To many people, psychology is synonymous with psychotherapy. As
previous chapters have shown, psychologists are in fact involved in
a huge variety of activities outside of psychotherapy. But it’s also
true that many psychologists do act as therapists and many conduct
research into the effectiveness of therapy. In fact, clinical psychology
is the largest professional grouping in the British Psychological
Society and the second largest – after independent practitioners – in
the American Psychological Association.
More often than not psychotherapy is beneficial. That’s the good news.
The bad news is that it is a highly fragmented field. There are literally
hundreds of different therapeutic approaches, many of them lacking
scientific credibility, and it is still permissible in some countries for
anyone to call themselves a psychotherapist. This makes it difficult to
identify a qualified therapist for specific needs. Also, in many devel-
oping countries there is a dire shortage of mental-health professionals.
In Ghana alone, there are only five psychiatrists for a population of 22
million, and no clinical psychologists working in public health.
Types of therapy
Before the twentieth century, the treatment of people with mental illness
was frequently inhumane. In the Middle Ages, superstition was rife, and
people with mental problems were often considered to be possessed or
guilty of some moral transgression for which they were being punished.
From the early nineteenth century, the situation improved marginally as
hundreds of asylums were built to house “the insane”. Although the idea