A Clinical and Counselling Psychologist's Expertise - Essay Example

Introduction A clinical psychologist studies and uses psychology as a science. His aims are to understand and mitigate cases of psychological distress. He also aims to enhance the wellbeing of the individual and to aid his personal development. A clinical psychologist can involve himself in a myriad of activities. He can be involved in psychological assessment of his patients. He can also involve himself in the development and implementation of programs that are aimed at enhancing the psychological wellbeing of an individual. There are many specialisations for a clinical psychologist. On the other hand, a counselling psychologist engages himself in face to face interactions with the patient or client. The aim is to enhance the personal and interpersonal competency of the individual. 1: Terrence Keane and Prisoners of War (Counselling Psychology) Why he was called in Terence M. Keane is a psychologist at the University of Boston. He also directs he department behavioural science. This is at the National Centre for Posttraumatic Disorder. That is why the veterans Administration office in Boston sought his services. It was observed that those soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War and other wars that America has been engaged in were seen to be suffering from posttraumatic disorders (Catell, 2008). This occurs in the case of the prisoners who had been exposed to extreme events. These events include torture, interrogation and other psychological sufferings that prisoners of war undergo. Terence was called in to counsel these veterans and try to treat them. Theoretical Concepts that Terence used and why The concept that Terence used to counsel the veterans is, amongst others, prolonged exposure therapy. This type of therapy can be seen as having been developed along the lines of Freud's theories on psychoanalytic therapy (Marston, 2007). Here, the patient is encouraged to relive the traumatizing event. The reason why Terence found this to be relevant to his situation was the fact that the veterans were suffering because they had undergone a traumatizing event. The event was the terrors of torture in the prisoner of war camps. How Terence counselled the Prisoners of War/Veterans As explained earlier, Terence made use of the prolonged-exposure therapy. Counselling psychology involves one-on-one therapies between the patient and the counselling psychologist. That is what Terence was doing. He engaged in one-on-one sessions with his patients, the former prisoners of war. He will encourage the veteran to recall the traumatic experience. The aim is to bring the traumatic memory from the subconscious part of the brain to the conscious part (Catell, 2008). This is the only way that the trauma can be dealt with. This was done in a controlled manner. Terence would ask his client to recall the event that is most disturbing to his mind. The events included physical and psychological abuse. Post traumatic disorder was experienced when the veterans started recalling those episodes and this will lead to nightmares and anxiety (Marston, 2007). Terence, using this technique, made the veterans to regain control of their thoughts. This was together with feelings associated with the event. Terence did this repeatedly. Assessment of Terence's Input Counselling of the veterans was meant to make them deal effectively with their experiences in the prisoner of war camps. This was how the effectiveness of Terence's work was assessed. It was assessed by the degree to which the patient was able to readjust to the current life situation out of the war. The veterans would be deemed successfully counselled if they were able to look at their trauma realistically (Catell, 2008). They were able to do some things that they were avoiding. This is because those things reminded them of the trauma. For example, some will avoid locking themselves up in a room alone. This is because it reminded them of the isolation situation that they were exposed to at the camps. 2: Clinical Psychology: Robert Mearns Yerkes and the United States Army Why he was called in During World War 1, the United States of America's Army was faced with a two dimensional problem. There was need for more recruits as the war raged on. But these recruits needed to be literate and proficient in English (Mintz, 2006). A person, it was realised, could be intelligent but not literate. He could also be intelligent but lack the required English proficient. That is why the Army recruited the services of Yerkes, an intelligence clinical psychologist, to come and develop a test for the recruits that could be offered to many recruits at once (Hersen, 2008). This was between the years 1914 to 1918. He came up with three tests. The first test was called Army Alpha (Mintz, 2008). This was for those recruits who could write and read. The other was Army Beta (Mintz, 2008). This was for those who could not write or read in English. It was administered for those who did not pass the alpha test. The third was individual examination (Mintz, 2008). This was for those who did not pass beta test. Yerkes' Theoretical Concepts and their Relevance Yerkes relied on the theories and models of Alfred Binet (Brewer, 2009). Binet was of the view that testing things like memory and vocabulary of the children worked well in forecasting the performance of the child in school (Hersen, 2008). He assumed that every child develops the same way. But they developed at varying rates (Hersen, 2008). These tests were then used to tell the mental age of the child. Children who scored higher in the tests tended to perform better in school. The reason why Yerkes and his friends found this theoretical concept relevant to their situation was that it was important to know whether the mental age of the recruit corresponded with his chronological age (Brewer, 2009). If it did not, correspond, it was equally important to note how far it deviated from the normal and expected range. This will show how far the individual has developed mentally and how well he can perform army duties (Brewer, 2009). He also said that he gauged the individual's "native intellect" (Brewer, 2009). This was not influenced by the person's cultural background or his education level. What Yerkes did During alpha test, the recruits were supposed to work out mathematical problems. They were also tested on general knowledge and analogies (Mintz, 2006). They were also required to fill sequences in a number series. Beta test involved largely students filling missing details in pictures. The recruits were also required to run a maze (Mintz, 2006). These two tests were taken by large groups of recruits. Within an hour, they were through. The other test was individual examination test. This was a spoken test. It was conducted on a one-on-one basis. Assessment of Yerkes' Test The candidates were graded as lying between A+ and E-. Those who scored higher were hired to be trained as officers. Those who failed were below C were not trained for this duty (Brewer, 2009). These tests by Yerkes were a form of applied psychology. Conclusion Psychologists do involve themselves in addressing real-world situations. They are not only involved in experimentation and research. The two scenarios above have displayed this aspect very well. Yerkes was involved in solving a real life situation and problem for the army. He incorporated his knowledge and theories in his field to solve the problem. The counselling psychologists for the war veterans also proved this. Terence applied his expertise in counselling to solve the problem of war veterans who were just out of the battle field. This was especially for those who were prisoners of war. References Brewer, G. (2009). A handbook for clinical psychologists. Irwin & Mitchell. Houston. Catell, D. (2008). War veterans' counselling centre. Basic Books. Dallas. Hersen, L. (2008). Achievements of clinical psychologists. Oxford University Press. Oxford. Marston, O. (2007). Positive psychotherapy. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. Mintz, K. (2006). Clinical psychologists in history. Foucault. Iowa. I am sorry to inform you but i think you'll have to re-do some parts of this essay...please write 500 words for clinical psychology case AND 500 words for counseling psychology case!eaach case answearing the following questions >>>Your answer must clearly identify the situation and address the following: Why the psychologist was called in The theoretical concepts that the psychologist might have relied upon and why these were relevant to the 'problem' What the psychologist did How the psychologist's input was assessed Read More