Psychology And the Department of Veterans Affairs A Historical Anaysis of Training, Research, Practice, and Advocacy

Psychology and the Department of Veterans Affairs is a historical resource volume that shows how the government's role in caring for war veterans shaped the science and professions of psychology. The VA led the country in establishing credentials for the practice of psychology. Large-scale employment of clinical and counseling psychologists in the VA led to the emergence of psychologists as health-care practitioners in this country. Psychologists had significant leadership roles in the VA's innovative, multi-site cooperative research studies, and pioneered health care research in such areas as psychopharmacology, gerontology, and tuberculosis. Their work was important in the shift toward a behaviorally driven diagnostic manual, the DSM-III. VA psychologists also helped establish a number of trends for mental health services in the country, including group therapy, compensated work therapy, and other rehabilitation programs. This book also tells how VA psychologists formed advocacy networks among themselves and with the American Psychological Association and Congress. It is another narrative thread of the story of the reciprocal influence of psychology and government that was begun in Psychology and the National Institute of Mental Health (APA, 2005). Target readers for this book include psychologists who work in health care fields or have connections with the VA, and others interested in the history of psychology and post-war American life.Baker, Rodney R. is the author of 'Psychology And the Department of Veterans Affairs A Historical Anaysis of Training, Research, Practice, and Advocacy', published 2006 under ISBN 9781591474531 and ISBN 1591474531.