Glossary
199 core terms, written in original language. Each entry notes whether it comes from the textbook's key terms or is a contemporary addition.
Showing 199 terms.
- Accreditation Textbook concept
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Formal recognition that a training programme meets a professional body's standards. In the US the APA accredits doctoral programmes and internships; in India the RCI recognises clinical psychology programmes.
- Active listening Textbook concept
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Attentive listening that shows understanding through verbal and non-verbal responses such as paraphrasing, reflecting and summarising.
See: Clinical interviewing and the mental status examination
- Actuarial prediction Textbook concept
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Combining information using statistical rules or formulas rather than unaided clinical judgement.
- Advocate (consultant role) Textbook concept
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The most directive consultant role: persuading the consultee toward a particular position or course of action.
- American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) Textbook concept
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A US board, founded in 1947, that awards specialty certification (the diploma) to licensed psychologists who demonstrate advanced competence.
- Analogue design Textbook concept
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A study that simulates clinical conditions under controlled circumstances, such as using students with mild fears to study phobia treatment.
- Attribution Textbook concept
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A person's explanation for why an event happened, for example to internal or external, stable or unstable causes.
- Automatic thoughts Original elaboration
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Quick, often unnoticed thoughts that arise in response to situations and shape emotional reactions; a core concept in cognitive therapy.
- Base rate Contemporary update
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How common a condition is in the population being assessed. Base rates strongly affect how many positive screens are true positives.
See: Psychometrics: reliability, validity and screening accuracy
- Behavioural activation Contemporary update
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A treatment for depression that increases engagement in rewarding and valued activities to counter withdrawal.
- Behavioural rehearsal Textbook concept
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Practising a new behaviour, often through role play, before using it in real life.
- Bias (in assessment) Textbook concept
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Systematic distortion in how information is gathered or interpreted, for example through stereotypes or expectations.
See: Clinical interviewing and the mental status examination
- Biofeedback Textbook concept
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A technique that gives people real-time information about physiological processes such as heart rate or muscle tension so that they can learn to regulate them.
See: Behavioural observation, self-monitoring and checklists
- Biological vulnerability Textbook concept
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Inherited or acquired biological characteristics that increase the risk of developing a problem under stress.
See: Biopsychosocial formulation, Diathesis–stress and related explanatory models
- Biomedical reductionism Original elaboration
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The view that illness can be fully explained by physical and biological processes alone.
- Biopsychosocial model Textbook concept
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George Engel's 1977 model holding that health and illness result from interacting biological, psychological and social factors.
See: Biopsychosocial formulation, Recent history: from the Second World War to today, What is clinical psychology?
- Boston Process Approach Textbook concept
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A flexible neuropsychological approach that examines how a person arrives at answers, not just the final scores.
See: Cognitive, intellectual and neuropsychological assessment
- Boulder model Textbook concept
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The scientist-practitioner model of training endorsed at the 1949 Boulder conference.
- Brain–behaviour relationships Textbook concept
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The links between brain structure and function and a person's cognition, emotion and behaviour; the focus of clinical neuropsychology.
- Case formulation Original elaboration
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A clinician's explanatory account of how a person's difficulties developed and are maintained, used to guide intervention.
- Checklist / inventory Textbook concept
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A brief standardised questionnaire assessing one or more problem areas or traits.
See: Behavioural observation, self-monitoring and checklists
- Child clinical psychology Textbook concept
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The specialisation concerned with the assessment and treatment of children, adolescents and families.
- Clarification Textbook concept
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An interviewing skill: asking questions to resolve ambiguity in what a client has said.
See: Clinical interviewing and the mental status examination
- Classical conditioning Textbook concept
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Learning in which a neutral stimulus comes to elicit a response after being paired with a stimulus that naturally produces it.
- Client-centred case consultation Textbook concept
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Consultation focused on helping the consultee with a particular client's problem.
- Client-centred therapy Textbook concept
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Carl Rogers's humanistic therapy, in which empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruence enable clients' growth.
