History of clinical psychology

Clinical psychology is a professional and scientific field in which specialists of this area of practice seek to augment understanding of human behavior in order to promote effective functioning of persons within society. Clinical psychologists encompass both the application and search for psychological principles and techniques that better the individual. In order to search for and apply the data they collect, clinicians must engage in teaching, research, assessment or diagnosis, psychotherapy, and programs meant to augment psychological well-being and performance. Due to its rich history, clinical psychology has become the biggest and one of the most dynamic fields of psychology with the latest specialist focusing on positive clinical psychology.

Many events helped shape development and practice of clinical psychology. "…the publication of William James's Principles of Psychology, Sigmund Freud's pioneer investigations into the causes and treatments of neuroses, the founding of the American Psychological Association, the opening of the first psychological clinic at the University of Pennsylvania" (Reisman, 1991, p. 4). Looking into the history of clinical psychology, it all began in 1896. Clinical psychology entered a phase of unusual growth during the aftermath of World War II and saw a rapid rise in practitioners and patients. Many professions and psychologists opposed clinical psychology and grew to be a concern for many clinicians.

Research and statistics however helped clinicians see the benefits of clinical psychology as studies revealed the positive effects of patient and doctor therapy. Research also helped show the need for clinical psychology as people that went through traumatic events needed assistance in dealing with the stress and negative consequences of trauma. Application of clinical psychology and the information derived from the results of such application propelled it into a popular field of practice and made it what it is today.

One growing trend within clinical psychology is positive clinical psychology. Positive clinical psychology is becoming the new field of interest related to clinical psychology and embodies characteristics that offer clients and patients the ability to heal from the harm of negative impacts to their lives like addiction and trauma. "Positive characteristics (such as gratitude, flexibility, and positive emotions) can uniquely predict disorder beyond the predictive power of the presence of negative characteristics, and buffer the impact of negative life events, potentially preventing the development of disorder" (Wood & Tarrier, 2010, p. 819). So many people are traumatized by the negative happenings within their lives and occurring throughout the world. Positive clinical psychology is meant to apply a positive approach to dealing with such negative influences.

Another important facet of positive clinical psychology is its role in how patients see outcomes and motivations. "Further, positive and negative characteristics cannot logically be studied or changed in isolation as (a) they interact to predict clinical outcomes, (b) characteristics are neither "positive" or "negative," with outcomes depending on specific situation and concomitant goals and motivations, and (c) positive and negative well-being often exist on the same continuum" (Wood & Tarrier, 2010, p. 819). This new development of clinical psychology helps to build a more complex understanding of how people accept change and deal within stress within their environment and offers effective ways of becoming aware of behavioral patterns and causes.

Another important thing to discuss pertaining to clinical psychology are differences between clinical psychology and other mental health professions, including social work, psychiatry, and school psychology. Social work, for instance, offers solutions to people in relation to personal problems such as lack of housing and resources, however, it is not meant to be therapy or an area to discuss and treat personal problems. It is merely a platform to gain services and resources whereas clinical psychology is meant to offer treatment for mental illness and disability. The same can be said of psychiatry.

Although psychiatry and clinical psychology are roughly the same in terms of how both branches treat patients, psychiatry existed before clinical psychology. In psychiatry, it's more about treatment more so than it is about development of awareness and dealing with problems. In psychiatry they wish more to seek the source of the problem and then treat it whereas in clinical psychology, it's an ongoing process. School psychology is also different in several regards.