The Clinical Psychology department at the Central Institute of Psychiatry was established in 1948 and is the oldest independent department of Clinical Psychology in India. Over a period of years the department has gained excellence in the field of teaching, training, research and clinical services.

TEACHING AND TRAINING
Initially, the department was involved in the patient care only; however, later in the year 1962 a teaching course in Clinical Psychology was also started. The course was known as Diploma in Medical and Social Psychology (now known as M.Phil in Medical and Social Psychology). In 1972 Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology was started. At present, each year, 12 M.Phil and 4 Ph.D. seats are filled through an open national level entrance examination. Our faculty includes 1 associate professor, 1 assistant professor, 1 clinical psychologist, 2 assistant psychologists and 1 lab assistant.

CLINICAL SERVICES
The department provides non-pharmacological management for the patients of wide ranging psychiatric problems with the help of psychotherapy, counseling, group meetings, psycho-education, psycho-diagnostic testing, intelligence testing and so forth. Apart from the patients coming to the hospital, the department is also involved in providing services at various extension clinics as well as schools. There is a separate out-patient unit of the department. The out-patient unit either gets referral from the general OPD of the hospital or people can directly come and seek help for their psychological problems. The psychosocial OPD, as it is called, Caters the needs of those patients who suffer from minor psychological problems and who can be below exclusively by psychological methods viz counseling, behaviour therapy or biofeedback or relaxation therapy. Recently we have started an extension clinic for the army in Deepatoli Cantt where the complete team of mental health professionals visits weekly to offer their services to the families of the army personnel.

PSYCHOLOGY LABARATORY
The clinical psychology lab was established for the first time in India in 1949. It has various psychological tests, rating scales, instruments and apparatus which aid in the management of the patients. The lab has these tests designed for use with both children as well as adult population. There are in total 13 equipments and apparatuses, 43 tests for the assessment of cognitive functions, 19 tests for the assessment of personality which includes projective and objective tests and there are 44 various scales. These tests are for use with both child-hood as well as adult population. There are also 66 new tests which the lab has acquired which assess various domains of personality and cognition. We also have very sophisticated biofeedback machine which is used for intervention purposes.

DEPARTMENTAL ACTIVITIES
Apart from management of the patients, the department holds weekly academic exercises in the form of departmental seminars and psychotherapy meetings. Further, regular classes are taken for M.Phil and Ph.D. students as well as for the students of other disciplines such as Psychiatry, Psychiatric Social Work and Nursing.
 
RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
Research is an integral part of the department. Faculty members and the students of the department are involved in research activities on a regular basis. Major focus of the current research is psychological assessment, cognitive neurosciences and psychotherapy. Research papers have been published in various international and national journals.
 
The department is growing every year and is contributing significantly to the field of mental health.