BOX4-3 Clinical Psychologist Perspective: Scott O. Lilienfeld, Ph.D.Scott O. Lilienfeld is Professor of Psychology at Emory
University in Atlanta, where he has been a faculty
member since 1994. He received his B.A. in psychology
at Cornell University in 1982 and his Ph.D. in psychol-
ogy (clinical) from the University of Minnesota in 1990.
Dr. Lilienfeld is associate editor of theJournal of
Abnormal Psychology, past president of the Society for
a Science of Clinical Psychology, and president-elect of
the Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy. His
primary areas of study are psychopathic personality,
psychiatric classification and diagnosis, evidence-based
clinical practice, and the distinction between science
and pseudoscience in psychology. Dr. Lilienfeld’s work
on psychological science and pseudoscience has been
featured in theNew York Times,Los Angeles Times,
Wall Street Journal,Newsweek,Time,Boston Globe,
Washington Post,USA Today,New Yorker,U.S. News
and World Report, andScientific American. In addition,
he has appeared on ABC’s 20/20, CNN, the CBS Evening
News, and National Public Radio. In 1998, Dr. Lilienfeld
received the David Shakow Award for Outstanding
Early Career Contributions to Clinical Psychology from
APA Division 12, and in 2007 he was elected as a Fellow
of the Association for Psychological Science. He is also a
Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and the
Institute of Science in Medicine, and (along with Dr.
Hal Arkowitz) a regular columnist forScientific Ameri-
can Mindmagazine.
We asked Dr. Lilienfeld about his background,
areas of expertise, and his evaluation of the field of
clinical psychology.What originally got you interested in the field of
clinical psychology?
In junior high school, I came upon a Time-Life book
with a simple title:The Mind. I read it and was imme-
diately hooked; after consuming it, I wanted to learn
everything I could about psychology. I was fascinated
by psychology’s unresolved mysteries: Why do we
dream? Why do we fall in love? Why do we misre-
member many things, yet remember other things so
well? Why do some people develop schizophrenia? But
it was not until my junior year in college, at Cornell
University, that I decided to go into clinical psychology.
Prior to that, I found the study of mental illness to be
utterly fascinating, yet I assumed that most of the field
was rather“mushy”and unscientific. But after I
enrolled in a course on advanced issues in experimental
psychopathology, taught by Bob Dworkin, I came to
realize just how mistaken I was. Dworkin’s course(which in retrospect I wish I had appreciated more at
the time) taught me that one can approach the study
of psychopathology in a methodologically exacting
and rigorous way that allows one to address deeply
important questions about the causes of mental dis-
orders. From that point on, I have always found the
field of clinical psychology to be enormously stimulat-
ing intellectually; as I began to conduct clinical work
as an advanced undergraduate and especially as a
graduate student, I came to find it emotionally fulfill-
ing too.Describe what activities you are involved in as a
clinical psychologist.
I conduct research, with a particular focus on the
assessment and causes of psychopathic personality
(psychopathy) and related personality disorders. I write
both empirical journal articles and conceptual/theoret-
ical articles on such topics as personality disorders,
psychiatric classification and diagnosis, evidence-based
practice in clinical psychology, the distinction between
science and pseudoscience in clinical psychology. I also
do a great deal of writing for the general public,
especially on correcting myths and misconceptions
about psychology. One of my other great passions is
teaching; I teach introductory psychology at the
undergraduate level and personality assessment and
psychiatric interviewing at the graduate level. From
time to time, I also teach an undergraduate seminar on
science and pseudoscience in psychology, which tends
to be a lot of fun. On occasion, I also conduct diag-
nostic interviews of psychiatric patients, partly because
I find it immensely rewarding to help patients, and
partly because I believe that it is important for clinical
psychologists not to lose touch with their subject
matter.What are your particular areas of expertise or interest?
I love clinical psychology, so I’ve always found it chal-
lenging to pick only one or two areas of expertise. But
because there are only 24 hours in the day, I’ve found
it necessary to specialize. My major research focus is
psychopathic personality (psychopathy); in recent
years, I’ve become especially interested in the contro-
versial possibility that psychopathy may be associated
with successful or adaptive functioning in some inter-
personal domains, like leadership or heroism. I main-
tain several active secondary areas of research interest,
including dissociation and dissociative disorders,
psychiatric classification and the concept of mental108 CHAPTER 4