Examination of Clinical Psychology

Abstract

The field of psychology has expanded since 2500 B.C. Thanks to physicians like Hippocrates, Plato, Wundt, and others who were able to pave the way for psychologists of today, while people are able to receive the help needed and benefit from it as well. Technology is constantly changing the way psychology is viewed. The evolution of high-tech approaches is to analyze and treat the human psyche. Although the discipline of psychology varies to some degree, they have the same goals, which are to comply with the necessities of the human mind to impart a continuing aptitude to survive. Clinical psychology is an aspect of psychology that is of special concern to evaluating and taking care of individuals with abnormal behavior, mental illness, and other psychiatric disorders. Clinical psychology is a science of psychology. Clinical psychologists deal with children to elderly people, a single person to a group of people, therefore, there is no question whether or not an individual should receive treatment.

Examination of Clinical Psychology

Clinical psychology is an aspect of psychology that is of special concern to evaluating and taking care of individuals with abnormal behavior, mental illness, and other psychiatric disorders. Clinical psychology is a science of psychology. Clinical psychologists deal with children to elderly people, a single person to a group of people, therefore, there is no question whether or not an individual should receive treatment.

There is an extensive assortment of specialties that clinical psychologists deal with, ranging from individuals with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, or people dealing with personal issues, such as divorce or loss of employment. Clinical psychologists let patients express anger or frustration, while also giving assistance to the patient in accepting and dealing with the situation in a beneficial method. Psychologists have the understanding and competence to use a mixture of processes designed to aid patients with coping. This depends on the psychologist's speciality.

History of Clinical Psychology

Founded in the 1800s, psychology has been around since 2500 B.C. In the beginning, the method towards dealing with mental health issues varied between holistic, supernatural, medical, and religious viewpoints. The man that discovered ancient medicine, the Greek physician Hippocrates, played a role in the progress of psychology.

Hippocrates came up with the theory of humors, which consists of four bodily fluids, and they are the key to good health. The fluids are yellow bile, black bile, blood, and phlegm. A body with too much phlegm causes an individual to experience tiredness and lethargic; too much blood would cause irritability. A body with too much yellow bile experiences anxiety; a body with too much black bile experiences melancholy (Plante, 2011).

Hippocrates believe in having a healthy diet and exercise could possibly prevent or treat the symptoms. However, he also believed in blood-letting, which was a practice where the patient was forced to bleed small quanities, frequently, with intentions of returning the humors back to an original state.

Plato, a Greek philosopher believed the soul had free will, and the body does what the soul wants. "Plato believed that mental illness is brought on by the malfunctioning of part of the soul that controls reasons and an individual's need of self-awareness were what brought on symptoms" (Plante, 2011). Aristotle sustained the scientific importance as well as he believed in certain emotional states, such as anger, joy, courage, and fear was what dove the human body. Greek physician Galen explored all of these viewpoint and designed the most significant medical programs known in the history of psychology. Galen also believed in the theory of humors and blood-letting. Although some of Galen's ideas contained flaws, Galen was able to make a difference in medicine because of his rationalizations.

The Middle Ages had a unusual type of enlightenment for mental illness. People believed the cause of abnormal behavior was supernatural forces rather stemming from the soul or body. Saint Thomas Aquinas and Bishop Nicholas Oresme did not believe mental illness was related to supernatural forces and clearly expressed that these conditions were caused by mental or physical abnormalities. During the 16th century, Swiss physician Paracelsus thought the way the stars moved affected an individual's mood. They also came up with more civilized treatments for the mentally ill.

The Renaissance era proved to bring back the medical treatments, and leave supernatural and spiritual ways behind. In 1879 psychology became official when German physician Wilhem Wundt opened his own laboratory at the University of Leipzig in Germany. "Wundt performed human raction experiments in his laboratory. Wundt's intentions were to study behavior to get a better understanding of the mind and how the mind works by using scientific methods" (Plante, 2011). The first psychological clinic was opened in Pennsylvania four years later. In the face of the hesitation on the subject of the new field, clinical psychology has grown despite the earlier disagreement.

Evolving Nature of Clinical Psychology

The medical advancement of methods in diagnosising and treating has been distinguished by the gradual accumulation over many centuries by many objectively recorded observations (Routh, 2000). With technology ever-shifting to ready to go into the up to date standards of today, so has clinical psychology. A crucial aspect in this evolution was the energy put into understanding the human mind, its abnormalities, and where they came from.

Research and Statistics in Clinical Psychology

In clinical psychology, research and statistics are an important factoring element. Research is used to confirm or disprove a theory, whereas statistics prove validity and reliability of a theory. Statistics are used to determine how important the data gathered is to the research conducted. These two disciplines