Psychology? Don't even think about it

Despite the fact that I have a PhD in the subject I dislike being called a Psychologist.

I can confidently state that I have never learned a single thing about human beings by studying Psychology. In fact, most of the (unconscious) knowledge I possess about the way the human mind works was acquired before I was 16 years old.

I honestly believe that most human beings are as good at 'psychology' as the academics are - if we mean by 'Psychology' the study of why human beings behave as they do. We most of us pick it up as we go along. For example, the vast majority of us know (even when we won't admit it) what people really think and feel about us. And we get better at it as we go on. Partly, the reason for that is that understanding how 'minds' work is about knowing how to play by the rules that thinking and behavior is based on.

With some exceptions, most Psychologists I have met have been deficient  in the basic human skills of empathy, kindness, conversation and dancing. One abiding memory I have is an annual Christmas Party I once attended when I worked for the NHS, in which the Psychologists attending (once drunk) got up to dance with all the grace and Bodymind intelligence of Lady Penelope, or Brains, from Thunderbirds. That's right, they looked like puppets on a string. And their conversation wasn't much better either.

But there have been signs recently that a Psychology that can actually make a practical difference to peoples' lives is slowly emerging. I will be writing more about that tomorrow.

      "No psychologist should pretend to understand what he does not understand. Only charlatans know everything and understand nothing."

       Anton Chekhov

Comments

[joanne Houston]

I never knew psychologists and lawyers had so much in common!