Three Things Everyone Should Know About Psychology
by: mike morse, 1/7/2021
5/18/2021 Author Note: At the time of writing this, my goal for the piece was to bring awareness to the real history of modern American psychology and to also dispel myths surrounding attending counseling or therapy. Although I understood that therapy is not an easily accessible option to many people, I hoped to encourage readers to understand the importance of mental and emotional processing work. After spending some time learning and reflecting about psychology as a whole, I have come to understand that the harm done by the psychiatry and psychology communities to people cannot be undone by working within its current framework. Abolition of the current psychology and psychiatry complexes is necessary for true neurodivergent liberation.
My dream job has always been to be a therapist, however the world of psychology and counseling seems to be largely misunderstood by the general public. This piece is meant to bring into context the history of the modern field of psychology, as well as to express my belief that everyone should have a therapist. Just like a primary care provider, I think everyone should have a mental health provider that they check in with, even if it’s just once or twice a year. Unfortunately mental health care remains to be inaccessible to many people, and generally under prioritized in the health industry. Ideally, psychology should be focused on bettering all people, and can be centered through community support. In order to do this, it’s necessary to understand the psychological complex that has come to be today.
1. The History of Psychology as a Field Is Racist.
The modern Western field of psychology can be traced back to the 1870’s, when it differentiated from philosophical fields. As the first self-proclaimed psychologist, William Wundt often receives credit for starting the first experimental psychological research lab in Germany. Less than 10 years later, practical and pedagogical psychology was introduced to the United States by racial eugenicist Stanley Hall. Hall was a strong proponent of the ‘child race theory’, which suggested that white Europeans were innately biologically and evolutionarily superior to ‘child races’, specifically Black people, who he saw as young, foolish, and “not at fault” for their ancestors’ “savagery”. Simultaneously, Samuel Cartwright, a scholar from the sister field of psychiatry, was creating fictitious mental disorders (such as draeptomania and dysaesthesia aethiopica) to argue in favor of slavery, suggesting enslaved people who desired freedom were mentally ill for trying to escape the “structure and hardwork” they “benefited” from. These scholars laid the framework for the next 150 years of psychological study. Hall also argued that boys and girls needed to be separated during their education, or they would not be able to fully embody their true gender. He supported selective breeding and forced sterilization of those deemed mentally disabled or unfit to raise children. Although white supremacy had already been in the making for centuries, largely due to systems of colonization and slavery, Hall was a pivotal figure in the development of scientific academic racism, not exclusively in the psychological field, at the turn of the century. Since these views were widely accepted at the time, and he had received a prestigious religious education, Hall was a good candidate to become the first president of the American Psychological Association (APA), which is now the leading professional psychological organization in America. He also created multiple well known psychological science journals (including Journal of Psychology, Journal of Genetic Psychology, and Journal of Race Development) (Robert Vitalis, White World Order, Black Power Politics, p. 50–51).
While racist psychological practices were growing in the United States and Germany, psychoanalysis thrived in Austria as Sigmund Freud, a trained neurologist, studied and practiced independently, adopting a less empirical form of psychological science. Psychoanalysis challenged the biological basis that had fueled the psychological research field since it’s inception by suggesting the existence of differentiated consciousness, and therefore theorized an active ‘mind’. Although many of Freud’s beliefs have been criticized since (for example his theories of psychosexual development in children), psychoanalysis allowed for a more social, rather than biological, approach to psychology. Simultaneously, the concepts of behaviorism (the psychological study of human behavior) and cognitive psychology (the study of thoughts) began emerging in America. However, both of these fields were understood as an objective, measurable science, as opposed to a subjective, humanitarian approach. During the early 20th century, psychology had two distinctive directions: empirical research, which was funded by large universities across the country (which were almost entirely attended by white people at the time), and medical psychological treatment (which resulted in a construction boom of mental institutions).
Psychiatric institutions grew rapidly in the United States during the 1800’s, partially as a response to growing nativism during increasing waves of immigration from Europe. Thomas Kirkbride, a Quaker psychiatrist, advocated for the treatment of mentally ill people through mental institutions, and created the ‘Kirkbride Plan’ for construction of state mental institutions throughout the 19th century, which focused on creating institutions specifically built to allow natural light to enter the buildings. 150 years later, these hospitals were overcrowded and underfunded, and by the end of the 20th century were mostly closed and defunded, supposedly with the plan to create community residential mental health care centers instead (a process largely known as deinstitutionalization). Critics have argued regularly that deinstitutionalization in America occurred haphazardly, without effective government oversight, and resulted in increased numbers of houseless and incarcerated people, largely in populations of color. Even in the creation of the community mental health centers, they were largely segregated because of the view that segregation was “medically necessary”.