- Clinical health psychology Textbook concept
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The specialisation applying behavioural science to physical health, illness prevention and coping with medical conditions.
- Clinical internship Textbook concept
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A full-time, supervised clinical training year required before the doctorate in US clinical psychology programmes.
- Clinical judgement Textbook concept
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The process by which clinicians combine information to make decisions; vulnerable to cognitive biases.
- Clinical neuropsychology Textbook concept
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The specialisation focused on brain–behaviour relationships and the assessment and rehabilitation of cognitive impairment.
- Clinical psychology Textbook concept
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The field that applies psychological science to the assessment, treatment, prevention and study of psychological and behavioural problems.
- Clinical significance Textbook concept
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Whether a change produced by treatment makes a meaningful difference in a person's functioning, as opposed to being merely statistically detectable.
- Cognitive distortions Original elaboration
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Systematic errors in thinking such as catastrophising, all-or-nothing thinking and mind reading.
- Cognitive restructuring Contemporary update
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A CBT technique for identifying, evaluating and modifying unhelpful thoughts.
- Cognitive-behavioural approach Textbook concept
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An approach combining cognitive and behavioural principles, emphasising present-focused, measurable change in thoughts and behaviour.
See: The cognitive and cognitive-behavioural approach, Theoretical models: why orientation matters
- Common factors Textbook concept
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Elements shared by many therapies, such as the therapeutic relationship and expectations of improvement, that contribute to outcome.
See: Integrative psychotherapy, Essential questions about psychotherapy
- Community mental health movement Textbook concept
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A 1960s movement to shift care from institutions to local community services.
- Competence (ethical) Textbook concept
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The obligation to practise only within the limits of one's training, experience and supervision, and to maintain skills.
- Confidentiality Textbook concept
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The professional duty to protect information shared by clients, subject to limits defined by law and ethics.
See: Ethical decision-making, confidentiality limits and risk, Ethical principles and standards
- Confirmation bias Contemporary update
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The tendency to seek and favour information that confirms an existing belief or hypothesis.
- Congruence Textbook concept
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In client-centred therapy, the therapist's genuineness; also, in Rogers's theory, consistency between self-concept and experience.
- Construct validity Contemporary update
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The extent to which a measure behaves as theory predicts, including convergent and discriminant relationships.
See: Psychometrics: reliability, validity and screening accuracy
- Consultation Textbook concept
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Applying psychological knowledge to help others with problems in their own professional settings.
See: Consultation, teaching and administrative roles, What is clinical psychology?
- Consultee-centred administrative consultation Textbook concept
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Consultation aimed at improving the functioning of administrators or staff in an organisation.
- Consultee-centred case consultation Textbook concept
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Consultation focused on improving the consultee's own skills, knowledge or objectivity through discussion of a case.
- Contingency management Textbook concept
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Behavioural interventions that change the consequences of behaviour, for example by rewarding desired behaviours.
- Controlled observation Textbook concept
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Observation in a structured situation designed to elicit the behaviour of interest, such as a role play.
See: Behavioural observation, self-monitoring and checklists
- Core beliefs Original elaboration
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Deep, global beliefs about self, others and the world that shape how situations are interpreted.
- Correlational method Textbook concept
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Research that measures the association between variables without manipulating them; cannot establish causation alone.
- Counselling psychology Textbook concept
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A related profession focusing on adjustment, development, vocational and relationship concerns, often with a strengths emphasis.
- Counterconditioning Textbook concept
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Replacing an unwanted conditioned response with an incompatible one, such as pairing relaxation with a feared stimulus.
- Countertransference Textbook concept
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The therapist's emotional reactions to a client, which can interfere with or inform therapy.
- Couples therapy Textbook concept
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Psychotherapy with two partners together, focused on their relationship.
- Crisis interview Textbook concept
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A rapid, focused interview addressing immediate safety and needs during a crisis.
