The more complex and many-sided life, the greater interest we show in our inner world, trying to understand and cognize its entire depth, patterns of personality development and formation, and ways of interacting with the environment, so that our life is more harmonious and successful. Perhaps that is why the interest in psychology as a science of man, his personality traits, not only does not subside, but, on the contrary, is constantly growing. What is psychology? What kind of science is this, trying to unravel the mystery of the human soul?
Studying psychology, some people try to learn more about themselves in this way, while others, having assumed the role of “healers of the soul”, try to master the methods and techniques of influencing a person to help him understand his life problems. But to perform these complex tasks, deep knowledge, constant and methodical research of mechanisms of behavior, the development of scientific methods for understanding the inner world of a person and incentives for his development and improvement are necessary. What is psychology? This is an extensive theoretical base accumulated over many years of experimental research and empirical observations, which are described, systematized and generalized by psychologists from various schools and areas. Psychology is also practical activity: a psychologist-practitioner in a consultation room tries to help people with problems of social, intellectual and emotional plans with his advice. In addition, practical psychologists are increasingly present in enterprises and schools, where they participate in the organization of labor, pedagogical and managerial activities. These specialists use the accumulated and generalized theoretical knowledge, identifying in practice and in direct interaction with people their weaknesses.
When answering the question of what practical psychology is, it is necessary to single out and describe all the applied areas of this science.
The clinical psychologist works with people experiencing various phobias, neurotic conditions, anxiety, which interfere with them in normal everyday life. Through conversations and psychological techniques, the specialist identifies these problems in order to choose the right psychotherapy.
The main task of the counseling psychologist is to help people in interpersonal relationships, family, group, and in conflict situations. These specialists work in schools and enterprises, in crisis centers help people who find themselves in difficult life situations. Consulting psychologists are very much in demand in the legal field, helping with the disclosure of crimes, in advocacy, when working with prisoners.
Military psychology pays attention to improving command methods and strengthening group relationships. A special place here is occupied by studies related to post-traumatic syndrome - the severe psychological state of persons who participated in hostilities.
Sports psychology makes recommendations to athletes, helping them achieve high results in sports. After all, it is known that not only good physical preparation, but also a certain psychological attitude is very important for the victory of an athlete.
Another important branch of practical psychology is the psychology of advertising. Its main tasks are to help advertising specialists create the most effective mechanisms for promoting and selling goods and services on the market, where the psychology of the perception of color, form, sounds plays a very important role.
There are many applied areas of psychology. The more dynamically a society develops, the wider the field of psychological activity becomes. But besides applied, there is still a significant number of theoretical areas of science, each of which has its own methods of comprehension and study of personality and society, its own theoretical base and its own special view of human behavior models . The most basic of them are behaviorism, psychoanalysis, gestalt psychology, cognitive, existential and humanistic psychology , etc. So what is psychology? It is rather difficult to answer this question, because a simple definition hides a very vast layer of activity of people trying to understand themselves and the world around them.