Holistic psychology to understand behavior

Holism in psychology is a term that suggests that, as a whole, people are much more than the sum of their parts. In this sense, holistic psychology analyzes how all the parts of each person work togethernot being able to dissociate their functions in certain processes.

To understand the reasons that push us to think or behave in a certain way, Holistic psychology is committed to studying the person as a whole, instead of doing it on a single aspect of the problem.

Are many factors that interact and interfere with each other to influence or condition us and this is the aspect that holism rescues to try to understand the course of a case or problem.

A very clear example is found in the brain itself.. We know it contains millions of neurons, but looking at each one separately won’t tell us what the brain as a whole can do.

What is holistic psychology?

Holistic psychology is a psychological approach that addresses emotional conflicts and psychological disorders based on the union between the body, mind and spirit.

In this sense, one of its premises is that The body is affected by the thoughts and emotions we experience, and vice versa. Therefore, it is necessary that we learn to identify and understand our emotional states, in order to manage problems or conflicts in a more decisive way.

According to this current, The most important thing is to identify the origin of our discomfort and suffering and treat it at its roots.. To do this, it is not only necessary to address our conscious mental contents, but also our unconscious ones. Well, the latter usually include traumatic experiences – repressed in childhood and adolescence – which guide our behavior inappropriately and without realizing it.

Thus, Holistic psychology seeks to transform the totality of the self, including all its dimensions: physical, mental and emotional.. Furthermore, it seeks to rescue the authenticity of the individual and help them develop from their base and not from distortion, as it should have been from the beginning.

Applications of holistic psychology

A holistic approach is taken when analyzing how different factors work and interact togetherand how this set can affect the behavior or emotional state of the person.

In this sense, the variables that are managed are very heterogeneous. Including the place and people they live with, their work, their professional and educational background, their social connections, their interaction in groups, their health and their perception of well-being, their neurobiology, among others.

Thus, we find that The observation of the person is not relegated only to the analysis of their symptoms.

That said, holistic psychology is quite useful for the following cases:

Identify the origin of psychic conflicts and attack them at their rootsz.Integrate the dimensions of the self: body, mind and spirit.Enhance personal growth and authentic development of the self.Manage guilt towards other people. This involves holding the individual responsible for her actions and stopping blaming the environment for her problems.Expand self-awarenesswhich makes it possible to adequately address conflicts and, therefore, greater well-being.

Benefits of the holistic approach

Holistic psychology, compared to other more reductionist approaches, has many points that identify it as one of the best approaches to intervention. By incorporating many factors into the study, the chances of finding the source of the problem increase.. The counterpart is that many times, increasing the spectrum of analysis also increases the demand for resources that must be allocated to it.

In any casethis approach helps to find more precise and potentially better solutions, combining intervention at different levels. On many occasions, paying the price of increasing the time of analysis and evaluation, ends up offering much richer interventions that project more stable changes.

When we consider people holistically We can address many of the aspects that influence how a person feels, both mentally, physically and socially. In reality, it’s about taking a step back to see the full photo. It is gaining perspective regarding the knowledge we have of that person.

Additionally, one of the great benefits of holistic psychology is that it does not rely on the patient’s dependence on therapy, but quite the opposite: encourages their independence and decision-making capacity.

The weaknesses of holistic psychology

As in almost all approaches, holistic psychology is also not without some drawbacks. In some types of problems it is advisable to focus on a specific aspect in order to find a solution.

Therefore, holistic psychology can make this precision difficult. Especially when working in research, the variables that are managed must be clearly defined. That is why Holistic psychology is not always compatible with the scientific method.

Holism is a complex approach that can guide the design of evaluations and interventions that are challenging due to their complexity. This can make The holistic approach is difficult to handle in some cases, in the same way that it cannot be applied by many professionals.

Holistic schools of thought

Within psychology and throughout its history we find several schools of thought that have adopted this holistic approach. Among them is Gestalt psychology, which firmly defends that human behavior must be observed as a whole.

Humanistic psychology is another of these schools of holistic thought.. Social psychology also incorporates this holistic approach by considering environmental, social, emotional and group aspects together.

To conclude, we highlight that holistic psychology is especially attractive for its ability to provide solutions where other reductionist approaches do not reach; evaluating how our past has influenced us, how we live our present and how we face the future.

You might be interested…