See: Clinical interviewing and the mental status examination
- Cross-sectional design Textbook concept
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Research comparing different groups at a single point in time.
- Cultural adaptation Contemporary update
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Modifying an intervention's language, examples, format or delivery to fit a cultural context while retaining its active ingredients.
See: Evidence-based practice, diversity and lifelong learning
- Cultural humility Contemporary update
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An ongoing stance of self-reflection, curiosity and respect toward clients' cultures, recognising the limits of one's own perspective.
See: Ethical decision-making, confidentiality limits and risk, Evidence-based practice, diversity and lifelong learning
- Defence mechanisms Textbook concept
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In psychodynamic theory, largely unconscious strategies the ego uses to manage anxiety, such as repression, denial and projection.
- Dementia praecox Textbook concept
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A historical term, associated with Emil Kraepelin, for the condition later called schizophrenia.
- Dependent variable (DV) Textbook concept
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The outcome measured in a study to see whether it is affected by the independent variable.
- Deterioration (in therapy) Textbook concept
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Worsening of a client's condition during treatment; monitoring helps detect it.
- Diathesis–stress model Textbook concept
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The view that disorders arise when a predisposing vulnerability interacts with sufficient stress.
- Disengagement Textbook concept
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In family systems theory, overly rigid boundaries leading to emotional distance and under-involvement among members.
- Dismantling strategy Textbook concept
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A research strategy that removes components of a treatment to identify which are necessary.
- Diversity Textbook concept
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Variation in culture, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, disability, class and other identities that shapes experience and care.
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Textbook concept
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A research doctorate; in US clinical psychology, typically trained in the scientist-practitioner model.
- Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Textbook concept
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A professional doctorate emphasising clinical practice, associated with the Vail model.
- Documentation Original elaboration
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Accurate, timely, secure and necessary records of professional activities.
See: Ethical decision-making, confidentiality limits and risk
- Dodo bird verdict Contemporary update
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Shorthand for the finding that many bona fide psychotherapies produce broadly similar outcomes.
- Dropout Textbook concept
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Ending therapy prematurely without a planned termination.
- Dual (multiple) relationships Textbook concept
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Situations in which a psychologist has a professional role and another role with the same person, risking exploitation or impaired objectivity.
- Dualism Textbook concept
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The philosophical view that mind and body are separate entities.
- Duty to protect Contemporary update
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A legal or ethical obligation, defined differently by jurisdiction, to take reasonable steps when a client poses a serious risk to others.
See: Ethical decision-making, confidentiality limits and risk
- Eclecticism Textbook concept
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Selecting techniques from different approaches; technical eclecticism does so based on evidence without merging theories.
- Effect size Contemporary update
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A standardised measure of the magnitude of a difference or relationship, used in meta-analysis.
- Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) Textbook concept
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A medical treatment for certain severe psychiatric conditions in which a controlled seizure is induced under anaesthesia.
- Empathy Textbook concept
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Understanding another person's experience from their frame of reference and communicating that understanding.
- Empirically supported treatment (EST) Textbook concept
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A treatment shown to be efficacious in controlled research according to defined criteria.
See: Evidence-based practice, diversity and lifelong learning, Treatment outcome research and evidence appraisal
- Enmeshment Textbook concept
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In family systems theory, overly diffuse boundaries leading to over-involvement that limits members' autonomy.
- Epidemiology Textbook concept
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The study of the distribution and determinants of conditions in populations, including incidence and prevalence.
- EPPP Textbook concept
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The Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology, a written licensing examination used in the US and Canada.
- Ethics code Textbook concept
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A profession's statement of ethical principles and enforceable standards, such as the APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct.
- Evidence-based practice in psychology Contemporary update
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Integrating the best available research with clinical expertise in the context of patient characteristics, culture and preferences (APA, 2006).
See: Evidence-based practice, diversity and lifelong learning, Treatment outcome research and evidence appraisal
- Exposure Textbook concept
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A behavioural technique involving systematic, sustained contact with feared stimuli without escape, so that fear reduces through new learning.
