Profession clinical psychologist

Clinical psychologists diagnose, rehabilitate, and support individuals affected by mental, emotional, and behavioural disorders and problems as well as mental changes and pathogenic conditions through use of cognitive tools and appropriate intervention. They use clinical psychological resources on the basis of psychological science, its findings, theories, methods, and techniques for the investigation, interpretation, and prediction of human experience and behaviour.

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Personality Type

• Social / Investigative

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• Therapist or health professional, all other

Knowledge

• Methods of differential diagnosis

  The procedures used to differentiate between conditions having similar symptoms.

• Evaluation of psychological performance

  The characteristics of the methods used to assess psychological parameters.

• Creation of clinical psychological opinions

  The development of opinions based on specialised literature and evidence-based documentation in the field of clinical psychology.

• Clinical psychological treatment

  Treatment methods and intervention strategies used in clinical psychology, such as the treatment of persons with mental illnesses and disorders in different settings, with different clinical symptoms and problems and with different age groups.

• Therapy in health care

  The principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions.

• Psychiatry

  Psychiatry is a medical specialty mentioned in the EU Directive 2005/36/EC.

• Diagnosis of mental health issues

  The diagnosis of mental health issues such as disorders or illnesses, and psychological factors in other diseases within different issues and different age groups.

• Drug interaction management

  The managerial activities related to patient`s interaction with the medical treatment provided.

• Crisis intervention

  Coping strategies in crisis cases which allow individuals to overcome their problems or fears and avoid psychological distress and breakdown.

• Psychopathology

  The criteria of psychiatric diagnoses, the use of the disease classification system, and the theories of psychopathology. The indicators of functional and organic disorders and the types of psychopharmacological medications.

• Health care occupation-specific ethics

  The moral standards and procedures, ethical questions and obligations specific to occupations in a health care setting such as respect for human dignity, self-determination, informed consent and patient confidentiality.

• Psychology

  The human behaviour and performance with individual differences in ability, personality, interests, learning, and motivation.

• Expert services in clinical psychology

  Body of services provided in the clinical psychology field such as psychotherapy or cognitive behavioral therapy.

• Psychological interventions

  The characteristics of the methods and procedures meant to instigate change in human behaviour.

• Emergency psychology

  The methods used for coping with trauma or disasters.

• Psychological treatment measures

  The psychological treatment measures for persons of all ages and groups, with the aim of improving treatment skills and the provisions of trans-cultural and gender aspects.

• Multi-professional cooperation in health care

  The way to behave during team meetings, visits and meetings in multi-professional cooperation especially with other health professionals.

• First aid

  The emergency treatment given to a sick or injured person in the case of circulatory and/or respiratory failure, unconsciousness, wounds, bleeding, shock or poisoning.

• Primary care

  The regular, routine medical care provided to patients, usually performed by a physician or a nurse, that leads to a decision on the following course of action required to solve the health problem of the patient.

• Psychopharmacology

  The awareness of various effects that medicines have on the patient or client's behaviour, mood and thinking.

• Clinical reports

  The methods, assessment practices, credentials and opinions gathering procedures necessary for writing clinical reports.

• Conditions for professional practice of clinical psychology

  The institutional, legal and psychosocial conditions for professional practice of clinical psychology with the aim to apply them in the exercise of the psychological profession in health care.

• Health psychology

  The development, implementations and evaluation of health psychological concepts.

• Consultation

  The theories, methods and concepts related to consultation and communication with clients.

• Neurology

  Neurology is a medical specialty mentioned in the EU Directive 2005/36/EC.

• History of patient's psychotherapeutic problems

  The records of the patient`s previous psychotherapeutic problems or disorders.

• Psychological healthcare services

  The characteristics of the psychological healthcare services in the inpatient and outpatient sector.

• Counselling methods

  Counselling techniques used in different settings and with various groups and individuals, especially concerning methods of supervision and mediation in the counselling process.

• Psychological diagnostics

  The psychological diagnostics strategies, methods and techniques concerning health-related experiences and behaviours as well as mental disorders

Skills

• Use e-health and mobile health technologies

  Use mobile health technologies and e-health (online applications and services) in order to enhance the provided healthcare.

• Test for emotional patterns

  Discern patterns in the emotions of individuals by using various tests in order to understand the causes of these emotions.

• Provide clinical psychological expert opinions

  Provide clinical psychological expert opinions and reports regarding the performance, personality traits, behaviours and mental disorders.

• Formulate a case conceptualisation model for therapy

  Compose an individualised treatment plan in collaboration with the individual, striving to match his or her needs, situation, and treatment goals to maximise the probability of therapeutic gain; considering any possible personal, social, and systemic barriers that might undermine treatment.

• Work with patterns of psychological behaviour

  Work with the patterns of a patient or client's psychological behaviour, which may be outside of their conscious awareness, such as non-verbal and pre-verbal patterns, clinical processes of defence mechanisms, resistances, transference and counter-transference.

