Classical directions of psychology and modern

Psychology is the science of the soul. With her help, we can analyze human behavior, adjust the internal state, determine the areas in which the individual can better be realized, and much more.

The multiple directions of psychology that exist today were formed over time and emerged as necessary: when specialists encountered a complex problem that could not be solved with the help of available methods, they were forced to apply new approaches that, after being effective, later became separate branches .

In this article, we will determine the main ones, as well as those that have emerged relatively recently.

Basic directions in psychology

Initially, psychology is divided into two types: fundamental (theoretical, basic) and applied (practical). They are interrelated: practical psychology "pushes" the theorists to what needs to be studied, and they, in turn, supply information to practitioners so that they can apply the developed systems. Therefore, these two industries are equivalent and equally important.

Fundamental knowledge of psychology is grouped in the branch of general psychology. Here the subject of research is the general mental processes , regardless of in which area of life they manifest themselves.

The application branch deals with issues that are limited by the nature of people's activities or different situations, social status, age and other parameters. It is aimed at practically improving a certain area: for example, family psychology, rehabilitation, etc.

The subjects of studying general psychology:

• Personality and its characteristics (general);
• Sensation;
• perception;
• thinking;
• memory;
• imagination;
• will;
• Temperament and character.

Subjects of Applied Psychology Studies

• Educational sphere (behavior and self-perception of students, educators, teachers, etc.);
• Labor;
• Medical;
• Administrative.

Here we see such areas of psychology as: pedagogical psychology, labor, engineering, management psychology, legal, age and medical.

Pedagogical and age psychology are interrelated. Depending on the age of the child, assistance is provided to adapt it to the society and the ability to successfully master knowledge is adjusted. Support is also provided for adults who need training: the psychologist assesses their characteristics and abilities, and, taking this into account, gives advice on how to teach and increase the effectiveness of mastering new knowledge.

Among the applied branches of psychology, psychodiagnostics is also distinguished, which deals with the study of the data on the psyche of children and adults. Among the methods the most popular is the psychological test, which consists either of questions, or requires the patient to draw a picture, choose a color, and so on.

Medical psychology borders on psychiatry, since the object of its study is the borderline states of patients, where the transition from a psychological problem to a mental illness takes place. This is a very important area of the psychologist's work, since it depends on him whether the human condition will remain within the norm or grow into a pathology that requires medical treatment already at the psychiatrist.

The main directions of modern psychology

The 20th century was a very important stage in the development of psychology, as it opened to the world genius people who made a great contribution to psychology as a science, by revealing new methods and ways of studying the individual and working with him. Among them, a lot of unusual views on the classic understanding of the individual, which uses the same atypical methods of adjusting psychological characteristics.

Such areas of psychology as psychoanalysis, coaching, logotherapy, psychodrama, cognitive psychology and NLP in the modern world are quite common, and, most importantly, are recognized as effective. Each method is the key to a particular person and the way to resolve the situation, so it is very important to determine which of the listed methods can have the greatest impact on the patient.

Psychoanalysis was introduced by Sigmund Freud and is aimed at studying the dynamics of libido, from which, in the opinion of the founder of the direction, the structure of the psyche and the basic behavioral features of man depend. Also this section of psychology is characterized by an accentuated attention to the childhood of man, when the basic models and stereotypes, ideas about life and the world are laid.

Then the ideas set forth by Z. Freud were continued by Carl Jung, making some adjustments. He expanded the field of psychoanalysis by adding to the individual unconscious the collective unconscious. Here he introduces the concept of archetypes - the primordial images that are present in the personality of each, but to varying degrees manifested. To study his own psyche, Jung proposed to pay attention to dreams in which through the images the person's personality and his true desires and emotions are manifested.

Such areas of psychology as psychodrama and logotherapy are not so common now as other modern branches. In psychodrama, there is an exchange of experience between the participants of the group with the participation of physical actions, which are aimed at revealing the personality and its creative potential. Logotherapy suggests finding the meaning of life, after which a person can solve all his psychological problems. However, the meaning of life should be achievable so that there is no frustration. The main method of logotherapy is Socratic dialogue, which is effective for neuroses, phobias and depression.

Thus, there are a lot of psychological methods and directions, and today one can not speak in psychology as a single and integral science, rather, it is a set of branches and systems of psychological knowledge.