- External validity Textbook concept
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The extent to which findings generalise to other people, settings and times.
- Family systems approach Textbook concept
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An approach that understands problems as arising within patterns of family relationships rather than individuals alone.
See: The family systems approach, Theoretical models: why orientation matters
- Family therapy Textbook concept
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Psychotherapy involving family members together to change patterns of interaction.
- Fluid and crystallised intelligence Textbook concept
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Cattell's distinction between reasoning with novel problems (fluid) and acquired knowledge and skills (crystallised).
See: Cognitive, intellectual and neuropsychological assessment
- Forensic psychology Textbook concept
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The application of psychology to legal questions and settings.
- Free association Textbook concept
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A psychoanalytic technique in which the client says whatever comes to mind without censoring.
- Functional analysis Textbook concept
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Identifying the antecedents and consequences that trigger and maintain a behaviour.
- General intelligence (g) Textbook concept
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Spearman's concept of a general mental ability underlying performance on diverse cognitive tasks.
See: Cognitive, intellectual and neuropsychological assessment
- Gene–environment interaction Textbook concept
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The ways genetic factors and environmental experiences jointly and reciprocally influence development and behaviour.
- Geropsychology Textbook concept
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The specialisation concerned with mental health and ageing.
- Gestalt therapy Textbook concept
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A humanistic therapy associated with Fritz Perls emphasising present awareness, responsibility and integration of experience.
- Group therapy Textbook concept
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Psychotherapy delivered to several clients together, using group processes such as universality and feedback.
- Humanistic approach Textbook concept
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An approach emphasising subjective experience, personal growth, self-direction and the therapeutic relationship.
See: The humanistic approach, Theoretical models: why orientation matters
- Independent variable (IV) Textbook concept
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The variable manipulated or compared by the researcher to examine its effect on the dependent variable.
- Informed consent Textbook concept
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Voluntary agreement to services or research based on understandable information about their nature, risks, benefits, alternatives and limits of confidentiality.
See: Ethical decision-making, confidentiality limits and risk, Ethical principles and standards, Psychotherapy: goals, stages and modes
- Insight Textbook concept
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Understanding of one's own feelings, motives or problems; in psychodynamic therapy, awareness of unconscious influences.
- Integrated psychological report Textbook concept
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A report that answers the referral question by integrating findings from multiple sources rather than listing test results.
- Integration (psychotherapy) Textbook concept
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Combining theories, common factors or techniques from different approaches in a coherent way.
See: Integrative psychotherapy, Theoretical models: why orientation matters
- Intelligence quotient (IQ) Textbook concept
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A standard score from an intelligence test, typically with a population mean of 100 and standard deviation of 15.
See: Cognitive, intellectual and neuropsychological assessment
- Inter-rater reliability Contemporary update
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The degree of agreement between different raters or observers.
See: Psychometrics: reliability, validity and screening accuracy
- Internal consistency Contemporary update
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The degree to which items in a measure assess the same construct.
See: Psychometrics: reliability, validity and screening accuracy
- Internal validity Textbook concept
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The extent to which a study rules out alternative explanations so that changes can be attributed to the independent variable.
- Joining Textbook concept
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In family therapy, the therapist's efforts to connect with and be accepted by the family system.
- Licensure Textbook concept
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Legal authorisation to practise a profession, granted by a regulatory body. In the US, state boards license psychologists.
- Longitudinal design Textbook concept
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Research following the same participants over time.
- Malingering Textbook concept
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Intentionally producing or exaggerating symptoms for external gain.
- Managed health care Textbook concept
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US health-insurance arrangements (such as HMOs and PPOs) that control costs by managing access to and amount of services.
- Measurement-based care Contemporary update
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Routine use of valid measures to track progress and inform treatment decisions collaboratively with clients.
See: Evidence-based practice, diversity and lifelong learning, Psychotherapy: goals, stages and modes
- Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 (India) Indian context · verify
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Indian legislation establishing rights-based mental health care, including provisions on confidentiality, advance directives and presumption of severe stress after a suicide attempt. Verify provisions in the official text.