• Assess healthcare users' risk for harm

  Evaluate the healthcare user's potential for harm to him- or herself or others, intervening effectively to minimise risk and implement prevention methods.

• Record healthcare users' progress related to treatment

  Record the healthcare user's progress in response to treatment by observing, listening and measuring outcomes.

• Conduct psychological assessement

  Assess patient`s behaviour and needs via observation and tailored interviews, administering and interpreting psychometric and idiosyncratic assessments.

• Develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship

  Develop a mutually collaborative therapeutic relationship during treatment, fostering and gaining healthcare users' trust and cooperation.

• Conduct psychological research

  Plan, supervise and undertake psychological research, writing papers to describe the research results.

• Handle patient trauma

  Assess the competences, needs, and limitations of people affected by trauma, referring the patients to specialised trauma services where appropriate.

• Apply clinical psychological treatment

  Apply clinical psychological treatment for people of all ages and groups based on clinical psychological assessment.

• Monitor therapeutic progress

  Monitor therapeutic progress and modify treatment according to each patient's condition.

• Provide psychological interventions to chronically ill persons

  Provide psychological interventions to patients and their family members associated with chronic illnesses such as cancer and diabetes. Intervention and treatments may include management of pain, stress and other symptoms, anxiety reduction, and adjustment to illness or dementia.

• Perform therapy sessions

  Work in sessions with individuals or groups to deliver therapy in a controlled environment.

• Interpret psychological tests

  Interpret psychological tests in order to obtain information on your patient`s intelligence, achievements, interests, and personality.

• Apply psychological intervention strategies

  Use various intervention strategies to treat patients in clinical psychology.

• Comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice

  Apply quality standards related to risk management, safety procedures, patients feedback, screening and medical devices in daily practice, as they are recognized by the national professional associations and authorities.

• Respond to changing situations in health care

  Cope with pressure and respond appropriately and in time to unexpected and rapidly changing situations in healthcare.

• Decide upon a psychotherapeutic approach

  Make an informed choice about which type of psychotherapeutic intervention to apply when working with patients, according to their needs.

• Deal with emergency care situations

  Assess the signs and be well-prepared for a situation that poses an immediate threat to a person's health, security, property or environment.  

• Test for behavioural patterns

  Discern patterns in the behaviour of individuals by using various tests in order to understand the causes of their behaviour.

• Educate on the prevention of illness

  Offer evidence-based advice on how to avoid ill health, educate and advise individuals and their carers on how to prevent ill health and/or be able to advise how to improve their environment and health conditions. Provide advice on the identification of risks leading to ill health and help to increase the patients' resilience by targeting prevention and early intervention strategies.

• Promote mental health

  Promote factors that enhance emotional well-being such as self-acceptance, personal growth, purpose in life, control of one`s environment, spirituality, self-direction and positive relationships.

• Respond to healthcare users' extreme emotions

  React accordingly when a healthcare user becomes hyper-manic, panicky, extremely distressed, agressive, violent, or suicidal, following appropriate training if working in contexts where patients go through extreme emotions regularly.

• Promote psycho-social education

  Explain mental health issues in simple and understandable ways, helping de-pathologise and de-stigmatise common mental health stereotypes and condemning prejudicial or discriminatory behaviours, systems, institutions, practices, and attitudes that are clearly separatist, abusive or harmful to people's mental health or their social inclusion.

• Promote inclusion

  Promote inclusion in health care and social services and respect diversity of beliefs, culture, values and preferences, keeping in mind the importance of equality and diversity issues.

• Provide a psychotherapeutic environment

  Create and maintain a suitable environment for the psychotherapy to take place, making sure the space is safe, welcoming, consistent with the ethos of the psychotherapy, and meeting the needs of the patients as far as possible.

• Provide clinical psychological support in crisis situations

  Offer psychological support and emotional guidance to patients facing serious crises.

• Comply with legislation related to health care

  Comply with the regional and national legislation that is relevant to one`s work and apply it in practice.

• Record the outcome of psychotherapy

  Keep track of and record the process and results of the treatment used in the psychotherapy process.

• Accept own accountability

  Accept accountability for one`s own professional activities and recognise the limits of one`s own scope of practice and competencies.

• Adhere to organisational guidelines

  Adhere to organisational or department specific standards and guidelines. Understand the motives of the organisation and the common agreements and act accordingly.

• Motivate patiens

  Encourage the patient's motivation to change and promote the belief that therapy can help, using techniques and treatment engagement procedures for this purpose.

• Help healthcare users to develop social perceptiveness

  Provide strategies and support to healthcare users with social difficulties, helping them understand others` verbal and non-verbal behaviour and actions and guiding them in learning to interpret a combination people`s words, tone of voice, body language, gestures, and facial expressions; while developing better self-confidence in social situations.

• Follow clinical guidelines

  Follow agreed protocols and guidelines in support of healthcare practice which are provided by healthcare institutions, professional associations, or authorities and also scientific organisations.

• Evaluate clinical psychological measures

  Evaluate the provided clinical psychological measures in order to assess their impact and their outcomes taking into account the patients` feedback.

