Examination of Clinical Psychology

At its base level, clinical psychology is the attempt of an educated individual applying their knowledge of human behavior (gathered through scientific research) to address the relational, physiological, or affective concerns or troubles of another’s life. Plante (2011) defines clinical psychology as an understanding, assessment, and treatment of psychological or behavioral disorders. As a scientific enterprise that employees the scientific method to study and evaluate procedures and possible treatments, clinical psychology endeavors to research the most acceptable methods of aiding its patients. Psychotherapy and research go hand-in-hand, creating circumstances where art illuminates science and science illuminates art (Plante, 2011). The purpose of this paper is to examine the ever-changing nature of clinical psychology while explaining the specifics of counseling as done with the use of clinical psychology.

History

Hippocrates was the first to produce a somewhat naïve, but complete, definition of dysfunction and disease (Plante, 2011). He believed that certain emotions and maladjustments of the mind were caused by imbalances in the levels of blood, phlegm, yellow bile, or black bile. Anger, depression, and other extreme emotions could be caused by these aberrations of humors. Plato put forth the idea that the soul, or metaphysical world, might have visible effects on the physical domain. Holistic medicinal theory was developed when Galen combined the existing theories of both Hippocrates and Plato. Galen’s practice of bloodletting was erroneous, but his newly minted theory was a step towards a deeper understanding of disease and illness. The Middle Ages brought the field of psychology great thinkers like Paracelsus, Weyer, and Thomas Aquinas. These men brought the topic of psychology toward more physical