See: Ethical decision-making, confidentiality limits and risk, Ethical principles and standards
- Mental hygiene movement Textbook concept
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An early-twentieth-century movement, associated with Clifford Beers, promoting humane treatment and prevention of mental illness.
- Mental status examination (MSE) Textbook concept
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A structured description of a person's current mental functioning across domains such as appearance, mood, thought and cognition.
See: Clinical interviewing and the mental status examination
- Meta-analysis Textbook concept
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A statistical method for combining results across studies, usually as effect sizes.
- Milan approach Textbook concept
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A family systems approach using hypothesising and circular questioning to explore family beliefs and patterns.
- MMPI Textbook concept
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The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, a widely used objective personality and psychopathology inventory with validity scales; current edition MMPI-3.
See: Personality assessment: objective and projective methods
- Moral therapy Textbook concept
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A nineteenth-century reform approach promoting humane, structured care for people with mental illness.
- Multiple-baseline design Textbook concept
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A single-case design in which intervention is introduced at different times across behaviours, settings or people.
- Narrative approach Textbook concept
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A family therapy approach that helps people externalise problems and re-author the stories they live by.
- Naturalistic observation Textbook concept
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Observing behaviour in the setting where it naturally occurs.
See: Behavioural observation, self-monitoring and checklists
- Neuropsychological testing Textbook concept
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Assessment of cognitive functions such as attention, memory, language and executive function to understand brain–behaviour relationships.
See: Cognitive, intellectual and neuropsychological assessment
- Norms Contemporary update
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Score distributions from a reference sample used to interpret an individual's score.
See: Cognitive, intellectual and neuropsychological assessment, Psychometrics: reliability, validity and screening accuracy
- Object relations Textbook concept
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A psychodynamic theory emphasising internalised representations of self and significant others.
- Objective test Textbook concept
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A test with structured items and fixed response options, scored against norms.
See: Personality assessment: objective and projective methods
- Operant conditioning Textbook concept
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Learning in which behaviour is shaped by its consequences — reinforcement and punishment.
- Operational definition Original elaboration
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A definition of a variable in terms of observable, measurable criteria.
See: Behavioural observation, self-monitoring and checklists
- Paediatric psychology Textbook concept
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A specialisation blending child clinical and health psychology for children with medical conditions and their families.
- Paradoxical technique Textbook concept
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A strategic intervention that prescribes the symptom or resists change in order to provoke change; raises ethical questions about transparency.
- Paraphrasing Textbook concept
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Restating the content of what a client said to check and show understanding.
See: Clinical interviewing and the mental status examination
- Peak experience Textbook concept
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Maslow's term for moments of intense joy, meaning or fulfilment associated with self-actualisation.
- Person–situation debate Contemporary update
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The debate over how much behaviour reflects stable traits versus situational influences.
See: Personality assessment: objective and projective methods
- POCSO Act, 2012 (India) Indian context · verify
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The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, which includes mandatory reporting duties. Verify current provisions in the official text.
See: Ethical decision-making, confidentiality limits and risk
- Polygraph Textbook concept
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A device recording physiological arousal, sometimes used in attempts to detect deception; its validity for that purpose is contested.
See: Behavioural observation, self-monitoring and checklists
- Positive predictive value Contemporary update
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The proportion of positive screening results that are true positives; depends on the base rate.
See: Psychometrics: reliability, validity and screening accuracy
- Prescription privileges Textbook concept
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Legal authority to prescribe medication; granted to specially trained psychologists in some US jurisdictions but not in India.
- Process specialist Textbook concept
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The least directive consultant role, helping consultees understand and improve their own processes.
- Program-centred administrative consultation Textbook concept
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Consultation focused on evaluating or improving a programme.
- Projective test Textbook concept
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A test using ambiguous stimuli to which people respond freely, such as inkblots or pictures.
