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More About Psychology

Psychology is the scientific study of human mind and behaviour: how we think, how we act, react and interact individually and in groups. Psychology is concerned with all aspects of behaviour and the thoughts, feelings and motivations underlying such behaviour.

We need psychology because many of the problems faced by the modern world are rooted in human behaviour, so psychological knowledge can help us to find solutions. There is increasing recognition that mental health has an impact on physical health, and that psychological insights can help us in our personal and professional relationships and activities.

In a sense, you may think you are already an amateur psychologist or know about psychology. We are all interested in what makes people tick and how this understanding can help us to solve major problems in society. If you tell your friends you are interested in psychology, common reactions might be 'well can you tell what I'm thinking then?' or 'Psychology? That's all just common sense isn't it?'

But psychology is actually based in science and psychologists learn the scientific basis of human behaviour by observing, measuring, testing, and using statistics to show that what they find is reliable evidence and not just down to chance. Think of any question about how and why humans do the things they do, and the chances are that a psychologist somewhere will be researching it to find the scientific answer and further our understanding.

The scientific knowledge gained by this research is then used by applied/practising psychologists (those dealing with clients) and other professionals in almost every setting. Practising psychologists help people with difficulties and bring about change for the better.

Psychologists work all around you. Clinical, neuro-, counselling, health, educational, occupational and forensic are all different types of psychologists. They are concerned with practical problems such as:

• Helping people overcome depression, stress, trauma or phobias
• Easing the effect of parental divorce on children
• Speeding up recovery from brain injury
• Helping to stop or prevent bullying at school or in the workplace
• Ensuring that school pupils and students are being taught in the most effective way
• Making sure that people are happy at work and perform to the best of their abilities
  
• Helping the police, courts and prison service to perform more effectively
• Helping athletes to perform better