Introduction

The Clinical Psychology Unit, GC University Lahore was set up in 2005 in order to develop a comprehensive training program for professional Clinical Psychologists in Pakistan and expand the role of Clinical Psychology to deal with a wide range of problems of the individual as well as the community at large. The Unit endeavours to raise the standard of training of Clinical Psychologists in Pakistan to international levels, enhance the standing of Clinical Psychology as an independent professional discipline, to meet the growing needs and changing demands of the community at large, and direct research towards developing an empirical knowledge base of indigenous Clinical Psychology in Pakistan.

The Clinical Psychology Unit endeavours to raise the standard of training of Clinical Psychologists in Pakistan to international levels, enhance the standing of Clinical Psychology as an independent professional discipline, to meet the growing needs and changing demands of the community at large, and direct research towards developing an empirical knowledge base of indigenous clinical psychology in Pakistan.

The training philosophy of the unit posits that the Clinical Psychologist is a scientist, and reflective practitioner who explores critically each perspective and uses the most pertinent approach in a creative way to understand and solve human problems. The theoretical approach of the unit is integrative and not biased towards any particular orientation. The trainees are viewed as adult learners and are encouraged to set their own learning goals, objectives and specialized skills.

The main objective of the programme is to train clinical psychologists in the following ways which will enable them:

• Help them acquire scientific knowledge and professional expertise in dealing with a full range of psychological problems and psychiatric disorders commonly found in children, adults, special groups as well as those normally living in the community.
• Take on, manage and help individual and group cases and provide appropriate clinical assessment and therapy.
• Be able to undertake a research project in the clinical area that would add to our knowledge of clinical psychology as applied to our culture.
• Develop and maintain a professional attitude towards colleagues, students and staff with dignity, loyalty, commitment and subscribe to professional code of ethics.
• Raise the standard of training to international levels.