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From its inception, psychology has sought recognition as a science, but, unfortunately, this is not happening, especially in the clinical arena. It is all too often referred to as "junk science." Eloquent arguments are constantly made defending psychology as different because it is dealing with unknowns, such as the mind and the soul. However, the fact remains that psychology is not progressing well, with extremely poor treatment efficacy rates and with its tenacious clinging to psychological tests that are repeatedly shown to be unreliable and invalid. Thus, psychology is not policing itself. However, change and reformation may be forced on it because the federal courts and 33 state courts have based new laws for more rigorous standards for trial testimony, and it appears that the new laws are aimed at cleansing the courts of "junk science," namely, psychological testimony. This article reviews the changes that thus far few psychologists, lawyers, or even judges know about. However, slowly the new laws will permeate the courts and perhaps exert a strong influence for psychology to adapt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the pyramid model (PM) as a representation of the functioning of the mind. The authors say the PM aims to integrate the four basic responses studied by psychologists, namely behavior, physiology, cognition and affect. They add that the model explains how external events are filtered through the belief system, producing the consequences of the responses. The authors discuss depression triggers, Deepok Chopra's views on thoughts, and the different models and theories of psychology including Ellis and Harper's, and Barlow and Durrand's.

This article explores several issues surrounding the American Psychological Association's accredited doctoral training of clinical psychologists. There is a movement to combat the use of psychiatric drugs with psycho-social treatments. However, as will be examined, such treatments seem to not work well. If there is to be a sincere challenge to the growing use of toxic psychiatric drugs then better psycho-social treatment efficacy rates are critical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores several issues surrounding the American Psychological Association's accredited doctoral training of clinical psychologists. There is a movement to combat the use of psychiatric drugs with psycho-social treatments. However, as will be examined, such treatments seem to not work well. If there is to be a sincere challenge to the growing use of toxic psychiatric drugs then better psycho-social treatment efficacy rates are critical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A universally accepted operational definition for the term "disease" is not yet established in contemporary psychiatry. In clinical psychology and psychiatry, disease has been used indiscriminately. The term disease has been invoked (even when no systemic etiology or pathology has existed) to describe addictions, a cluster of bizarre symptoms, and to justify crude medically based treatments (e.g., electroshock, lobotomy, involuntary commitment, medication prescription). More recently, sophisticated machines such as CAT scans, PET scans, and MRIs have been used for questionable research conducted to try to identify supposed diseases, to justify the overuse of psychotropic drugs. Economic and industry interests have superseded scientific concerns. To establish scientific rigor in psychiatry and clinical psychology research, an operational definition of disease is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]