The nature of clinical psychology.

Abstract

American psychology, generally speaking, has not heen greatly interested in practical problems of human behavior. There have been many brilliant individual exceptions to this generalization, but the attitude of the representative professional group is clearly evident in the Proceedings of the American Psychological Association, which have been summarized in Fernberger's history (28, pp. 42-53). That the laissez-faire attitude of the Association was not shared by many of its Members is shown by the organization of the American Association for Applied Psychology (5, 24) in 1937. One of the fundamental reasons for the new organization is the ever-increasing opportunities, even demands, for psychological work in varied human affairs. Whether the practicing psychologists are working in schools, industry, business, hospitals, courts, or in private consultation, a large number of them are confronted with problems concerning specific individuals, ft is in dealing with such individual problems that one of the most important services of psychology is to be found, and it is this individual work which constitutes, in a general way, the field of clinical psychology.A statement such as the one last made is unsatisfactory because it is so general that it conceals many detailed problems which must be faced and solved if clinical psychology is to mean anything more than what each individual speaker uses it to mean. In other words, there is little or no actual agreement as to what clinical psychology is, except that it deals with individuals.A more specific definition of clinical psychology has been attempted by many writers during the past quarter of a century, but their statements do not always agree among themselves. There is no intent in writing this paper to present a new, and the final, definition. Rather, we shall be content with doing spadework furnishing data for such a formulation. In order to define this subject we

Transition: from vocational guidance to counseling psychology.

“…Clinical psychology has typically been concerned with diagnosing the nature and extent of psychopathology, with the abnormalities even of normal persons, with uncovering adjustment difficulties and maladaprive tendencies, and with the acceptance and understanding of these tendencies so that they may be modified (10).…”

Lightner Witmer and the project of psychotechnology

“…Theodate L. Smith (1914) described a number of clinics, at Clark, Minnesota, Cornell, and elsewhere. directed by psychologists) based at institutions of higher education (Louttit, 1939); Chauncey M. Louttit (1939: 374) regards this as giving us near an overall total, as it is unlikely there were many elsewhere. directed by psychologists) based at institutions of higher education (Louttit, 1939); Chauncey M. Louttit (1939: 374) regards this as giving us near an overall total, as it is unlikely there were many elsewhere.…”

A brief history of clinical psychology.

“…In spite of such developments as those just described, Loutitt (70) could indicate during the same period that "American Psychology, generally speaking, has not been greatly interested in practical problems of human behavior" (70, p. 361). This contention applied to clinical psychology with as much force as, or more than, it did to other applications of psychology.…”

“…This was a period during which psychological clinics reflected the plateau of the psychometric tradition. Some new clinics appeared; others closed their doors (70). In 1934 a survey report of a questionnaire of psychoeducational clinics by Witty and Them an (115) appeared.…”