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Research Methods
Core Concepts and Skills for Psychology

v2.1 Paul C. Price
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1.4 Science and Clinical Practice

Learning Objectives

  1. Define the clinical practice of psychology and distinguish it from the science of psychology.

  2. Explain how science is relevant to clinical practice.

  3. Define the concept of an empirically supported treatment and give some examples.

Again, psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. But it is also the application of scientific research to “benefit society and improve people’s lives” (American Psychological Association, 2018). By far the most common and widely known application is the —the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders and related problems. Let us use the term clinical practice broadly to refer to the activities of clinical and counseling psychologists, school psychologists, marriage and family therapists, licensed clinical social workers, and others who work with people individually or in small groups to identify and solve their psychological problems. It is important to consider the relationship between scientific research and clinical practice because many students are especially interested in clinical practice, perhaps even as a career.

Figure 1.4

The effectiveness of various forms of psychotherapy—for example, cognitive behavioral therapy for depression—can be determined by scientific research.

A woman looking distressed during a therapy session.

Source: © Thinkstock

The main point here is that psychological disorders and other behavioral problems are part of the natural world. This means that questions about their nature, causes, and consequences are empirically testable and therefore subject to scientific study. As with other questions about human behavior, we cannot rely on our intuition or common sense for detailed and accurate answers. Consider, for example, that dozens of popular books and thousands of websites claim that adult children of alcoholics have a distinct personality profile, including low self-esteem, feelings of powerlessness, and difficulties with intimacy. Although this sounds plausible, scientific research has demonstrated that adult children of alcoholics are no more likely to have these problems than anybody else (Lilienfeld et al., 2010).

Similarly, questions about whether a particular psychotherapy works are empirically testable questions that can be answered by scientific research. If a new psychotherapy is an effective treatment for depression, then systematic observation should reveal that depressed people who receive this psychotherapy improve more than a similar group of depressed people who do not receive this psychotherapy (or who receive some alternative treatment).  An empirically supported treatment is one that has been studied scientifically and shown to result in greater improvement than no treatment, a placebo, or some alternative treatment. The Society for Clinical Psychology provides a detailed list of empirically supported treatments for psychological disorders at http://www.div12.org/psychological-treatments/. This list is quite extensive and continues to be updated as new research is conducted. Below is a small sample of treatments that are currently considered to have “strong” support.

  1. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Chronic Pain.

  2. Behavioral Activation for Depression

  3. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia

  4. Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder

  5. Exposure Therapy for Specific Phobias

  6. Family Focused Therapy for Bipolar Disorder

At the same time, however, it is also true that many clinical practitioners do not value science as a source of knowledge about psychological disorders or their treatment. In fact, some are outright hostile to it—often claiming that the clinical practice of psychology is an “art” that cannot be evaluated according to scientific criteria (Dawes, 1994). Unfortunately, these attitudes can lead to the creation and spread of pseudoscientific and potentially harmful treatments. One such treatment is "past life regression therapy," which is based on the assumption that people’s psychological problems are caused by traumas they experienced in past lives. The treatment involves hypnotizing them and encouraging them to recall these traumas so they can cope with them more effectively in the present. Not surprisingly, there is absolutely no scientific evidence for any of these claims.

One of the great challenges of the field of clinical practice is continuing to promote the scientific approach—which has proved immensely fruitful—and discouraging the pseudoscientific and potentially harmful ones. 

Key Takeaways

  1. The clinical practice of psychology—the diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems—is one important application of the scientific discipline of psychology.

  2. Scientific research is relevant to clinical practice because it provides detailed and accurate knowledge about psychological problems and establishes whether treatments are effective.

Exercises

  1. Discussion: Some clinicians argue that what they do is an “art form” based on intuition and personal experience and therefore cannot be evaluated scientifically. Write a paragraph about how satisfied you would be with such a clinician and why from each of three perspectives:

    1. a potential client of the clinician

    2. a judge who must decide whether to allow the clinician to testify as an expert witness in a child abuse case

    3. an insurance company representative who must decide whether to reimburse the clinician for his or her services

  2. Practice: Create a short list of questions that a client could ask a clinician to determine whether he or she pays sufficient attention to scientific research.