See: Personality assessment: objective and projective methods
- Psychiatry Textbook concept
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The medical specialty concerned with mental illness; psychiatrists are physicians who can prescribe medication.
- Psychodynamic approach Textbook concept
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An approach emphasising unconscious processes, conflict, defences and the influence of early relationships.
See: The psychodynamic approach, Theoretical models: why orientation matters
- Psychotherapy Textbook concept
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A professional relationship using psychological methods to help a person change problematic feelings, thoughts or behaviour.
- Psychotropic medication Textbook concept
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Medication that affects mental processes, such as antidepressants and antipsychotics.
- Quasi-experimental design Textbook concept
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A design comparing conditions without random assignment.
- Random assignment Textbook concept
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Allocating participants to conditions by chance so that pre-existing differences are evenly distributed.
- Rapport Textbook concept
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A trusting, comfortable working relationship between clinician and client.
See: Clinical interviewing and the mental status examination
- Reactivity Textbook concept
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Change in behaviour caused by the awareness of being observed or measured.
See: Behavioural observation, self-monitoring and checklists
- Referral question Original elaboration
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The specific question an assessment is asked to answer.
- Reflection (of feeling) Textbook concept
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An interviewing skill that mirrors the emotion behind a client's words.
See: Clinical interviewing and the mental status examination
- Reframing Textbook concept
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Offering a new perspective on a problem that changes its meaning and opens new responses.
- Regression to the mean Textbook concept
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The tendency for extreme scores to move toward the average on retesting.
- Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) Indian context · verify
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The statutory body under the RCI Act, 1992, that maintains the Central Rehabilitation Register in which clinical psychologists in India must be registered.
See: Becoming a clinical psychologist, Ethical principles and standards, What is clinical psychology?
- Reliability Textbook concept
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The consistency of a measurement across time, items, forms or raters.
See: Psychometrics: reliability, validity and screening accuracy
- Reliable change index Contemporary update
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A statistic indicating whether an individual's change exceeds what measurement error alone would produce (Jacobson & Truax, 1991).
- Resilience Contemporary update
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The capacity to adapt well in the face of adversity.
- Rorschach Textbook concept
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A projective technique in which people describe what they see in inkblots.
See: Personality assessment: objective and projective methods
- Safety plan Contemporary update
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A collaboratively developed, written plan listing warning signs, coping steps, supports and emergency contacts for a person at risk.
See: Ethical decision-making, confidentiality limits and risk
- Scholar-practitioner model Textbook concept
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A training model emphasising professional practice informed by research, endorsed at the 1973 Vail conference.
- Scientist-practitioner model Textbook concept
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A training model in which clinical psychologists are trained in both research and practice (Boulder, 1949).
See: Recent history: from the Second World War to today, What is clinical psychology?
- Screening Contemporary update
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Brief assessment to identify people who may need fuller evaluation; not a diagnosis.
See: Psychometrics: reliability, validity and screening accuracy
- Self-actualisation Textbook concept
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In humanistic theory, the realisation of one's potential.
- Self-efficacy Textbook concept
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Bandura's term for a person's belief in their ability to perform a behaviour successfully.
See: The behavioural approach, The cognitive and cognitive-behavioural approach
- Self-monitoring Textbook concept
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A method in which clients record their own behaviours, thoughts or feelings.
See: Behavioural observation, self-monitoring and checklists
- Sensitivity Contemporary update
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The proportion of people with a condition whom a test correctly identifies as positive.
See: Psychometrics: reliability, validity and screening accuracy
- Single-case design Textbook concept
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A research design that repeatedly measures one individual across baseline and intervention phases, such as an ABAB design.
- Social determinants of health Contemporary update
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Social and economic conditions — income, education, housing, discrimination — that shape health.
- Social learning Textbook concept
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Learning by observing and imitating others, associated with Albert Bandura.
- Specificity Contemporary update
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The proportion of people without a condition whom a test correctly identifies as negative.
