Neuropsychology, the Patient's Experience, and the Political Forces Within Our Field

Abstract

This article emphasizes the importance of both scientific and phenomenological approaches to the practice of clinical neuropsychology. Paying attention to patients experiences while they receive neuropsychological services is stressed because this aspect is often neglected in the training of clinical neuropsychologists. Finally, the reality of "hostile" forces within the politics of neuropsychology is considered briefly. Neuropsychologists need to consider three major issues that are important to our field and to the National Academy of Neuropsychology. First, neuropsychology is a scientific enterprise that deserves continued efforts at scholarship and clinically relevant research. The second issue concerns how scientific information is applied to patient care and the need for clinical neuropsychologists to understand both personal suffering and empirical data. The third issue is more delicate. It concerns the political forces in our field and my related personal observations.