Psychology and Mental Health

Seeking to Understand Our Thoughts, Feelings and Actions

MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS

Of all worries in the health sector, psychological health conditions are one of the most studied problems. These problems include the abuse of drugs and diseases such as anxiety and research shows that these issues account for a large percentage of the disabled population in the world today.

MENTAL HEALTH PREVENTION

The mental health of young people is a hot topic into which many clinicians are getting. The psychology of our young generation is getting a lot of attention from all places ranging from politicians to the media to health officials as people try to understand the behavioral patterns of children and teenagers.

WHAT'S AN OCD?

OCD is a disorder that gives people apprehension as they experience some obsession or compulsion. Preoccupations are where you have negative notions or sensations that recur and make you uncomfortable whereas urges make you want to do something such as shopping.

Clinical Psychology

Clinical psychology is a fascinating field in that it brings together theory, science and knowledge in a bid to comprehend mental distress and find ways to make people’s mental health better. Clinicians will look at dysfunctions in the mental capability of a person and try to figure out ways to make them feel better through the use of therapy sessions and medicines.

The main aspects include assessing the mental health of patients, coming up with methods to deal with the underlying issues and using psychotherapy. They also delve further into teaching others how to help people in regards to mental problems, conduct study and develop treatment programs.

Globally, many countries consider this to be a profession in the health sector, and it gets regulated by the concerned authority.

History

It gets believed that the practice came to be towards the start of the twentieth century in 1896. Lightner Witmer opened up a center at the University of Pennsylvania where he sought to study mental issues and help people out of their distress. For the first few decades in the twentieth century, the practice mainly focused on the assessing of the problems but did not delve much into looking for solutions to the issues.

However, this came to change after the Second World War. Many people suffered trauma during the war, and there was a need for clinicians to come in and find ways to help people deal with the distress positively. As such, many people underwent training in this profession and became certified clinicians who people could consult when they felt overwhelmed.

The increasing number of people who needed counseling led to the development of three branches of the practice. There is the clinical science branch which focuses on finding the causes of mental issues so that psychology can be more efficient. Their study helps other clinicians in the sector in finding solutions.

The second branch is the science-practitioner model. As the name suggests, it involves studying issues, and after finding solutions to the problems, it puts them into practice by treating patients using the discovered formulas. The last branch is the practitioner-scholar model which has its focus on clinical practice. What they do is they hold sessions with their clients, assess the issues at hand and help them through the process of healing.

Organizations

Early organizations

At first, clinicians operated under the American Psychological Association of Clinical Psychology in the year 1917. They later developed the American Psychological Association two years later. Their organization got certified in 1927. This group serves the needs of clinicians to this day. From this foundation, other societies came up all over the world in countries such as Britain and Australia.

Current organizations

The American Psychological Association led to the formation of similar divisions in other English-speaking states, and the units are in operation to this day. For one to be a certified clinician, you require a degree from a recognized institution, an internship in the field as well as to pass in your exams.

The evolution of treatments

At first, all clinicians did was assess the situation without procedures but this later changed, and they conduct tests before embarking on the treatment process.

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Psychology Societies & Services