Psychologists provide psychotherapy, a treatment that in many cases is just as, if not more, effective than drug therapy. Cognitive and interpersonal psychotherapies, for example, are effective treatments for depression. Psychologists study the mind and behavior to help people with mental health problems. They may specialize in different subfields, such as clinical or forensic psychology.
Positive psychology promotes well-being and happiness, whether or not a mental health condition is involved (Steffen et al. Csikszentmihalyi and Seligman (2000) suggested that focusing on reducing symptoms and restoring normality is only a partial solution to a mental health problem. Positive psychology aims to promote inner happiness and satisfaction in the individual instead of focusing on addressing deficits. An understanding of psychology can help you approach, diagnose and manage mental health problems well.
It provides information about thinking patterns, helps evaluate behavior, and gets to the root of the problem. When you study this topic, you'll be able to apply psychological principles and applications to your daily life. Psychologists can help people learn to cope with stressful situations, overcome addictions, manage their chronic illnesses, and perform tests and evaluations that can help diagnose a condition or learn more about the way a person thinks, feels and behaves. These tests can evaluate intellectual abilities, cognitive strengths and weaknesses, vocational aptitudes and preferences, personality characteristics, and neuropsychological functioning.
It is often used alone or with medications to treat mental health conditions. During a psychotherapy session, you talk to a doctor or a licensed mental health professional to identify and change worrisome thoughts. Psychotherapy can help you treat mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety and stress, or to cope with life events, such as trauma or the death of a loved one. A psychologist can help you manage stress and anxiety by finding the source or cause of your problems, as well as appropriate ways to overcome them. Individual psychological and biological factors, such as emotional abilities, substance use and genetics, can make people more vulnerable to mental health problems.
Clinical psychology is the application of psychological knowledge and skills and research and intervention techniques to health and illness, particularly as it relates to mental health. Positive psychology researchers have devised measures such as the Psychological Wellbeing Scale and the Happiness Scale, which objectively measure a person's degree of satisfaction with their life. Although historically, the practice of clinical psychology was mainly limited to people seeking help and to those who already had mental health problems, positive psychology extends to everyone, both those who have a clinical diagnosis and those who do not have one. Health psychologists apply psychological research and methods to the prevention and treatment of diseases, the promotion and maintenance of health, the identification of psychological factors that contribute to physical illness, the improvement of the health care system, and the formulation of health policies.
Another study examined the correlation of 16 health outcome variables, including health status, physical symptoms, psychological symptoms, depression, performance of functions, behavior, physical compatibility, psychological adjustment, adaptability to life, coping behaviors, stress, beliefs about health, behaviors that promote health, quality of life, well-being, and self-realization with social support. Rehabilitation psychology is an applied clinical specialty of professional psychology that deals with the treatment and science of chronic and disabling diseases. The American Psychological Association defines clinical psychology as “a clinical discipline that involves the provision of diagnostic, evaluation, treatment plan, treatment, prevention and consultation services to patients in emergency rooms, inpatient units and clinics of hospitals. Counseling psychology is a specialty in the field of psychology in which professionals help individuals, as individuals and groups, to improve their well-being, alleviate their distress, resolve their crises, and increase their ability to solve problems and make decisions.
Positive psychology emerged after a good deal of debate and misunderstanding about how well it can coexist with clinical or health psychology. While clinical psychology delves into the root cause of illness to help a person recover, positive psychology delves into the root causes of happiness that can help a person protect themselves from negative experiences.