• Ensure safety of healthcare users

  Make sure that healthcare users are being treated professionally, effectively and safe from harm, adapting techniques and procedures according to the person's needs, abilities or the prevailing conditions.

• Provide clinical psychological counselling

  Provide clinical psychological counselling in relation to health impairments, their conditions and the possibilities for change.

• Manage healthcare users' data

  Keep accurate client records which also satisfy legal and professional standards and ethical obligations in order to facilitate client management, ensuring that all clients' data (including verbal, written and electronic) are treated confidentially.

• Apply context specific clinical competences

  Apply professional and evidence based assessment, goal setting, delivery of intervention and evaluation of clients, taking into account the developmental and contextual history of the clients, within one`s own scope of practice.

• Provide testimony in court hearings

  Provide testimony in court hearings regarding a variety of social matters and other events.

• Provide health education

  Provide evidence based strategies to promote healthy living, disease prevention and management.

• Work in a multicultural environment in health care

  Interact, relate and communicate with individuals from a variety of different cultures, when working in a healthcare environment.

• Refer healthcare users

  Make referrals to other professionals, based on the healthcare user's requirements and needs, especially when recognising that additional healthcare diagnostics or interventions are required.

• Inform policy makers on health-related challenges

  Provide useful information related to health care professions to ensure policy decisions are made in the benefit of communities.

• Use psychotherapeutic interventions

  Use psychotherapeutic interventions suited to the different stages of treatment.

• Advise on healthcare users' informed consent

  Ensure patients/clients are fully informed about the risks and benefits of proposed treatments so they can give informed consent, engaging patients/clients in the process of their care and treatment.

• Use clinical assessment techniques

  Use clinical reasoning techniques and clinical judgement when applying a range of appropriate assessment techniques, such as mental status assessment, diagnosis, dynamic formulation, and potential treatment planning.

• Counsel clients

  Assist and guide clients to overcome their personal, social, or psychological issues.

• Work on psychosomatic issues

  Work with body and mind issues such as the spectrum of human sexuality and psychosomatic ailments.

• Facilitate the psychological development of the healthcare user

  Facilitate the process of self-discovery for the healthcare user, helping them to learn about their condition and become more aware of and in control of moods, feelings, thoughts, behaviour, and their origins. Help the healthcare user learn to manage problems and difficulties with greater resilience.

• Work in multidisciplinary health teams

  Participate in the delivery of multidisciplinary health care, and understand the rules and competences of other healthcare related professions.

• Provide strategies of differential diagnosis

  Use various methods to identify the most approapriate diagnosis among conditions with similar symptoms.

• Listen actively

  Give attention to what other people say, patiently understand points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times; able to listen carefully the needs of customers, clients, passengers, service users or others, and provide solutions accordingly.

• Provide clinical psychological assessment

  Provide clinical psychological assessment in relation to health and health-related and health-conditioned behaviour and experience, as well as clinical disease patterns and their impact on the human experience and behaviour.

• Employ cognitive behaviour treatment techniques

  Employ cognitive behavioural treatment techniques for those whose treatment involves cognitive re-training, addressing dysfunctional emotions, maladaptive behaviours and cognitive processes and contents through a variety of systematic procedures.

• Empathise with the healthcare user

  Understand the background of clients` and patients’ symptoms, difficulties and behaviour. Be empathetic about their issues; showing respect and reinforcing their autonomy, self-esteem and independence. Demonstrate a concern for their welfare and handle according to the personal boundaries, sensitivities, cultural differences and preferences of the client and patient in mind.

• Organise relapse prevention

  Help the patient or client identify and anticipate high risk situations or external and internal triggers. Support them in developing better coping strategies and back-up plans in case of future difficulties.

• Manage psychotherapeutic relationships

  Establish, manage and maintain the therapeutic relationship between psychotherapist and patient and client in a safe, respectful and effective way. Establish a working alliance and self-awareness in the relationship. Make sure the patient is aware that his/her interests are a priority and manage out-of-session contact.

• Identify mental health issues

  Recognise and critically evaluate any possible mental health/illness issues.

• Apply organisational techniques

  Employ a set of organisational techniques and procedures which facilitate the achievement of the goals set. Use these resources efficiently and sustainably, and show flexibility when required.

• Apply health sciences

  Apply a broad range of bio-medical, psycho-social, organisational, educational, and societal aspects of health, disease, and healthcare to improve healthcare services and to improve quality of life.

• Contribute to continuity of health care

  Contribute to the delivery of coordinated and continuous healthcare.

• Diagnose mental disorders

  Formulate a diagnosis for people with a variety of issues and mental disorders, ranging from short-term personal and emotional problems to severe, chronic mental conditions, recognising and critically evaluating any possible mental health issues.

• Interact with healthcare users

  Communicate with clients and their carer’s, with the patient’s permission, to keep them informed about the clients’ and patients’ progress and safeguarding confidentiality.

Optional knowledge and skills

Source: Sisyphus ODB