CLINICAL PERSPECTIVES ON

ANXIETY, MOOD AND STRESS

GENS 0005
LECTURE TOPIC TWO (A): WHAT IS
(CLINICAL) PSYCHOLOGY?

DR. JOSHUA M. BRODERICK

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What is psychology?

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Psychology
is a discipline of science. It is concerned with
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the systematic study, and development of understanding,
of the brain, mind and behaviour
Both humans and non-humans (animals and computers!)

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What is the mind?

The mind is the hypothetical place where we engage in mental process

People study these mental processes
Thoughts (e.g., Psychology is cool)
Decisions (e.g., I want to enroll in this course)
Learning and memory (e.g., I remember that party when I was 6)
Motivations (e.g., I am afraid)
Buthow do we study these mental processes? We study mental proceses
by inference based on the behaviour of the organism
For example, what is this guy thinking?

What is the mind?

And, what are these people/animals thinking?
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As humans, we make inferences about

the thoughts of others all the time.
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Psychology does this in a scientific manner, using more sophisticated
methods than just mere observation although sometimes it is just that

What is the brain?

The brain is the physical seat of the mind. It enables mental processes to
occur.
In psychology, brain and mind are thought of as inseparable but distinct
Dualism (the mind and body are separate, Decartes)

Without the brain we could not thinkor do anything else!

How do we know this? philosophy, science and the development of
technology

What is the brain?

What is behaviour?
Behaviour is the observable things which an organism does
As mentioned previously, you infer mental processes from behaviour
Commonly, researchers will infer various mood states from behaviours

Link to operant conditioning video on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_ctJqjlrHA

Psychologists also measure physiological variables

With the advance of technology,tm

more
sophisticated measurements of
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physiology are now available to psychologists and neuroscientists

This could be viewed as an extension of behaviourism variables are

observable and quantifiable

What about nature and nurture?

Psychology takes into account both nature and nurture in describing

how and why people and other animals do/think/feel what they
do/think/feel
The theory
of evolution by natural selection (Charles Darwin)
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tha hng

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Organisms whose inherited characteristics are better adapted to their

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environment will survive and reproduce; while those with inherited
characteristics which
are not suited to survival die out
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Psychology as a discipline assumes that aspects of our thinking,
behavior, motivation, decision making (and many other things) must
have helped individuals survive and reproduce in the past

However this does not mean the environment still does not play a role in
shaping who we (and animals) become
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Epigenetics is a new branch of science examining the interesting

What are the main psychology disciplines?

Cognitive science

Social psychology

Cognitive neuroscience

Behavioural neuroscience

Abnormal psychology

Perception

Psychophysiology

Translational psychology

Evolutionary psychology

Organisational psychology

Forensic psychology

Clinical psychology

What is clinical
psychology?
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ni au bun

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Understanding how to reduce distress and impairment in peoples live

through specific interventions which are informed by our understanding of
all psychological phenomena (from the bottom of the pyramid up!)
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In this course, we will be learning about some of the process and

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mechanisms which form thebiu
basis
of our understanding of how mood,
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anxiety and stress become manifest and some of the ways that have
been tested empirically to reduce those negative factors

A clinical psychologist is a specific type of professional

They have over 8 years training before they become fully registered
and are able to treat individuals and groups
They are able to diagnose and treat a number of different mental
disorders
The are different to psychiatrists in that they cannot prescribe
medication (they are not medical doctors)

What is clinical psychology?

Abnormal and
Clinical Psychology

Social psychology

Basic psychological processes

(cognitive psychology, neuroscience,
perception, motivation)