See: Psychometrics: reliability, validity and screening accuracy
- Spontaneous remission Textbook concept
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Improvement without treatment.
- Standard error of measurement Contemporary update
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An estimate of the error in an individual's score, used to construct confidence intervals.
See: Psychometrics: reliability, validity and screening accuracy
- Stanford-Binet scales Textbook concept
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Intelligence scales derived from Binet and Simon's test and revised by Lewis Terman at Stanford in 1916.
See: Cognitive, intellectual and neuropsychological assessment
- Statistical significance Textbook concept
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An indication that a result is unlikely to be due to chance alone, given assumptions; says nothing about importance.
- Strategic approach Textbook concept
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A family therapy approach that targets problem-maintaining sequences, often using directives.
- Structural approach Textbook concept
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A family therapy approach focused on boundaries, subsystems and hierarchy.
- Structured interview Textbook concept
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An interview with standard questions and decision rules, designed to improve reliability.
See: Clinical interviewing and the mental status examination
- Summarisation Textbook concept
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An interviewing skill that pulls together main points and aids transitions.
See: Clinical interviewing and the mental status examination
- Supervision Original elaboration
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A professional relationship in which an experienced practitioner oversees and supports another's work.
See: Ethical decision-making, confidentiality limits and risk
- Task-sharing Contemporary update
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Training non-specialist workers to deliver some psychological interventions under supervision, to widen access.
- Tele-MANAS Indian context · verify
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India's National Tele Mental Health Programme helpline (14416). Verify current details on official sites.
- Telehealth Contemporary update
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Delivery of health and psychological services through telephone or video.
- Termination Textbook concept
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The planned ending of therapy, consolidating gains and preparing for setbacks.
- Test bias Textbook concept
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Systematic differences in test scores or predictions across groups that do not reflect the construct measured.
See: Cognitive, intellectual and neuropsychological assessment
- Test security Contemporary update
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Protecting test items, stimuli and scoring materials from exposure, to preserve validity and honour copyright.
- Test–retest reliability Contemporary update
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The consistency of scores when the same test is given on two occasions.
See: Psychometrics: reliability, validity and screening accuracy
- The four Ps Original elaboration
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A formulation framework covering predisposing, precipitating, perpetuating and protective factors.
- Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) Textbook concept
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A projective test in which people tell stories about ambiguous pictures.
See: Personality assessment: objective and projective methods
- Theoretical orientation Textbook concept
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A set of assumptions about behaviour and change that guides a clinician's work.
See: Integrative psychotherapy, Theoretical models: why orientation matters
- Therapeutic alliance Contemporary update
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The collaborative bond between client and therapist, including agreement on goals and tasks.
- Thought stopping Textbook concept
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A historical technique of interrupting unwanted thoughts; no longer recommended because suppression can increase intrusions.
- Transference Textbook concept
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A client's redirection of feelings and expectations from earlier relationships onto the therapist.
- Treatment goals Textbook concept
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Agreed, preferably specific and measurable outcomes that therapy aims to achieve.
- Unconditional positive regard Textbook concept
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Rogers's term for non-judgemental acceptance of the client as a person.
- Unconscious Textbook concept
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In psychodynamic theory, mental processes outside awareness that nonetheless influence experience and behaviour.
- Vail model Textbook concept
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The scholar-practitioner training model and PsyD endorsed at the 1973 Vail conference.
- Validity Textbook concept
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The extent to which evidence supports the intended interpretation and use of scores.
See: Psychometrics: reliability, validity and screening accuracy
- Validity scales Textbook concept
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Scales on personality inventories that flag response patterns such as inconsistency or over-reporting.
See: Personality assessment: objective and projective methods
- Wechsler scales Textbook concept
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A family of widely used individually administered intelligence tests for preschool children, school-age children and adults.
See: Cognitive, intellectual and neuropsychological assessment
- Working through Textbook concept
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In psychodynamic therapy, the repeated application of insights to daily life until change consolidates.
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