Source: Dennis Hill, CC 2.0
Of course, clinical psychology has progressed during the last century. Now there's cognitive behavioral therapy, SSRIs and the like, but it's not, pardon the pun, a magic pill.
Advances in clinical psychology are overshadowed by advances in other fields. For example, a century ago a person could be institutionalized for predicting that today people would have in their pocket a device capable of calling anyone for free by video (Skype), watching thousands of techno-wonder movies (NetFlix ) and instantly search much of the world's information (Google.)
Fortunately, recent advances in neuropsychology are laying the groundwork for equally dramatic changes in clinical psychology.
Of course, psychotherapy, counseling and coaching will always be part of the future of clinical psychology. After all, people will still want a professionally trained confidant who can listen, question, educate, and perhaps advise. Furthermore, some mental health problems, even though they are rooted in a person's biology, are triggered and exacerbated by external events and their reactions to them. Only psychotherapy can remedy this.
But these are some of the changes in clinical psychology that research in neuroscience and molecular biology heralds:
Towards the discovery of the fundamental causes of mental illness. Substantial progress has been made in understanding the root causes of mental illness. For example, two genes that regulate glutamate transmission appear to cause major depression. Glutamate transport may also hold the key to repetitive disorders such as OCD, autism, and Tourette syndrome. Poor coordination between synapses can lead to schizophrenia and other psychoses. Intelligence may have its roots in a newly discovered gene pool.
Better and better instrumentation will accelerate progress. For example, it is now possible to measure neural activity in moving animals at the single-cell level. Scanning electron microscopes can detect subatomic particles.
And so? An illness we refer to today as "depression," "anxiety," "schizophrenia," or "autism" will likely be understood as mere generic terms, with molecular and environmental causes specific to the individual. Molecular advances like these pave the way for Individualized Medicine, whether for illnesses of the mind or of the body, for example heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
ethical limits. Ethics debates will continue alongside scientific research. For example, bioethicists are already debating whether augmentation should be allowed, encouraged, or prohibited. For example, if it is possible for gene therapy to increase the likely intelligence of a fertilized egg, should parents have the right to choose that? Do the benefits to the child, parents and society outweigh the responsibilities? Can adequate guarantees be provided? To ensure broad access, should Medicaid, which provides health care to the poor, cover the treatment? There is no doubt that as science advances, new ethical questions will be explored.
Waiting for. While complete cures may only be in development, remember that even today's standard treatments, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, SSRIs, electroconvulsive therapy, and deep brain stimulation, have significantly improved the lives of many people . The fact that clinical psychology is still in its teens offers us another ray of hope: it can temper our pride. There's not much we can do...as of 2016.
Here are the links to the other articles in this series:
The future of relationships
The future of work
The future of education
The best of Marty Nemko is already in its 2nd edition. The career coach, Dr. Marty Nemko, can be reached at mnemko@comcast.net.
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