Psychology is a discipline that is full of myths and stereotypes, which equate psychologists as a God of the mental, a judge of behavior and objectivity, someone to ask if what Peter is doing is right or wrong, if you are educating children in the correct way, or someone to ask the meaning of a dream (Begara & Bascoy, 2016). However, in correspondence with Begara & Bascoy (2016) in the psychology career there´s not a class called "interpretation of dreams", "how to educate children correctly" or "judgment about whether people are doing things right".
What Does a Clinical Psychologist Do?
The figure of the clinical psychologist is one of the most famous in today's society (Universidad Internacional de Valencia, 2018). Perhaps that is why people have limited and stereotyped knowledge about the role of the clinical psychologist. For many individuals, the clinical psychologist is the person in the office, wearing a white coat, sitting in the chair near the patient. Those more classical people imagine the clinical psychologist in the same chair, however, the patient lying on a couch. But, after all, what is the person in the white coat doing in the chair? According to the Universidad Internacional de Valencia (2018), most people would say to converse. Of course he speaks, but what does he speak? What is he after?
In short, the clinical psychologist is a specialist in human behavior who uses different working methods to help people improve their emotional health and quality of life (Arana et al., 2006). Likewise, clinical psychologists are professionally trained to investigate, prevent, diagnose, evaluate, and treat those with psychological illnesses (Lesnik, 2018). To do this, according to Lesnik (2018), they are based on various scientific evidence, analyze and consider the characteristics of patients, such as personality, values, history and environment.
Thus, one of the functions of clinical psychologists is to engage in psychological counseling and psychotherapy, often called psychotherapy or talk therapy (APA, 2011). That is, clinical psychologists are those people who provide help to all types of patients and can treat various problems (Daza, 2015). In this case, according to the APA (2011), the clinical psychologist will have a series of direct contacts with the individual and will provide guidance to help him change his attitude and her behavior.
In addition to psychotherapy, clinical psychologists can perform various functions (Lesnik, 2018). One of these functions is to carry out prevention work and help people develop a good mental health (Lesnik, 2018). In this area, clinical psychologists are in charge of forming social health networks and improving the level of knowledge of those people who are at risk (Daza, 2015). In the same vein, clinical psychologists are responsible for promoting the mental health of those people who are at risk, thus providing greater accessibility to prevention tools.
Also, they can be basic scientific researchers in various fields, for example, validation of criteria, prediction of variables, construction of tests, among others, in short, clinical psychologists are expert researchers in psychology with a high level of training (Lesnik, 2018). Therefore, they use their own practical knowledge and the theory of normal behavior to assess, understand and change abnormal behavior patterns (Lesnik, 2018). Likewise, according to Daza (2015), have a positive orientation that not only evaluates new technologies and treatments, but also helps to improve the efficiency of professionals.
Together, clinical psychologists can apply and interpret a large number of psychological exploration techniques (Tonini, 2017). In correspondence with Tonini (2017), this can be used not only as a diagnostic tool, but also to discover the characteristics of people and to understand their way of thinking, feeling and behaving.
Similarly, in correspondence with Lesnik (2018), clinical psychologists can visit patients in hospitals and public clinics, social security clinics, preventive detention centers, nursing homes, youth training centers, among others.
Ultimately, according to Daza (2015), the clinical psychologist can dedicate totally or partially to teaching and training in both undergraduate and master's programs, focused on the areas of personality, psychopathology, abnormal psychology, clinical evaluation, psychodiagnosis , therapy or behavior change, psychotherapy, intervention and treatment techniques, community interventions, research design, among others.
Finally, it should be noted that, when consulting about the possibility of starting a treatment, the therapist can be asked for his registration and the title that supports him to exercise (Tonini, 2017). Likewise, professionals must clarify their working methods and theoretical lines, not forgetting to mention that there are others. In addition, if the treatment does not continue, the patient has the right to verify his medical history, which must be updated. Lastly, according to Tonini (2017), a psychologist can NOT indicate medications, nor can they guarantee the results of the cure or treatment.
References
APA. (2011). Los psicólogos: Qué hacen y cómo nos ayudan. Retrieved 21 October 2020, from https://www.apa.org/centrodeapoyo/ayudan
Arana et al. (2006). El concepto de psicología. Entre la diversidad conceptual y la conveniencia de unificación. Apreciaciones desde la epistemología. Retrieved 5 October 2020, from https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/802/80280107.pdf
Begara, O., & Bascoy, A. (2016). ¿Qué es, y qué no es, psicología?, PsicoactivaMente en La Nueva España. Obtenido 5 Octubre 2020, de https://www.lne.es/blogs/psicoactiva-mente/que-es-y-que-no-es-psicologia.html
Daza, D. (2015). Descubre cómo es un Psicólogo Clínico: Competencias, funciones, formación. Emagister.com. Recuperado 29 July 2021, a partir de https://www.emagister.com/blog/descubre-como-es-un-psicologo-clinico-competencias-funciones-formacion/
Lesnik, M. (2018). ¿Que Hace un Psicólogo Clínico? Psicólogos Córdoba. Obtenido 21 Octubre 2020, de https://psicologoscordoba.org/que-hace-un-psicologo-clinico/
Tonini, F. (2017). ¿Qué hace un psicólogo clínico?. Retrieved 21 October 2020, from https://medium.com/@Psinonimo/qué-hace-un-psicólogo-cl%C3%ADnico-2c9545de0af8
Universidad Internacional de Valencia. (2018). ¿Quieres ser psicólogo clínico? Estas serán tus funciones. | VIU. Obtenido 21 Octubre 2020, de https://www.universidadviu.com/quieres-psicologo-clinico-estas-seran-tus-funciones/
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