What is Holistic Psychology?

If Psychology is a fascinating field of knowledge, it is precisely because of the complexity of what it studies: the mind and behavior of people; or, in a more general sense, what the experience of being human consists of. In other words, what is fascinating about the profession of psychologists is the same thing that makes it a challenge in which there is always something new to learn.

Starting from this idea, it is normal that there is not a single way to understand what Psychology is and what it should aspire to, but rather different perspectives from which to approach it. Among them, one stands out that understands psychological well-being as a whole, instead of limiting itself to "putting out fires" by addressing each problem individually: It's about holistic psychology. Let's see what it consists of.

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What is holistic psychology?

To better understand what holistic psychology proposes, it is advisable to first pay attention to the meaning of the term "holism". This refers to an epistemological position (that is, a philosophical approach about how the human being can get to know scientifically aspects of himself and of the reality in which he lives) according to which complex systems in which there are various elements interacting each other

must be studied globally and without focusing solely on analyzing each of its parts separately.

In this sense, holistic psychology is nothing more than the application of holism to the study of human reality, instead of focusing on different psychological phenomena separately. Thus, when studying and trying to understand what is normally considered a mental disorder, holistic psychology proposes going beyond observing which of the symptoms described in a diagnostic manual are present in the day-to-day of the patient to apply "remedies" from there to mitigate the discomfort caused by the underlying pathology, but connect with the subjective experience of that person to, from the unique reality of him as an individual human being, see the reason for his discomfort in his way of living his own existence in the day to day.

In this way, holistic psychology proposes a very flexible approach to the problems and needs of people, since instead of analyzing the mind human as if it were a machine with mechanical problems in some of its parts, in the first place it tries to understand the way in which each individual lives their his life, leaving behind preconceived ideas and assumptions about what a mental health disorder is. For this reason, holistic psychology is closely related to humanistic philosophy and existentialism, two philosophical perspectives that give it much importance to subjectivity and the way in which each person gives meaning to their life, getting involved (with greater or lesser success) in projects that give meaning to their life existence.

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A comprehensive way of understanding human well-being

As we have seen, holistic psychology prioritizes the need to approach each human being, seeing them not as a list of problems to be solved and that can be described based on pre-established criteria (or even listed in a psychiatry manual), but as a system that should be studied jointly.

This means, among other things, that the human mind is understood as a phenomenon in constant evolution and movement, Therefore, it cannot be analyzed by making a description of its "pieces", what apparently remains unchanged. For example, from this approach, memory is not a simple file of information about what a person has experienced in their past, but a set of "actions of remember" in which each time a memory is obtained in a different way, since what we think we know about what happened before is always experiencing alterations.

For example, we do not remember an event in the same way when we are happy as when we are sad. And this is very important, because the identity of people, what we consider "the Self" and what outlines what we can and cannot achieve, it is basically one of the facets of our memory.

Thus, holistic psychology does not make a radical distinction between mental health problems, on the one hand, and the needs for self-actualization and Personal development, for the other. Both are aspects that represent a tension between our way of perceiving the present and the future we would like to reach.

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How is holistic psychology studied?

Currently, holistic psychology is a post-university specialization that can be accessed by graduates or graduates in Psychology, as well as graduates in other behavioral or social sciences who have an affinity for the work of psychologists. In any case, It is an expanding field of learning and is increasingly being introduced into more work environments., precisely because because of his approaches he is not limited to the area of ​​psychotherapeutic intervention, but rather It can also be put into practice in contexts such as the educational system, companies, sports psychology, etc

Do you want to train in holistic psychology?

If you are interested in specializing in the application and study of holistic psychology, the Master in Holistic Psychology of the Mediterranean School of Psychology is what you are looking for.

This 800-hour, 100% online training program is now available for €995, and gives the possibility of learning the theory and practice of one of the most interesting ways of understanding the mind human. In it you can learn several of the main pillars of emotional well-being and personal development, such as Mindfulness, coaching, counseling or therapeutic narrative. One of the main characteristics of this master's degree, and in general of all the training courses at the Mediterranean School of Psychology, is that it does not have access requirements, so that any interested person can access the training without having to be a graduate or graduate in psychology. To learn more about this Master, go to this page.