Reflections on Reductionist Clinical Psychological and Neuroscience Education: Putting the “Me” Back in Mental Disorders

Abstract

The public perception of clinical psychology has been heavily influenced by neuroscientific methods over the past several decades. However, we have seldom stopped to consider to what extent neuroscience can contribute to our understanding of how human psychology-including our experience of our psychological self-operates. This article reviews the progress and weaknesses of an extant psychopharmacological approach to psychological disorders. A psychological model is developed, which positions current neuroscientific research as describing symptoms, rather than causes, of mental disorders. This model relates closely to network theories of psychological disorders, with a strong emphasis on the Pattern Theory of the Self, where disruptions to the psychological self are a central etiological factor in mental disorders. In doing so, this article argues that the philosophical underpinnings of clinical psychological and neuroscientific research should be reconsidered if we intend to develop effective interventions for mental disorders. This article is contextualized in the author's experience of psychological and neuroscientific training, as well as subsequent research experience as a neuroscientist. This article is categorized under: Psychology > Theory and Methods Philosophy > Foundations of Cognitive Science Neuroscience > Clinical.