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Clinical Psychology Definition Essay

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According to Oxford Dictionary online, clinical psychology is, “The branch of psychology concerned with the assessment and treatment of mental illnesses and disability” (“Clinical psychology”). While it’s true that a clinical psychologist works to treat and console one’s mental illness and disability, there is much more to what makes a clinical psychologist than what the definition says. To me, being a clinical psychologist means not only helping treat a mental illness but helping the patient cope with different life struggles they may face. A clinical psychologist out of the kindness of their heart opens their ears to people in need and helps them reach a goal of success and happiness.
Another way to define Clinical psychology is by looking at its history, to begin with Wilhelm Wundt is known as the father of psychology he contributed to psychology by his creation of the world's first experimental psychology lab established in 1879. By creating the laboratory made to study experimental psychology he took psychology from a sub-discipline of philosophy and biology to a one of a kind scientific discipline. Wundt, in his academic years trained 186 graduate students one of them being Lightner Witmer. Witmer came up with the first definition of "Clinical Psychology" in a 1907 paper as, "The study of individuals, by observation or experimentation, with the intention of promoting change" (Cherry). Ten years after treating a young boy that had learning disabilities he created the journal Psychology Clinic. All though his journal no longer exists his theory of clinical psychology forms a significant part of the modern department.
Amongst branches of psychology, clinical psychology often gets confused with counseling psychology because...

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Roger, Patricia R, and Stone Gerlad Counseling vs Clinical" Society of counseling psychology, n.d. Web. 13 Feb 2014.
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