What Is A Psychologist? This Is What Makes It Useful
Psychology is a field full of myths, perhaps in part because of how broad this field of knowledge and intervention is. That is why, despite the fact that there is a lot of talk about this type of professionals, many people still They are not clear about what a psychologist is This is an area of work that some relate to cruel experiments, others to dream interpretation sessions, and others even to almost shamanic rituals.
However, today the work of psychologists has nothing to do with that. Gone are the times when therapy sessions in Psychology were based on the “talking cure” proposed by Freud’s followers, and, despite the influences of postmodern relativism, ancestral rituals have never become part of this science.
Below we will review the question of what psychologists are and what they do, going through the fundamental characteristics of this profession.
Psychologists and the relationship with mental health
The figure of the psychologist is usually associated with mental health and with the fact of receiving people with disorders such as depression, bipolarity, etc. in their consultation. This can make their work is confused with that of psychiatrists However, psychology enhances health through programs that are ultimately forms of training or sophisticated education.
For example, a person with depression is helped to go through the phases of their disorder by mitigating the negative effects of this phenomenon, a person with a phobia is taught to reduce the level of fear and anxiety felt, etc. From psychiatry, on the other hand, it is about influencing the body in a more direct way, modifying it physically or chemically.
It is clear that this is not the only difference between psychologists and psychiatrists, but it is one that helps capture the essence of these teachers. On the other hand, it should be noted that Mental health is just one of many areas in which Psychology works.
Research on broad topics
What does Psychology study? If we had to look for a summarized version of the answer to this question, it would be “human behavior”, understanding thoughts and emotions as behavior, not just physical movements. However, there are also many psychologists who are in charge of studying the behavior of non-human animals, and even some who study some in order to better understand others.
The relationship with the unconscious
Current Psychology does not work with the Freudian conception of the unconscious in the human mind, since it rejects the idea that the mind can be divided into entities with their own agenda of interests. Instead, it works assuming that in mental processes non-consciousness is normal (just as it is in other animal species) and that consciousness only takes center stage for some things in our lives, what we focus our attention on in each case. moment.
Psychologists are not counselors or witches.
Psychology is not a profession characterized by giving advice, but, as we have already seen, trains and educates in adaptive ways of facing challenges, and not in concrete ways of acting against them. For example, they help manage the stress produced by participating in a professional promotion program, but they do not indicate at all times how to act to maximize the chances of earning the boss’s favor.
Likewise, they do not make important life decisions for their client based on their “wisdom” or anything like that. The big decisions must be made by oneself.
It is not just biology that intervenes.
Psychologists do not try to detect a broken “part” in their patients’ minds, in the same way that a mechanic would with his car. Instead, they observe their behavioral habits and their way of relating to the outside world to detect relationships that, due to their content or the way in which they occur, generate a source of social or psychological problems.
For example, a person who tends to believe that everything bad that happens to them is their fault alone has an unhealthy pattern of relationships that they intervene on. The problem is the dynamic that is established between you and the external world, and not a specific part of your brain.
Although parts of your nervous system may act abnormally, this is the result of the habits you are accustomed to, it does not have to be the cause. Thus, psychologists They tend to act from events to biology, and not the other way around
