Critical Thinking in Clinical Practice Improving the Quality of Judgments and Decisions

The knowledge and skills of critical thinking, evidence-based practice, problem solving, judgment, and decision making are essential to effectively serve clients in all types of clinical practices. This book teaches clinicians and students how to avoid fallacies and biases in thinking as well as the skills to make well-informed, ethical decisions. Grounded in the belief that clinical decision making is a challenging process that can be improved by honing the skills integral to evidence-based practice, this book explores common sources of error and provides psychologists, counselors, social workers, and allied health professionals practical guidance with decision aids and applications of critical thinking skills to clinical decision making.

Eileen Gambrill is the Hutto Patterson Professor of Child and Family Studies at the School of Social Welfare, University of California, Berkeley, where she teaches both research and practice. Her research and writing cover professional decision making, evidence-informed practice, the role of critical thinking propaganda in the helping professions and its harmful effects, and the ethics of helping. She presents nationally and internationally on the topics of critical thinking, evidence-informed practice, and the ethics of helping.