Student 55993761: Ecosystemic Psychology

Throughout the history of psychology, the formal study of psychology in African cultures has been based on or established in mainstream Western psychology. In the African culture certain ailments or illnesses are seen as 'symbolic' - by this we mean that there is more to the sickness than the physical quality we see, but rather a reason as to why the patient is feeling the way they do , it is almost as if they feel that they  must go beyond the ‘information given’ (Bruner, 1986) to determine ‘who’ is speaking through such an illness and what they are expected to do to expect a cure.  There is to this day still a very clear distinction between how psychological problems are managed from an African  perspective (ritualistic) and a Western perspective (talking therapy).

First and second-order approaches are consistent with each other in the assumption that reality is understood as perceptually constructed or created (Becvar & Becvar, 2006).  First order therapy is explained as observing from a remote or removed position. Second order approach is aware that it is near impossible to understand the observed's reality if one is not part of said reality during the observation process. Both of them however to reiterate the importance o communication between the observed and the observer. The observer needs to understand the context in which the observed find themselves in , how the observed perceive certain things and understand the social context of the situations. The second order theorists do however differentiate in that they do not believe that there is only a single correct or right way to live one's life, thus reality is not a given.

postmodern [ pohst- mod -ern ] adjective A group of psychologists and physicians broke away from the norm in the early 1980's as they were not satisfied with the treatment options that they had for their patients. Many believed to put the emphasis on the individual as the "problem" is not fair or accurate whereas others delved into the world of holistic methods into treatments. Included in this group of 'breakaways' were those practitioners who saw how the suffering of their clients did not lessen to the modern approaches they were taking. The goal of post-modernism was to  treat the whole person rather than presenting symptoms . This new form of treatment received mixed reviews. Some saw validity in the new movement whereas others where very critical of it.  Modern treatments are still growing and expanding with new theories and approaches such as: Psycho-pharmacology Integrative psychology Use of interdisciplinary teams Dialectical Beh...

modernism /ˈmɒd(ə)nɪz(ə)m/ noun Modern Era: Let us take a moment and honour the 'father' of modern psychology, Sigmund Freud.  For the past 125 years or so, the development of various movements approaches and theories has been in response to Freud's work. Names that are also included within the modern psychology framework are: B. F. Skinner Jean Piaget Carl Rogers Carl Jung Erik Erikson These guys ( because let's be honest, women did not play an integral part in psychology in this time yet) stopped seeing the human mind as a duality of part physiological and part spiritual, but rather theories associated with conscious and unconscious levels of functioning within the human mind. Many interpreted their theories and findings differently but there seems to be one shared acceptance among them all - Freud's hypothesis that the human thought functioned within its own structure. "People achieved maximum functioning or they are dysfunctional in...

pre- Modernism / ˈmɒd(ə)nɪz(ə)m / noun Pre-Modern Psychology : [ancient past to late 1800's] Let's go back centuries and centuries, to a time when psychology was viewed as a philosophy and not yet a science. A belief system only becomes accepted as part of the human culture when it passes the test of time successfully along the way. Psychology is closely linked to the times of the intellectual and elite in Greece and Egypt. In the pre-modernism era psychology grew its identity from the schools of philosophy.  During this time discussions of the human thoughts and manner of thinking were issues discussed broadly and as a dual movement namely physiological as well as spiritual.  Here  the WHY played a predominant part in discussions. WHY are things the way they are.