What Can Clinical Psychology Learn From Cultural Psychology: A Series Of Case Studies Examining Distress Diagnosis And Therapy

Abstract

While clinical psychology offers valuable insights into mental suffering, its reliance on universal laws often obscures the cultural constitution of psychological life. This thesis argues that integrating cultural psychology is essential for understanding how society, history, and ideology shape experience. By challenging the assumption of an unchanging human nature, this work reintroduces humanities-based interpretive knowledge to the field.

Three case studies illustrate this approach. First, a qualitative study of the COVID lockdown reveals how semiotic narrative structures shaped the experience of distress and time. Second, an analysis of therapeutic apps suggests that digitizing 'care' renders it convenient yet mechanistic, often alienating users. Third, adult ADHD is re-examined as a socio-cultural niche, exploring how the diagnosis mediates social arrangements and expectations beyond a simple neurological deficit model.

The findings highlight clinical psychology's blind spots, particularly its susceptibility to Western values like neoliberalism and individualism. The thesis concludes that a more critical clinical practice must look outward, ensuring formulations and interventions account for the cultural discourses that shape them.