Medical psychology or medico-psychology is the application of psychological principles to the practice of medicine, primarily drug-oriented, for both physical and mental disorders.
The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 146,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It has 54 divisions—interest groups for different subspecialties of psychology or topical areas. The APA has an annual budget of around $125 million.
A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how individuals relate to each other and to their environments.
The Doctor of Psychology is a professional doctoral degree intended to prepare graduates for careers that apply scientific knowledge of psychology and deliver empirically based service to individuals, groups and organizations. Earning the degree was originally completed through one of two established training models for clinical psychology. However, Psy.D. programs are no longer limited to Clinical Psychology as several universities and professional schools have begun to award professional doctorates in Business Psychology, Organizational Development, Forensic Psychology, Counseling Psychology, and School Psychology.
Clinical psychology is an integration of human science, behavioral science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and personal development. Central to its practice are psychological assessment, clinical formulation, and psychotherapy, although clinical psychologists also engage in research, teaching, consultation, forensic testimony, and program development and administration. In many countries, clinical psychology is a regulated mental health profession.
The scientist–practitioner model, also called the Boulder Model, is a training model for graduate programs that provide applied psychologists with a foundation in research and scientific practice. It was initially developed to guide clinical psychology graduate programs accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA).
The prescriptive authority for psychologists (RxP) movement is a movement in the United States of America among certain psychologists to give prescriptive authority to psychologists with predoctoral or postdoctoral graduate-level training in clinical psychopharmacology; successful passage of a standardized, national examination ; supervised clinical experience; or a certificate from the Department of Defense Psychopharmacology Demonstration Project; or a diploma from the Prescribing Psychologists Register to enable them, according to state law, to prescribe psychotropic medications to treat mental disorders. This approach is non-traditional medical training focused on the specialized training to prescribe for mental health disorders by a psychologist. It includes rigorous didactics and supervised clinical experience. Legislation pertaining to prescriptive authority for psychologists has been introduced over 180 times in over half of the United States. It has passed in six states, due largely to substantial lobbying efforts by the American Psychological Association (APA), the largest professional organization of psychologists in the world with over 146,000 members. Prior to RxP legislation and in American states where it has not been passed, this role has been played by psychiatrists, who possess a medical degree and thus the authority to prescribe medication, but more frequently by primary care providers who can prescribe psychotropics, but lack extensive training in psychotropic drugs and in diagnosing and treating psychological disorders. According to the APA, the movement is a reaction to the growing public need for mental health services, particularly in under-resourced areas where patients have little or no access to psychiatrists.
The American Psychology–Law Society (AP–LS) is an academic society for legal and forensic psychologists, as well as general psychologists who are interested in the application of psychology to the law. AP–LS serves as Division 41 of the American Psychological Association and publishes the academic journal Law and Human Behavior.
The Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology is a monthly academic journal published by the American Psychological Association. Its focus is on treatment and prevention in all areas of clinical and clinical-health psychology and especially on topics that appeal to a broad clinical-scientist and practitioner audience. The editor-in-chief is Joanne Davila.
David Shakow (1901–1981) was an American psychologist. He is perhaps best known for his development of the Scientist-Practitioner Model of graduate training for clinical psychologists, adopted by the American Psychological Association in 1949.
The Society of Consulting Psychology (SCP) is a professional association of psychologists who are involved with consulting psychology. The society is the 13th division of the American Psychological Association. The Society (SCP) currently has over 1,000 members.
Rodney L. Lowman is an American psychologist, academic administrator and entrepreneur whose major contributions have been in the areas of career assessment and counseling, ethical issues in Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the integration of clinical psychology and I-O psychology and helping to develop the field of consulting psychology. In a study of the most prolific contributors to the Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, Lowman was rated the second highest contributor for articles for the period 1992–2007.
Consulting psychology is a specialty area of psychology that addresses such areas as assessment and interventions at the individual, group, and organizational levels. The Handbook of Organizational Consulting Psychology provides an overview of specific areas of study and application within the field. The major journal in the field is Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research. Consulting psychologists typically work in business or non-profit organizations, in consulting firms or in private practice. Consulting psychologists are typically professionally licensed as psychologists.
The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) is a professional organization that promotes the "science, practice, and teaching" of industrial and organizational (I/O) psychology. SIOP is also known as Division 14 of the American Psychological Association (APA). The society publishes I/O-related journals, provides its members with resources, and organizes an annual conference.
Patrick Henry (Pat) DeLeon is an American psychologist, former chief of staff for United States Senator Daniel Inouye and past president of the American Psychological Association (APA). He became an aide for Senator Inouye in 1973, when Inouye served on a committee investigating the Watergate scandal, and remained on the senator's staff for 38 years. After DeLeon's daughter survived meningitis in 1984, he was involved in the establishment of the Emergency Medical Services for Children program. DeLeon helped to create the nursing and pharmacy schools at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo.
Robert J. Resnick is an American psychologist and former president of the American Psychological Association (APA). He was a faculty member at Randolph-Macon College and established one of the first clinics dedicated to the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. While practicing in Virginia, he was the plaintiff in the U.S. Supreme Court case that established the autonomy of clinical psychologists.
Everett Lowell Kelly was an American clinical psychologist, professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, president of the American Psychological Association (1954–55), and chairman of the Executive Committee for the Boulder Conference on Graduate Training in Clinical Psychology (1948–49).
Donald Gildersleeve Paterson was an American psychologist known for pioneering applied psychology, in particular vocational counseling, industrial/organizational psychology, and differential psychology in the United States. He was a professor of psychology at the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota from 1921 to 1960.
The American Association of Applied Psychologists was a short-lived American professional organization dedicated to applied psychology. It was founded in 1937 when the Association of Consulting Psychologists, which had been founded in 1930, merged with the American Psychological Association's section on clinical psychology, which had been founded in 1913. In the fall of 1939, around the time when World War II began, the AAAP and the American Psychological Association (APA) formed a joint emergency council to prepare for the impending war. This council later became a division of the National Research Council known as the Emergency Committee in Psychology. The AAAP merged with several other psychology organizations in 1944 and 1945 to form a new incarnation of the American Psychological Association.
Cynthia D. Belar is a scientist known for her contributions to clinical psychology with specific focus on health psychology, clinical service, and education. She is a Professor Emerita at the University of Florida Health Science Center.
