Psychology And Relevance To The Field Of Psychology: The Evolution Of Clinical Psychology

The Evolution of Clinical Psychology

Introduction

There are many branches of psychology but the one I will be exploring is Clinical Psychology.

Explanation of Clinical Psychology and Relevance to the Field of Psychology

Clinical psychology is a complex field that parallels the complexity of human behavior and emotion (Plante, 2010). Just as people are defined by more than blood and tissue, emotions and ideas, or their relationships to others, the field of clinical psychology is an integrative effort to understand the interaction of biological, psychological, and social factors in making each of us “tick.”(Plante, 2010). Like other fields, the roots of clinical psychology are viewed as simplistic and narrowly conceived (Plante, 2010). Hundreds

Lowell Kelly in 1960, researchers have chronicled the evolution of its membership and the transformation of clinical psychology in the United States for 50 years. (Norcross & Karpiak, 2012). The short history began in 1896, usually credited as the founding of clinical psychology in the United States, only 17 years after Wilhelm Wundt established his laboratory in Leipzig (Norcross & Kariak, 2012). He trained many of the great early psychologists. Many of them established psychological laboratories throughout Europe, Canada, and the United States. In 1896, Lightner Witmer, who received his doctoral degree under Wundt, established the first psychological clinic at the University of Pennsylvania, and a few years later, coined the term clinical psychology (Korchin, 1976; Reisman,

No longer restricted to addressing mental health alone, psychologists now aim to promote both mental and physical health, address behavioral pathogens that are risk factors for major chronic diseases, and improve the public’s quality of life (Thorn, 2006). If there was a health care system where clients and patients were routinely screened for major psychological problems that cause suffering, then there would no longer be controversy about how this screening should be conducted, who is qualified to do this screening, and what psychological problems constitute disorders (Thorn,