Did you know that it is possible to resolve many of the issues that you may be having with people if you are able to understand psychology? Once you understand how people think, you can determine what it is that is causing the problem from your perspective, and also from their perspective as well. The way that a person changes over the course of time as a result of the experiences that they have, and also the environment that they are in, is what developmental psychology is all about.
A quick definition is that it is the psychology of change, what causes people to shift from being one type of person to another, all because of how they are processing the world around them. To understand this, we need to look at what is developmental psychology, and how it is used to help people personally and professionally.
What Is Developmental Psychology?
This is a type of psychology that is a branch of psychology that is used by many others. When you are dealing with children, adults, or even teenagers in high school, you need to know what is causing them to develop these problems. For example, you could have coworkers that are not able to get along. It may not be obvious why they are having problems, but a psychologist that understands how these changes occur can make modifications to the way that they process these interactions.
They can give them guidelines to follow and ultimately help resolve issues that may have been going on for years because of the strategies that they know. Developmental psychology is simply the understanding of how a person can take their situation and process it in a completely new way. That being said, let’s look at this branch of psychology a little deeper to fully appreciate how powerful it actually is.
Why It Is A Scientific Approach
This is regarded as a scientific approach because it only looks at what has been tested and utilizes what has worked. It focuses on both adults and children, and how they change over time. Many of the theories that you will read about were developed by developmental psychologist that studied many areas. They would look at biology, emotions, cognitive processes and how a social environment could change the way a person processes information. It is dominated by Western thought, and as a result of this, it may not easily interact with those that use Eastern philosophies. However, it is very structured, and based upon this structure for determining what is wrong, it should be easy for a developmental psychologist to pick and choose from the many strategies that have been developed to help a person become much more balanced.
What Are Some Strategies That Work?
One of the initial strategies that is implemented is focusing on the three goals. These goals include allowing the person to describe what they believe is going on, explain why they think it is going on, and then take that information and optimize a developmental plan of action. The reason that they need to describe what is happening is that it looks at normative development or the typical pattern changes that can be seen repeating with people that have similar problems.
The second stage is explaining why they think something is happening. The psychologist can then use what is called nature and nurture. Nature is about biological processes and nurture refers to a person’s environment and their emotions. Finally, the psychologist will be able to look at everything that has been stated and come up with the treatment plan on how to make definitive changes to help the people that are currently unable to resolve certain issues.
How Did This All Get Started?
Some people trace this all the way back to Charles Darwin when he was talking about scientific observations of Doddy his infant son. Later on, a German psychologist by the name of Wilhelm Preyer started focusing on the mind of children, specifically looking at the developmental processes of his daughter. Empirical studies were done and by the 1990s, the theory of human development was formed. Notables such as Jean Piaget and Vygotsky were able to create many of the foundational theories that are used in developmental psychology.
How This Can Be Used To Help People Immediately
The main reason that this is able to help people, sometimes immediately, is that the individuals that sit down with a developmental psychologist are able to talk everything out. Once they are able to verbalize this, and if they believe that the other person is able to help them, they are going to be open and honest about how they feel right now. This is the information that a developmental psychologist will need in order to implement the proper strategies to resolve their issues. It’s all about trust, and proven psychological techniques that allow people to sometimes see prompt results once they understand the developmental processes and strategies to help.
Developmental psychology is something that is helpful for almost everyone. If a person is able to understand why they are thinking or reacting in a certain way, it can help them understand what is causing the problem. This brief discussion about what is developmental psychology should show you that this is one of the effective ways to start understanding how to resolve problems that people may have with each other. It may also help people and problems that they are facing on their own once they know why they are thinking or feeling the way that they do.