Psychology is the science of mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand behavior and mental processes by researching and establishing both general principles and specific cases. For many practitioners, one goal of applied psychology is to benefit society. In this field, a professional practitioner or researcher is called a psychologist, and can be classified as a social scientist, behavioral scientist, or cognitive scientist. Psychologists attempt to understand the role of mental functions in individual and social behavior, while also exploring the physiological and neurobiological processes that underlie certain functions and behaviors.
Psychologists explore such concepts as perception, cognition, attention, emotion, phenomenology, motivation, brain functioning, personality, behavior, and interpersonal relationships. Some, especially depth psychologists, also consider the unconscious mind. Psychologists employ empirical methods to infer causal and correlational relationships between psychosocial variables. In addition, or in opposition, to employing empirical and deductive methods, some—especially clinical and counseling psychologists—at times rely upon symbolic interpretation and other inductive techniques. Psychology incorporates research from the social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities, such as philosophy.
While psychological knowledge is often applied to the assessment and treatment of mental health problems, it is also applied to understanding and solving problems in many different spheres of human activity. Although the majority of psychologists are involved in some kind of therapeutic role (clinical, counseling, and school positions); many do scientific research on a wide range of topics related to mental processes and behavior (typically in university psychology departments) and/or teach such knowledge in academic settings; and some are employed in industrial and organizational settings, and in other areas such as human development and aging, sports, health, the media, law, and forensics.
List of Psychological Schools
- Activity-oriented Approach
- Analytical Psychology
- Anti-psychiatry
- Anomalistic Psychology
- Associationism
- Behaviorism
- Behavioural Genetics
- Bioenergetics
- Biological Psychology
- Biopsychosocial Model
- Cognitivism
- Cultural-historical Psychology
- Depth Psychology
- Descriptive Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Ecopsychology
- Ecological Psychology
- Ecological Systems Theory
- Ego Psychology
- Environmental Psychology
- Evolutionary Psychology
- Existential Psychology
- Experimental Analysis of Behavior
- Functionalism
- Gestalt Psychology
- Gestalt Therapy
- Humanistic Psychology
- Individual Psychology
- Industrial Psychology
- Liberation Psychology
- Logotherapy
- Organismic Psychology
- Organizational Psychology
- Phenomenological Psychology
- Process Psychology
- Psychoanalysis
- Psychohistory
- Radical Behaviorism
- Psychology of Self
- Social Psychology
- Strength-based Practice
- Structuralism
- Systems Psychology
- Transactional Analysis
- Transpersonal Psychology
List of Psychotherapies
- Abreaction Therapy
- Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP)
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Adlerian Therapy
- Adventure Therapy
- Analytical Psychology
- Art Therapy
- Attack Therapy
- Attachment-based Psychotherapy
- Attachment-based Therapy (children)
- Attachment Therapy
- Autogenic Training
- Behavioral Activation
- Behavior Modification
- Behavior Therapy
- Biodynamic Psychotherapy
- Bioenergetic Analysis
- Biofeedback
- Body Psychotherapy
- Brief Psychotherapy
- Classical Adlerian Psychotherapy
- Chess Therapy
- Child Psychotherapy
- Client-centered Psychotherapy
- Co-counselling
- Cognitive Analytic Therapy
- Cognitive Therapy
- Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)
- Coherence Therapy
- Collaborative Therapy
- Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT)
- Concentrative Movement Therapy
- Contemplative Psychotherapy
- Contextual Therapy
- Conversational Model
- Conversion Therapy
- Dance Therapy Or Dance Movement Therapy (DMT)
- Depth Psychology
- Daseinsanalysis
- Developmental Needs Meeting Strategy (DNMS)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Drama Therapy
- Dreamwork
- Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP)
- Eclectic Psychotherapy
- Ecological Counseling
- Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)
- Encounter Groups
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Existential Therapy
- Exposure and Response Prevention
- Expressive Therapy
- Family Constellations
- Family Therapy
- Feminist Therapy
- Focusing
- Freudian Psychotherapy
- Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP)
- Future-oriented Therapy
- Gestalt Therapy
- Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy
- Group Analysis
- Group Therapy
- Guided Affective Imagery
- Hakomi
- Holotropic Breathwork
- Holding Therapy
- Humanistic Psychology
- Human Givens
- Hypnotherapy
- Inner Relationship Focusing
- Integrative Body Psychotherapy
- Integral Psychotherapy
- Integrative Psychotherapy
- Intensive Short-term Dynamic Psychotherapy
- Internal Family Systems Model
- Interpersonal Psychoanalysis
- Interpersonal Psychotherapy
- Jungian Psychotherapy
- Logotherapy
- Marriage Counseling
- Milieu Therapy
- Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy
- Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction
- Mentalization-based Treatment
- Method of Levels (MOL)
- Mode Deactivation Therapy (MDT)
- Morita Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Multimodal Therapy
- Multisystemic Therapy
- Multitheoretical Psychotherapy
- Music Therapy
- Narrative Therapy
- Nonviolent Communication
- Nude Psychotherapy
- Object Relations Psychotherapy
- Ontological Hermeneutics
- Orthodox Psychotherapy
- Parent–child Interaction Therapy
- Parent Management Training
- Pastoral Counseling
- Person-centered Therapy
- Play Therapy
- Poetry Therapy
- Positive Psychology
- Positive Psychotherapy
- Postural Integration
- Primal Therapy
- Primal Integration
- Process Oriented Psychology
- Process Psychology
- Progressive Counting (PC)
- Prolonged Exposure Therapy
- Provocative Therapy
- Psychedelic Therapy
- Psychoanalysis
- Psychodrama
- Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
- Psychosynthesis
- Pulsing
- Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)
- Rational Living Therapy (RLT)
- Reality Therapy
- Rebirthing-breathwork
- Recovered-memory Therapy
- Reichian Therapy
- Relational and Compassionate Psychotherapy
- Relationship Counseling
- Relational-cultural Therapy
- Remote Therapy
- Rogerian Psychotherapy
- Sandplay Therapy
- Schema Therapy
- Sensorimotor Psychotherapy
- Sexual Identity Therapy
- Sex Therapy
- Social Therapy
- Solution Focused Brief Therapy
- Somatic Experiencing
- Somatic Psychology
- Status Dynamic Psychotherapy
- Supportive Psychotherapy
- Systematic Desensitization
- Systemic Therapy
- T-groups
- Therapeutic Community
- Thought Field Therapy
- Transactional Analysis
- Transference Focused Psychotherapy
- Transpersonal Psychology
- Transtheoretical Model
- Twelve-step Programs
- Vegetotherapy
- Wilderness Therapy
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