Clinical Psychology has a most promising future if
properly developed and directed. In too many places prejudice
is created against it by psychologists who know nothing of
clinical method. They do mental measuring and call it clinical
psychology. The medical profession has come to recognise
the unusual possibilities and great need for helping
maladjusted individuals. Along with the new interest in
preventive medicine, the psychologically trained physician
is giving serious thought to the prevention of behaviour
disorders. The psychiatrist gets results in this field
because he has been taught to interpret human conduct as an
integrated whole and to look for the dynamic factors, or the
motivations and emotions of children and adults. Psychologists
have been too concerned with mental abilities alone
and neglected too long the affective side of human behaviour.
This paper is presented as a scheme for clinical
procedure in a psychological clinic. Its original basis is
the purely psychological clinical method developed by
Professor Witmer and others, complemented and supplemented by
the procedure psychiatrists use in the study of the personality
of their patients. It is a response to the feeling of many,
that the time is ripe for a logical and systematic presentation
of the non-psycho-analytic clinical method in psychology.
The facts, the arrangement of material, the points
of emphasis, and the technique of the analysis, have been
determined by the writer's experiences in the intensive individual
study of hundreds of children and hundreds of adults -
the latter in connection with personal malacustments, vocational
guidance and the selection, promotion, and executive reorganization
of business and industrial personnel.
Personality, in this paper, is considered as the
total effect, total impression, total impact, that the
organism, as a whole, makes on other human beings. It includes
what are commonly called temperament traits, physical
characteristics and capacities, as well as mental abilities.
It is a practical outline. Theoretic soundness has
been given due consideration but fine distinctions cannot
always be made. Clinical psychology is a field to which
academic psychology has given comparatively little attention;
in which it has made only limited differentiations and
applied few experimental methods. Professor Witmerx distinguishes
between intelligence and intellect for clinical
purposes. Although psychologists may doubt if there is such
a fundamental distinction in mental processes, in clinical work
many such practical distinctions have to be made. Those with
experience in clinical work know that there is such a difference (as Witmer describes) from the point of view of observed
behaviour. Intelligence and intellect may be two phases of
like
the same process. They may be /two views of an arc. Looking
at an arc from one point of view makes it concave, observing it from another point of view makes it convex. The
clinical psychologist must note whether the behaviour is
concave or convex, so to speak, if he is to paint a reliable
and useful clinical picture of the individual studied. He
must note that some individuals absorb and retain knowledge
readily but solve poorly the problems of living and
succeeding, and that others are poor in intellectual
activities but brilliantly successful in accomplishing what
they want.
No outline is too comprehensive if it does not
include non -essentials. Recommendations, and treatment of a
patient are not justified unless the problem, and the person
with the problem, and the environment in which he must
function, are thoroughly understood. An undetailed outline
is useless for unskilled clinical psychologists. If they
do not have in mind, and do not look for the many potentially
important factors in the personality and environment of the
person being studied, they will err in diagnosis because
they will fail to uncover the vital factors or they will be
led astray by apparent and partial explanations when the
answer lies deeper and is more complex. No one having a
right to do clinical work will go through all the items listed and discussed in the paper. He will use his past
experience to guide him to the important factors in the
particular individual before him. He must, however, be
conscious of the many other possibilities, and feel satis-
fied that he has not neglected something that may be vital.
Not to have a detailed outline would require a different
guide for each subject studied. All the facts emphesi_ zed
in the paper and the items in the appendix have had bearing
on the diagnosis and treatment of an actual problem of real
persons. Facts have not been included by chance or as the
result of speculation alone.
The length of time it takes to make a personality
study depends upon the success with which the patient conceals
the real problem and tree extent and complexity of the
experiences of the subject. Children and simple adults
take three to four hours, complex and superior individuals
take five to ten hours. If the problem is not important
enough to spend that much time upon it, it cannot be very
serious. Psychologists and psychiatrists stand to make or
mar the happiness of those with whom they work. They are
not gods who are privileged by a toss of a coin to break or
make habits, alter ideals, change environments, create new
hates and loves, without sufficient knowledge to feel reasonably
certain,that they understand the person they are trying
to help; that they appreciate his problems, and are able to
direct him to a more successful and happier life.
There is considerable overlapping under the various
headings. This does not mean that the same information must
be secured several times. The overlappings indicate that
the same information must be viewed and evaluated from a
number of directions. Mental processes, emotional experiences
and physical responses are not unit experiences. The
organism responds as a whole. It is not possible to separate
completely, social conduct from emotional experiences or
ideas from physical reactions. Then too,the same facts may
be important as a matter of etiology, adjustment or therapy;
the same terms may apply to a number of abilities or emotions
or combinations of these. Therefore s cane of the same or similar
facts must be given under more than one heading for
purposes of completeness and clarity.
The paper is divided into two parts. The first
part covers information that may have to be secured if
reliable judgments are to be made; the second part is concerned
with factors that must be described and evaluated.
The facts provided by the interview are classified
under seven headings - Family, Early Developmental, Educational,
Social,Vocational, Emotional, and Health History.
The description of the personality of an individual is
divided into three parts: Cognitive, Affective, and Physical
Factors. An appendix is added, giving in brief outline
form all the essential facts of parts one and two.
