Clinical Psychology

The field of law and psychology has existed, in some form or another, for almost 100 years. The article presents a brief overview of law and psychology in the last century and shows that there actually have been two movements--one in the first third, and the other in the latter third, of the century. Given these movements, why has the law and psychology movement had so little impact on the law (and, for that matter, on psychology)? Failure to ponder — and answer — this question, may result in the demise of the movement. Given the power of law over individuals and societies, though, the application of psychology to the law is an important and useful way to assess the validity of laws and to ensure that psychological research can influence the law. Although the breakdown of family relationships is devastating for everyone involved, its negative impact on children’s development, emotional well-being and ability to form attachments is particularly profound. Clinical Psychology Associates recognizes that minimizing distress and protecting the interests of children requires a clear understanding of their emotional needs and, where necessary, an evaluation of the suitability of those caring for them. To this end, we undertake comprehensive assessments of the psychological well-being of children and their relationships with the adults involved in their care on behalf of social services departments, parents, guardians and professional careers.

What is the need for marital counseling?

The society has changed in last three decades from people living in a community to each one of us living in a fragmented world limited to him/her-self and alienated from the people around us. Our cities are expanding but at the same time becoming impersonal, resulting in the extinction of emotional and social support systems that were once available. The help that one could get from religious groups, clergy, other members in joint families and smaller but well-knit neighborhoods etc. is no longer available. Time has become more precious than ever before and it is rare for people to sit and listen to someone else's problems. Hence counseling is emerging as a personal support system that makes us feel that we will be personally listened to. All forms of counseling aim to provide or create such an environment for an individual that makes his life more fulfilling and hence more productive and resourceful. Marital Counseling is important as majority of couples are separating and getting divorced as a result of unresolved disputes, so marriage counseling helps in sharing problems of the couples. One of the important aims of marital counseling is to become aware of the surviving satisfactions and strengths. Counseling at The Law Matrix provides each partner in the relationship with a chance of opening up and arising out their views in the most appropriate manner in resolving the issues. Marital counseling helps the couples or the individual to identify and communicate about their fears, desires, beliefs, value, dreams, needs and other issues that one could not discuss it with anyone with the fear of someone disclosing it in public and also people hesitate to open up with such queries.

The following are examples of instructions that have been received by our clinical psychologists:

  • Assessment of the cognitive capacity of a parent to look after her children
  • Assessment to facilitate a care order of the relationship between a child and his maternal grandmother
  • Assessment of the suitability of a residential care service for a young person with emotional and behavioral difficulties
  • Assessment of the impact of a mother’s mental health problems on her children and her long-term suitability to provide care
  • Assessment of a child’s parental relationships following a divorce
  • Assessment of a child’s mental health following prolonged parental abuse, with a view to determining the most appropriate future placements
  • Assessment of the risk posed to her children by a mother following a diagnosis of substance-induced psychosis Provision of expert witness testimony at hearings.
  • Provision of psychological treatment for mental health problems experienced by children and parenting training for parents, guardians and careers.

How can marital counseling help?

Marital counseling can help a couple or a family by:
  • Identifying their needs and desires.
  • Tapping their inherent qualities to improve their inter-personal relationships.
  • Working through grid-locked issues and hence, resolution of problems.
  • Providing support at times of transition or indecision.
  • Offering crisis support systems.
  • Other couple specific remedies and solutions.

Marital discord and divorce rates are on the rise in almost all countries of the world, including the developing nations like India. Marriage is a social institution under which a man and woman establish their decision to live as husband and wife by legal commitments, religious ceremonies, etc. This is the dictionary definition of marriage. Most people enter into the marital relationship with the best of intentions and commitment and believe that it will be a happy, stable and permanent union. No one marries with a divorce plan in hand. The newly-weds start off their lives on a happy and cheerful note, regarding each other with great importance and are supporting and reinforcing each other. But this support may decrease or become defunct over time leading to marital discord and troubled relationship. Somewhere in this spectrum may be present simple lack of intimacy and overall decrease in quality of the marriage without much signs of a discord or dispute. There can be a breach of trust by an extra-marital affair by one of the spouses. The whole institution of marriage appears to come crashing down in such situations. This is where the role of marital therapy comes in. A marital therapist or a counselor will be working with a couple and devising methods to increase intimacy, weeding out the negative elements and hence increasing the quality of marriage. Marital therapy is a form of psychological therapy used to help couples in some form of relationship distress or to those couples who are in a committed relationship/marriage and want to enhance their intimacy. It can be helpful for both individuals and couples and can be applied both Pre-martially and/or after marriage. The best part is that it does not involve the use of medicines. A marital therapist at The Law Matrix will be a person who will tell you the benefits of staying TOGETHER in marriage when you and/or your friends might be of the opinion that all is lost and nothing can be done!

A psychologist is a first choice when we think of counseling. Dr. Chandrani Sen Asst. Professor (Additional Head of Department of Psychology) in The Law Matrix regularly gives counseling and treats couples in marital/pre-marital distress for more than ten years now. She has a great interest and inclination to work with individuals that have relationship problems and hence it will be foremost on her mind to salvage any relationships that she can so as to make life happier for people around her. Asking this positive question and eliciting these positive emotions as answer makes each one of us look inside ourselves and come up with similar feelings. Then we have to build upon those positive feelings and create more shared meanings and goals in the marital relationship. This is, in simple words, what marriage counseling or marital therapy is all about. A marital therapist will identify the strengths of a marriage and guide the couple to make them stronger and try to de-scale whatever negativity may be present.