Clinical psychology investigates, evaluates, diagnoses, prevents and treats issues related to mental health.
Clinical psychology is responsible for the investigation, evaluation, diagnosis , prognosis, treatment, rehabilitation and prevention of issues that affect mental health . It is a branch of psychology that addresses the conditions that can cause discomfort or suffering to people.
To understand the meaning of the concept, it is important that we first establish the etymological origin of the two words that give it shape. Thus, the first word, psychology , emanates from Greek where we can see that it is made up of the union of two clearly delimited parts: psyche , which is synonymous with “soul”, and logia , which can be translated as “study of”.
On the other hand, the second word, clinic , also comes from Greek. Specifically, its antecedents are found in the term kline , which is equivalent to “bed.”
Clinical psychology practices
Psychotherapy and psychological counseling are two of the main practices of clinical psychology, whose origins date back to 1896 with Lightner Witmer . During the first decades of the 20th century , clinical psychology focused on psychological assessment; However, beginning with World War II , efforts were directed toward treating patients.
It is important to distinguish between clinical psychology and psychiatry , since psychiatrists are legally authorized to prescribe medications. On the other hand, it should be noted that clinical psychology has four primary theoretical orientations: psychodynamic , humanistic , cognitive-behavioral , and family therapy .
Clinical psychology has various fields of study.
Fields of study
However, we must continue delving into the subject to determine that clinical psychology currently has many fields of study. Thus, among them we find social psychology , community psychology , clinical neuropsychology , psychoneuroimmunology or psycho-oncology .
We can determine that the latter is a discipline, halfway between medicine and psychology, which takes as its starting point the discovery of cancer in a person. From this blow, the relationships established between the patient and his environment, the treatment , the state of health or the behaviors are analyzed.
All of this leads to the establishment that, through this type of psychology, not only the patient but also his or her family must be treated, that the patient's dignity must be encouraged at all times, that what is its autonomy and also that it is essential to take care of all aspects of the environment because they influence its recovery.
Symptoms treated by clinical psychology
Among the psychological symptoms that clinical psychology addresses, there are somatic disorders (which can appear acutely or be present constantly), psychological disorders (such as a feeling of fear or unfounded worries) and behavioral disorders (the motor restlessness, irritability and sleep disturbances, among others).
It is worth mentioning, among somatic disorders, cardiovascular symptoms (the most frequent, such as tachycardia with palpitations), respiratory symptoms (feeling of lack of air or suffocation), gastrointestinal symptoms ( nausea, vomiting) and genitourinary (such as temporary impotence or menstrual cycle disorders).