Clinical Psychology, Its Issues and Purposes

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Legal Issues
Ethical issues
Professional boundaries
Cultural limits
Factors from the environment
Conclusion
Reference

Introduction

For one reason or another, we are living in a society where people are very likely to experience emotional difficulties, stress, and other challenges that require psychological medication. This could be due to the complex society that has emerged, one that places a lot of demands on an individual apart from isolating someone to live a more personal life that does not share a lot with the community. Clinical Psychology will therefore continue playing a significant role in this kind of a society. Since this field interacts directly with the society, it inevitably faces some challenges some of which are inherent in its delicate duty- a duty that deals with members of the society that can be described as vulnerable. On the other hand, clinical psychology has to align to norms, rules, ethical and professional requirements in the society.

Legal Issues

Let us first consider some legal issues in clinical psychology. One of these is insanity, a term that can be used by a person to plead that he/she is not guilty because of a mental condition. Another legal issue arises when a person fakes or exaggerates a mental disorder to gain compensation or escape justice. (Richmond, 2010) In these circumstances, vigilance is left to a court of law to ensure that justice is implemented. Such a process may need to seek and verify the services of clinical psychologists. Considering that clinical psychology is relative to many parameters that may vary considerably, it is easy to see a situation where a clinical psychologist may be accused by a court of law for participating to deny justice although this may not have happened intentionally. Besides, the fear of such a situation occurring may prevent clinical psychologists from discharging diagnostic and treatment duties effectively to patients.

Ethical issues

Moreover, the field of clinical psychology is expected to align with some ethical issues. One important ethical principle that should be upheld by clinical psychologists is confidentiality. In this regard, information revealed to a psychotherapist should not interfere with the privacy of a patient. Besides, a patient has a right to access any recorded information by a psychotherapist. Another example of an ethical principle that should apply in clinical psychology is Integrity. In this regard, clinical psychologists are expected to maintain a high degree of accuracy and carry out their activities in truthfulness and honesty. These and other ethical principles affect the field of clinical psychology in various ways. For example, clinical psychologists can be sued for failure to abide by principles of confidentiality among others. As much as ethical principles could enhance competence, they can make clinical psychologists vulnerable to legal suits although their intentions may have been for the well-being of the concerned patient and or the society. (Richmond, 2010)

Professional boundaries

As I had stated earlier, psychological patients can be regarded as vulnerable. There is, therefore, need to protect these (patients) as well as practitioners by maintaining professional boundaries. This includes creating and maintaining a non-personal and a professional relation to a patient by a clinical psychologist. A clinical psychologist can cross-boundary by failing to control circumstances leading for example to the development of romantic feelings or friendship with a patient. On the other hand, boundary violations can occur when a health practitioner takes advantage of a patient’s situation to exploit him/her. This may for example happen in a situation where a clinical psychologist enters into a business relationship with a patient from where he can then manipulate the situation to financially exploit the patient. Professional boundaries have helped to protect patients from exploitation besides creating conducive circumstances from where patients can seek help with reduced fear of exploitation from practitioners. (Cultural Boundaries in Clinical Psychology, 2010)

Cultural limits

Another area of concern in clinical psychology is that of cultural limitations. These affect diagnosis and treatment of patients. It is painful but genuine to accept that our society today is inhabited by some cultural vices. One of these is a culture of anger. This vice may even be seen during therapy sessions something that may really strain practitioners’ tolerance considering that they are also humans and what more? They are also susceptible to anger. (Richmond, 2010) Administering treatment to patients under the weight of anger limits the capacity of clinical psychologists. Another culture that is limiting clinical psychology is a culture of dishonesty and fraud. I have given an example of how individuals may fake mental illness to evade justice and or withhold or fail to give accurate information to practitioners (Richmond, 2010). Without accurate information, it becomes difficult for clinical psychologists to determine the best medication that can be pursued to help a patient.

Factors from the environment

Finally, the field of clinical psychology is also affected by the environment. Some environments that may prevail include hospital environments, prison environments or a communal setting. All these provide different circumstances that affect psychotherapy in various ways. Consider a setting in a private hospital for example. In this case, the patient may feel obliged to cooperate with the practitioner. On the other hand, the practitioner can access enough time with the patient apart from using specific techniques of medication some of which may require an array of machinery and tools available in the hospital. On the other hand, the scenario in a prison setting may be exactly the opposite of this whereby there is no trust or interest from the patient and the practitioner cannot access needed tools for more effective medication. It can therefore be seen that environments affect psychological medication since they avail parameters that differ depending on the environment.

Conclusion

Legal, ethical, professional norms in clinical psychology are intended to streamline the field of clinical psychology so that it serves society effectively without creating any ills. On the other hand inherent cultures in our society and diverse environments where clinical psychology can be carried out the affect this profession in several ways. Considering that the field of clinical psychology may be limited by factors that arise from the considered parameters (ethical, legal, professional, cultural and environmental) there is an enormous responsibility on the part of relevant bodies in clinical psychology, governments and the society to ensure that the purpose of clinical psychology in helping affected members of the society in need of such services is properly and effectively met.

Reference

American Psychological Association. (2010). Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. Web.

Richmond, L. R. (2010). Psychological Practice Menu. Web.

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