psicólogo clínico
/bsikoloɡo kliniko/from spelling rules
The English phrase "clinical psychologist" is translated into Spanish as psicólogo clínico.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of two direct cognates: psicólogo, which means psychologist and clínico, which means clinical.
How does it change in a sentence?
Spanish requires gender and number agreement for this phrase. If the psychologist is female, use the feminine form psicóloga clínica. To refer to multiple clinical psychologists, both the noun and the adjective must take the plural ending, resulting in psicólogos clínicos.
Did you know?
- The word clínico shares its DNA with the Greek word for 'bed', specifically klínē, which refers to the place where a patient lies. This ancient connection explains why the term implies direct physical or observational contact with a patient.
- While English uses 'clinical' to describe the setting, in Spanish, the term clínico can also describe an extremely obvious or 'textbook' symptom. A doctor might describe a case as being clínicamente evidente if the signs are unmistakable.
- In many Spanish-speaking healthcare systems, the term psicólogo clínico specifically denotes a professional with a university degree and a specialized residency, rather than just someone who studies psychology. This distinction is strictly regulated by professional colleges.
Examples in context
- Necesito visitar a un psicólogo clínicoI need to visit a clinical psychologist
- Necesito hablar con un psicólogo clínico.I need to talk to a clinical psychologist.
Example conversation
Alejandro and Lucía are discussing a health recommendation.
- AlejandroLucía, ¿conoces a un buen psicólogo clínico?Lucía, do you know a good clinical psychologist?
- LucíaSí, Alejandro, yo voy a uno muy bueno.Yes, Alejandro, I go to a very good one.
- AlejandroMe vendría bien el contacto de ese psicólogo clínico.The contact for that clinical psychologist would be helpful for me.
- LucíaTe mando su número por mensaje ahora mismo.I will send you his number by message right now.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries clínico, psicólogo, CC BY-SA 4.0.
