Elaborate reflections on a simple manifesto

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0962-1849(05)80035-6Get rights and content

Abstract

In an earlier article (McFall, 1991), I urged clinical psychologists to work toward the goal of integrating science and practice and proposed the adoption of a principle and two corollaries aimed at achieving this goal. In general, I argued that all aspects of clinical psychology must be guided by the highest scientific and ethical standards, that clinical practice be limited to empirically supported procedures, and that clinical training be devoted to producing clinical scientists. In the present article, I elaborate and defend these points by offering reflections on a number of submitted questions provoked by the earlier article. I address four major issues: the philosophical foundations for a scientific epistemology, the implications of this epistemology for clinical practice, the implications for clinical training, and the likely impact of adopting this epistemology on the field of clinical psychology.

References (47)

  • BarlowD.H. et al.

    Behavioral treatment of panic disorder

    Behavior Therapy

    (1989)
  • McFallR.M.

    Making psychology incorruptible

    Applied & Preventive Psychology

    (1996)
  • PetersonD.R.

    Making psychology indispensable

    Applied & Preventive Psychology

    (1996)
  • TelchM.J. et al.

    Group cognitive-behavioral treatment of panic disorder

    Behaviour Research and Therapy

    (1993)
  • American Psychological Association

    Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct

    American Psychologist

    (1992)
  • BrownT.A. et al.

    Long-term outcome in cognitive-behavioral treatment of panic disorder: Clinical predictors and alternative strategies for assessment

    Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

    (1995)
  • BermanJ.S. et al.

    Does professional training make a therapist more effective?

    Psychological Bulletin

    (1985)
  • BoorstinD.J.

    The discoverers: A history of man's search to know his world and himself

    (1983)
  • CampbellD.T.

    Reforms as experiments

    American Psychologist

    (1969)
  • CampbellD.T. et al.

    Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for research

    (1963)
  • Chambless D.L. et al.

    Training in and dissemination of empirically validated psychological treatments: Report and recommendations

    The Clinical Psychologist

    (1995)
  • ChamblessD.L. et al.

    An update on empirically validated therapies

    The Clinical Psychologist

    (1996)
  • ClayR.

    Mental health professions vie for position in the next decade

    APA Monitor

    (1998, September)
  • CronbachL.J.

    Beyond the two disciplines of scientific psychology

    American Psychologist

    (1975)
  • FeynmanR.P.

    Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman!

    (1985)
  • GawandeA.

    No mistake. The future of medical care: Machines that act like doctors, and doctors who act like machines

    Newsweek

    (1998, March)
  • GigerenzerG. et al.

    Cognition as intuitive statistics

    (1987)
  • GigerenzerG. et al.

    The empire of chance: How probability changed science and everyday life

    (1989)
  • GroveW.M. et al.

    Comparative efficiency of informal (subjective, impressionistic) and formal (mechanical, algorithmic) prediction procedures: The clinical—statistical controversy

    Psychology, Public Policy, and Law

    (1996)
  • HayesS.C. et al.

    The scientist practitioner: Research and accountability in the age of managed care

    (1999)
  • MaherB.A.

    Stimulus sampling in clinical research: Representative design reviewed

    Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

    (1978)
  • McFallR.M.

    Manifesto for a science of clinical psychology

    The Clinical Psychologist

    (1991)
  • Cited by (0)

    View full text