How do I choose my approach to psychology?

Doubts about the choice of theoretical approach in psychology are frequent. Like any choice, we can choose on impulse or consciously and with reflection. The purpose of this text is to help in choosing the latter type. To do so, it makes it easier if we make an analogy. Imagine for a few moments that your cell phone is broken and you need to buy a new one. How to choose the best?

One strategy is to ask friends which cell phone they recommend and why. Another possibility is to research the technical specifications in depth or choose by status (the most expensive) or convenience (the cheapest, easiest or most accessible).

However, as we know, there is the paradox of choice: the more options, the harder it is to choose. I know that analogy is just an analogy, but as an image it can help us explain this process of choice.

Many psychology students feel that there is a grain of truth in each theory and therefore cannot decide. Others end up empathizing with teachers and defending an approach each period. While still others go by agreement with their closest group of friends.

How to choose?

As we are talking here about theories, therefore about thoughts, I think that the ideal is to know at least the basics of each movement. And since we don’t always have professors of each approach in colleges, the easiest way is to look for the main books by the main authors. Especially those who started to develop each theory.

If we draw the distinction in 3 major forces, we would have Freud in psychoanalysis, Skinner in behavioral psychology and Rogers in humanistic psychology (or Maslow). This division is merely didactic but helps to separate into large groups. Psychoanalysis works with the fundamental concept of the unconscious, behavioral psychology with behavior and humanistic psychology with acceptance and self-realization.

So we can choose maybe The Introductory Lectures by Freud, On behaviorism by Skinner and Becoming a Person by Rogers.

The idea is to calmly read each of these books – there are also other equally interesting ones – to capture the essentials and see what differentiates one approach from the other.

See also –

Dream Interpretation Course

Evidently, even with this distinction roughly speaking of 3 great forces, we can expand to other authors within each one:

1) Psychoanalysis: Jung, Adler, Lacan, Klein, Bion –

(Ebook Psychoanalysis Course and Ebook Jung’s Analytical Psychology Course)

2) Behavioral: Watson, Pavlov, Thorndike, Aaron and Judith Beck (cognitive) and even the third wave of Mindfulness

Verbal Behavior Course and Skinner Educational Psychology Course

Cognitive Psychology of Depression and Cognitive Psychology of Anxiety

3) Humanist (and existential and phenomenology) – Maslow, Sartre, Heidegger to positive psychology

One issue to think about is that one author “pulls” another and, in our studies, it is easy to tend to go back to Plato. Therefore, a recommendation I learned from the great Gaiarsa was to take one of these authors a year. For example, take Skinner’s works this year, Rogers’ works next year, etc.

One author per year

One year is a reasonable amount of time and you can study more than one work. It also has the advantage of conducting our studies ourselves and being able to “dialogue” with the texts, regardless of the idea of ​​teachers or colleagues.

These days I saw a joke on a psychology fanpage, which said:
– “What about Freud’s books?”
– I haven’t read it.

And everyone was laughing. In my opinion, this kind of prejudice against other approaches is incredibly silly and counterproductive. I even commented that Skinner read Freud, as he also read Jung. (The page was from the behavioral approach).

Conclusion

After reading at least a little of each approach, we will be able to choose with more awareness and reflection. We will know the reasons for agreeing and disagreeing and we will also know what we can call affinity. Each of us will certainly have more affinity with a way of thinking. The crux of the matter is that there is no way to find out by hearsay. When another person or professor explains a theory it is like an indirect quote as well as a selection of excerpts. There is nothing better than knowing first-hand (which is why an author-creator is also better than a commentator, an introductory book).

Going back to the cell phone analogy, it would be like having a cell phone for a year. It’s a direct experience. You will know how it is, how it works, what could be maybe better, etc.

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