Introductory Chapter: New Directions in the Study of Psychopathology

Abstract

This volume appears at an especially propitious time for psychiatry, clinical psychology, social work, and all the systematic attempts to ameliorate the morbidity and the mortality that is associated with abnormal function of the mind. One can say with conviction that many of the assumptions held by mental health professions for the last half century have come to be challenged and may prove to be false. What do I mean by this?