Why Clinical Science Must Change or Die: Integrating Intersectionality and Social Justice

Abstract

Clinical science must begin to embrace the richness and nuance involved in centering social justice, intersectionality, and diversity and creating space for these topics to exist within scholars, clients, clinical work, theory, and research. In this article, we discuss why the field has resisted these frameworks and offer strategies for increasing their integration in training, research, practice, and the field more broadly. This shift will increase diverse scholars in the field, transform the nature and questions asked within our research, the manner in which we conduct clinical interventions, and the relevance of clinical science for the populations we serve.

Keywords:

• Clinical psychology
• diversity
• intersectionality
• social justice
• training

Notes

1 Many clinical psychology doctoral programs, particularly those within research intensive universities, are increasingly pursuing accreditation as clinical science programs via the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS; McFall, 2012). We interchange the terms clinical psychology and clinical science to demonstrate our inclusion of both in this discussion of intersectionality and clinical psychological science.