnormal as a deviation from the statistical norm.
Statistical norm = the mean, average or modal example of a behavior (e.g. IQ).
→ advantage:
+ there are clear cut-offs
+ the frequency of the behavior is quantifiable
→ disadvantage:
- cut-offs are arbitrary
- not all rare behaviors are undesirable
- not all “abnormal behaviors” are rare
2.
Abnormal as a deviation from social and political norms
→ advantage:
+ takes the accepted norms of society into account
→ disadvantage:
- as cultures vary, a universal set of norms cannot be established
- social norms change over time, e.g. homosexuality
- norms may depend on context
- culture can produce ‘culture-bound’ symptoms which seem confined to specific
cultures
Ataque de nervios = a form of panic disorder found in Latinos from the Caribbean
Seizisman = a state of psychological paralysis found in the Haitian community
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