So what is a clinical psychologist?

If you are viewing my website, the chances are you are thinking you would like some sort of help…so what exactly is a clinical

psychologist?

I trained in England, in the UK, where the answer to that question is

simple: a clinical psychologist is an applied psychology professional

with the highest level of training specifically to treat mental health

problems. In order to call yourself a clinical

psychologist, you must have (at least) a good undergraduate honours

degree in psychology, plus a postgraduate doctorate in clinical

psychology, plus a heap of supervised clinical experience, acquired

before and during doctorate study. This requires a minimum of six

years’ training but, in reality, often takes longer.

In Australia, the situation is slightly more confusing due to the fact that

there are several different pathways to qualifying, and also because there are both general psychologists and clinical psychologists. But whatever their training, all Australian psychologists must be registered with the Australian Health Practitioners Registration

Authority (AHPRA), and you can check whether your psychologist is

registered here http://ahpra.org.au . I am also registered as a Chartered Clinical Psychologist with the British Psychological Society (http://bps.org.uk) and the UK Health

Care and Professionals Council (http://hcpc-uk.org).

So, what do we do? Clinical psychologists have a strong academic background behind them, and see themselves as 'scientist practitioners'. This means that we apply the findings of academic research to our work with our clients. So, rather like medical specialists, we keep up to date with the latest evidence from research about what works for certain people with particular problems, and then we apply thisin our work with clients. However, in the case of the clinical psychologist (rather than a medical doctor), those problems are psychological - or emotional or relational - and the helping is through talking therapy. So, in an ongoing conversation with a client over several weeks, months or years, in a safe and confidential space, a clinical psychologist applies their academic knowledge of clinical psychology to help a client to change in line with the client's goals.

So what is the difference between a clinical psychologist and a psychiatrist? This often confuses people but it is important to understand the difference. Whereas a clinical psychologist is trained in psychological processes, especially those processes affecting mental health, a psychiatrist is a medical doctor, who has gone on to specialise in the medical treatment of mental health (or psychiatric diagnoses). So if you are looking for a psychiatric diagnosis, or to manage your difficulties through the use of psycho-active medication, then a psychiatrist would be the person qualified to help you.

Clinical psychologists are not medical doctors. Our training is in human psychological processes, not in medicine or physiology, and we are not permitted to prescribe medication. Historically, psychiatrists have tended to think of mental health problems as having an underlying biological cause, which can be fixed by medication. Whereas, clinical psychologists regard psychological problems as due to a mixture of individual genetics and biology, plus, importantly, the impact of relationships, power and culture on a person's experience of the world. We are dedicated to achieving as much as possible with our clients through the use of psychotherapy, targeted at the way clients feel, think and behave, and therefore how they live their lives.

In conclusion, in very general terms, a clinical psychologist CANNOT prescribe medication. We have no magic wands to make you feel better. Psychological therapy takes time, commitment and hard work to break unhelpful patterns and learn news skills - just like going to the gym takes a regular commitment to strengthen your muscles and build physical stamina.

However, a clinical psychologist CAN:

 help you think about a wide range of psycho-social and

mental health problems, and what to do about them

 support you to think about upsetting experiences that

continue to affect your life, with the goal of relieving your

suffering

 help you to work out why you are stuck or what prevents your

problems from going away

 help you to discover patterns in the way you think, feel and

behave that may have been useful to you in the past but

are now doing more harm than good

Of course, if you are unsure whether a clinical psychologist could help

you with your particular problems, you might arrange a preliminary appointment before deciding whether to commit to therapy. This would also give you the opportunity to

check out whether the interpersonal dynamic with any particular

clinical psychologist feels right for you.

Wishing you the best of luck on your personal journey!

Australian Psychological Society https://www.psychology.org.au

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists https://www.ranzcp.org