Psychology has always been at the center of a hurricane of debate and discussions The different theories and hypotheses that have emerged from it directly challenge us as human beings, and that is why, in many of the topics it deals with, it is difficult not to convert certain personal beliefs and feelings into an intellectual position.
For example, when Sigmund Freud proposed his first theories on psychoanalysis, the controversy that arose due to his pessimistic and brutalized vision of the human being was such that he went so far as to say: “Progress exists, since in the Middle Ages I would have been burned.” and now it is enough for them to burn my books.”
This constant friction and clash of points of view about how we behave, act and feel, added to the fact that there is not and never has been a unified theory of psychology, makes some wonder… Is psychology really useful? Do psychologists provide added value, or do we only dedicate ourselves to arguing among ourselves about theories that do not have their feet on the ground?
Psychology is not only useful, but in fact it is so useful that its domains are increasingly expanding. If at first it began as basically a discipline of mental health and the study of perception, today the implications of research in this scientific area affect disciplines as diverse as economics, marketing, education, design, sociology or the neurosciences.
Psychologists have the virtue of being at a crossroads between biology and social sciences applied to all facets of our lives, and therefore address all types of aspects of behavior and mental processes (emotional and cognitive) of the human being. And they do so both by bringing these sciences and disciplines into contact with each other and by providing their own psychological theories.
Changing the perception of human beings
An example of how effective psychology is is research in cognitive science, thanks to which we know more about how we make decisions and make plans. This field of research, closely related to behavioral economics, tells us about to what extent we allow ourselves to be carried away by mental shortcuts when choosing options and how we disguise our perception of this fact by justifying our actions with false rational arguments about why we have acted this way.
In the same way, psychological phenomena as curious as the Dunning-Kruger Effect reveal that we survive despite having a very unrealistic vision about what we know: the most ignorant people on a subject overestimate their competencies, while the wisest people on a certain subject field of knowledge undervalues their capabilities.
Another valuable piece of knowledge that we have thanks to psychology is, for example, the way in which we modify our perceptions so that they fit our beliefs in the best possible way. This process, described by the theory of cognitive dissonance, reveals that we are not the objective observers and experiencers of reality that we take for granted… and knowing this helps us not let our guard down in moments when someone tells us. can offer a comforting lie that overshadows an uncomfortable but empowering truth.
Small pieces of knowledge of this type, which have to do specifically with psychology and not so much with neuroscience, Not only do they break the common sense of what we are supposed to be, but they also help us understand How we can play our cards to live life as we would like to.
And clinical psychology?
Another “front” from which psychology receives some criticism is the field of mental health.
On the one hand, psychotherapeutic approaches that arise from this branch of psychology are sometimes accused of ineffectiveness, and this is often due to the ignorance of assuming that non-scientific proposals such as family constellations or Freudian psychoanalysis have a guarantee of effectiveness “bought and advertised” by psychologists.
This is not the case: the forms of psychotherapy and treatment tools that have empirical support are not all those offered under the umbrella of the word “psychology” and, in fact, they are rejected by colleges of psychologists.
The truth is Psychology does have tools that have proven effective such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, biofeedback or Mindfulness, each of them for certain types of mental problems and disorders.
The accusations that psychology reduces people to stigmatizing labels are also unfounded: the denunciation of this type of use of diagnostic categories is perfectly compatible with psychology. A diagnosis is not a word that attempts to absorb the entire identity of a human being, it is simply a tool with which to work. Mental disorders are not adjectives, nor is clinical psychology intended for them to be.
So that, valuable criticisms of psychology in general which are perfectly legitimate, will be useful as long as they do not come from a straw man and knowledge fallacy.
As in any science, all the beliefs and theories from which this discipline is based are questionable… but this does not imply accusing psychology as a whole as ineffective, because it is It is neither monolithic nor does it contain fundamental dogmas It is not a religion that depends on a single presupposition that must be believed at face value. It is just a colossal and coordinated effort to build tools and theories that are useful.
