clinical psychology

Branch of psychology dealing with the understanding and treatment of health problems, particularly mental disorders. The main problems dealt with include anxiety, phobias, depression, obsessions, sexual and marital problems, drug and alcohol dependence, childhood behavioural problems, psychoses (such as schizophrenia), mental disability, and brain disease (such as dementia) and damage. Other areas of work include forensic psychology (concerned with criminal behaviour) and health psychology.

Assessment procedures assess intelligence and cognition (for example, in detecting the effects of brain damage) by using psychometric tests. Behavioural approaches are methods of treatment that apply learning theories to clinical problems. Behaviour therapy helps people change unwanted behaviours (such as phobias, obsessions, sexual problems) and to develop new skills (such as improving social interactions). Behaviour modification relies on operant conditioning, making selective use of rewards (such as praise) to change behaviour. This is helpful for children, the mentally disabled, and for patients in institutions, such as mental hospitals. Cognitive therapy is an approach to treating emotional problems, such as anxiety and depression, by teaching people how to deal with negative thoughts and attitudes. Counselling, developed by Carl Rogers, is widely used to help people solve their own problems. Psychoanalysis, as developed by Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, is little used by clinical psychologists today. It emphasizes childhood conflicts as a source of adult problems.