Mission

The broad mission of the Academy is to advance clinical science, which is defined as a psychological science directed at the promotion of adaptive functioning; at the assessment, understanding, amelioration, and prevention of human problems in behavior, affect, cognition or health; and at the application of knowledge in ways consistent with scientific evidence. The Academy’s emphasis on the term “science” underscores its commitment to empirical approaches to evaluating the validity and utility of testable hypotheses, as well as to advancing knowledge via the scientific method. The Academy is committed to social justice and recognizes that systemic inequities and racism have gone unaddressed for too long, and that diversity and inclusiveness are necessary for a robust and valid psychological clinical science.

Psychological clinical scientists can be found working in many settings, including as professors, university and college instructors, and active researchers, as program evaluators, as leaders of community-based mental health programs, and in direct service roles that involve training and clinical intervention. The Academy sees the development and application of clinical science as ongoing and dynamic processes. We are committed to advancing clinical science training in all its forms. Toward this end, our work is guided by five specific goals:

1. Training: To foster the training of students for careers in psychological clinical science in which they skillfully produce and apply scientific knowledge.
2. Research and Theory: To advance the full range of clinical science research and theory, as well as the integration of psychological clinical science with other relevant sciences.
3. Resources and Opportunities: To foster the development of, and access to, resources and opportunities for training, research, funding, and careers in clinical science.
4. Application: To foster the broad application of clinical science to human problems in responsible and innovative ways.
5. Dissemination: To foster the timely dissemination of clinical science to policy-making groups, psychologists and other scientists, practitioners, and consumers.

A more complete discussion of the clinical science training model and its relation to other models of training can be found in a chapter, Clinical Science Model by Richard McFall, Teresa Treat, and Robert Simons (2015). This chapter appeared in The Encyclopedia of Clinical Psychology (edited by Robin Cautin and Scott Lilienfeld).