Viewing Disability Through Differing Lenses: Medical,Political,and Psychological

Abstract

This article was originally presented as part of a symposium conducted during the annual convention of the American Psychological Association in Toronto, Ontario, on August 8, 2003. The symposium, sponsored by the Board of Affairs of Psychology in the Public Interest, was titled “The Over-Medicalization of Psychology.” Whereas this article explores disability issues, other presentations examined effects of an excess emphasis on medical approaches to psychology practice on women, elders, ethnic minorities, and sexual or gender-identification minorities. The focus of concern was the current controversy surrounding psychologists seeking authority to prescribe biological treatments for psychological symptoms rather than continuing to use and develop less invasive psychological, social, and behavioral approaches.