Psychology

Probably the best way to approach the issue of schools of psychology is to take the extremes plus one approach that lays somewhere in the middle. For me that would be the psychodynamic school, the behavioral school and the cognitive school.

Knowing that a cognitive approach to psychology emphasizes the "hear and now" approach, the psychodynamic approach is directly opposite. The psychodynamic school is predicated on analyzing the root causes of a dysfunctional behavior and feelings by exploring the unconscious mind in relation to the conscious mind. The essence of the exploration is to determine the motivational factors behind the action and, once, accomplish proceed to manage to problem. Although many counselors or therapists might possibly use psychoanalysis as a short-term therapeutic devise the procedure is generally reserved for long-term therapy situations. The psychoanalytical approach to psychology has its believers as well as opponents. For the believers psychoanalysis is a good science, and for the non-believers it is not a science at all, rather a practice built on the ability of one to see connections between subconscious thought and conscious action. In fact Karl Popper (1977) labeled Freud's approach to psychotherapy as that which explains nothing and everything.

Behavioral psychology focuses on the fact that all learning comes from experience, albeit positive or negative. As such behaviorists believe their primary responsibility is to assist the client in analyzing their behaviors followed by the process of defining the problems brought about by the identified behaviors, and then setting about to resolve the issues through the setting of goals. This procedure is similar to those who don the title of 'cognitive' therapist. Further, like the cognitive therapist, the behaviorist supports a collaborative relationship between counselor and client in the problem-solving arena. Unlike the cognitive therapist the behaviorist follows the position that behavior is changed not by the sole tenet of understanding the exhibited behavior but also through the process of change brought