In this volumethe many concerns of the growing field of clinical psychology examining its more traditional as well as emergent interests from a broad conceptual and historical perspective. Just as one knows an individual life better through knowledge of its developmental history so the evolution of our field becomes clearer if viewed against the movement of ideas and events-in psychology generally in the mental health fields and in the larger society. Particularly in Parts rand 2 but throughout the volume as well I have- tried to present philosophical. theoretical and historical contexts for understanding current trends in clinical psychology. The psychological clinician is motivated bv the clinical attitude the desire to understand people in order to help them. It is this emphasis on knowledge to reduce human suffering that most clearly distinguishes clinical psychology from other psychological fields even those as close as the psychology of personalily and psychopathology which attempt to discover the nature of personality functioning and disorder in general terms . In this volume therefore emphasis is on the concepts and methods of intervention-the things clinicians do to help people in psychological distress .. Broadly these fall into three major groups defined by three parts of the books.
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