The third, and most recent, wave of modern psychology (which began after WWII) is often understood as humanitarian psychology. It allows for a more individualized and subjective practice using a biopsychosocial approach. This wave began in the second half of the 20th century and has continued into the 21st century, and it largely has its roots in psychoanalysis. While this more progresssive stage has allowed for more individualistic approaches to mental health treatment, it also led to the creation of the psychiatric Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) (mostly to appease insurance companies after WWII). Currently, the DSM is in its 5th edition; previous editions included outdated diagnoses such as homosexuality and hysteria to name a few. While having a standardized manual can be helpful, it also results in significant misdiagnosis and mistreatment of people with co-morbid (occurring simultaneously) mental health disorders or for those with generic symptoms that fall under diagnostic criteria for multiple disorders. Additionally, the research that was used as a basis of creating the diagnostic manual was mostly done on white, affluent participants, and therefore is not data or findings that should be generalized to the entire American population. However, these research methods were accepted in the 1950’s without significant pushback. Although updated versions of the DSM have tried to correct the racist and homophobic history within the field, it has instead become overly medicalized and ultimately is exclusive of anyone who experiences non-normative mental health symptoms. Even modern psychological research still ignores race and racial biases as social factors that influence individuals’ mental health. While the stigma surrounding discussing mental health may have decreased over the past decades, we cannot ignore the history of the field that currently decides how we care for our mental well-being.
2. No We Can’t Read Your Mind- But We Can Predict Your Behaviors
Everyone seems to think the job of therapists is to read your mind and solve your problems; therapy sessions involve sitting on a couch, looking at inkblot cards, and the psychologist will resolve all mental and emotional turmoil from analyzing how your brain works. In fact, contrary to the popular belief that psychologists focus entirely on the long-lasting effects of the subconscious childhood (a method of psychoanalysis), most therapists and counselors instead aim to enable their clients to increase self-awareness, and in turn help create tools of emotional regulation and improve cognitive self-control. In fact, most trained therapists and counselors are taught to ask questions to provoke self-reflection in order to guide clients to learn their own barriers to personal goals and needs. While some therapy is still very clinically focused (targeting specific mental disorders such as Major Depression Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, etc.,) most modern approaches to counseling are not diagnosis or solution focused at all. Many modern psychologists prefer to take a biopsychosocial approach, recognizing the fact that biological, psychological, social, and cultural influences impact people’s behavioral, cognitive, and emotional regulation. In fact, the end goal for many counselors is that the client won’t need regular long term counseling and instead will be able to learn enough skills to manage hardships that they regularly experience.
Starting therapy sessions often begins with an intake or triage appointment, where the counselor will ask questions to get to know their client better and try to understand the clients’ needs in a therapeutic setting. During this process, psychologists try to learn as much about their clients as possible, taking notes, and making connections between their client’s individual circumstances or barriers and their goals. Although many counselors avoid diagnostic labels in modern practice, they are trained in recognizing psychiatric disorders and symptoms, and they often work on unique symptom management with individuals, as opposed to a strict set of guidelines for treating or curing people with a certain mental illness diagnosis (as is often assumed). Rather than trying to guess what clients are thinking or feeling, psychologists often analyze their client’s experiences to try to proactively prepare for future behaviors and situations. Counselors can also act as coaches- encouraging their clients to learn and better themselves continually. So no, while we can’t read your thoughts, we can learn about you and predict your behaviors.
3. Therapy Is Not One-Size-Fits-All, and In Fact Is Often a Trial-and-Error Process
As I previously mentioned, not all therapy consists of sitting on a couch while psychologists ask questions about people’s childhoods. Today’s APA recognizes 56 unique divisions, each focusing on a different area of study, ranging from consumer psychology to psychological hypnosis to trauma psychology. Even within one division of psychological practice, the Society for Counseling Psychology, for example, you would likely find members that practice dozens of different therapeutic techniques. Because of how vast the field of psychology has become, practitioners often need to specialize, either by practical technique or the population they serve. Therefore, not all therapists will work for everyone, and not even all therapists who claim to specialize in a certain subject will be compatible with all people with specific diagnoses or needs.
Additionally, not all therapists or counselors are set up for the typical psychoanalytic therapeutic approach. Many practicing psychologists at this point aim to limit the number of sessions that clients attend or work in vocational settings, where they are more group or organization focused, as opposed to consulting with individuals. Some therapists may focus more on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) ( learning to control your thoughts and behaviors), while others may focus more on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) (learning to accept your circumstances and adapt to your environment). These are only two of many therapeutic techniques, and even two therapists who use the same form of practice will be very different practitioners. Personally, I have had 5 different therapists throughout the past 10 years due to different mental health needs during different parts of my life. Finding a therapist can feel like a trial and error process sometimes in order to find someone who’s the right fit for you, and I believe changing therapists should be more normalized. With all the different forms of counseling available in these modern times, and the more recent accessibility of virtual sessions, I believe everyone should be able to have a primary mental health provider. It’s essential to work towards decreasing stigma surrounding mental health support and increasing accessibility to care.
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