Relevant Psychology Theories

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• Demonstrate an understanding of relevant psychology theories

Relevant theories are those theories that are useful and beneficial in applying to everyday problems and/or situation. They are relevant in this sense that they can be beneficial understanding human nature (personality theories), interactions (Family theories) and thoughts (cognitive theory).

• What are examples to support major points for the theories?

Examples to support major points for the named theories include: the capability of personality theories to observe human experience. For instance, personality theories provide concepts when discussing human nature (e.g., ego, anxiety, agitation, emotions); family theory (dimension, triangles, role, system); cognitive (thoughts, distortion, mental, processes)

• Explain which theories are commonly used among psychology research
Most commonly used theories in psychology research are humanistic, family and cognitive.
The assumptions underlying the Humanistic theory is personality theory is that problems arise out of a search for an individual goal. Thus a discrepancy exits between the person's actual and ideal self. This perspective of the personality theory is referred to as the client-centered theory approach that was popularized by Carl Rogers. Client-centered therapy is designed to emphasize the client over the non-directive method (i.e., directive of the therapist). He held that the human person had an actualizing tendency to develop the capacity to become self-reliant. Rogers developed the humanistic approach in repudiation of Freudian psychoanalysis.

The Family systems perspective is based on the theoretical position of a family treatment perspective. In other words, individuals are best understood by assessing the interactions that takes place between members within a family unit. Within the family context, relationships were deemed useful because they organized family members in a concerned way to solve the existing problem that disrupted the family system. Patterns that can occur in the family persist and threaten to destroy the family. Therapeutic change occurs when a family's dysfunctional ...