Reflections on Psychology's Progress and Challenges

Welcome to Episode 178 of the Being Human Podcast: The Last 70 Years in Psychology: Personal Reflections with Dr. Paul Vitz

In this episode, Dr. Paul Vitz reflects on the last 70 years of psychology, from psychoanalysis to the emergence of humanistic psychology, interpersonal psychology, family therapy, emotion-focused therapy, cognitive and behavioral therapy, forgiveness therapy, positive therapy, and narrative psychotherapy. Dr. Vitz shares valuable insights for the future of psychology and mental health professionals today. 

Discussed in this episode:

• The fascinating development of psychology across seven decades
• Why Dr. Paul Vitz became known in the 1960’s for criticizing humanistic psychology
• The important contributions and pitfalls of new kinds of psychology as they emerged through the decades
• The impact of positive psychology after 100 years of negative psychology (psychology of our pathologies) 
• The three theological premises for the Catholic Christian Meta-Model of the Person
• The three vocations of each and every human person 
• Psychology through the decades as an intelligent search for the truth about the person, and our gratitude to those who have brought psychology to its current state
• The challenges facing mental health professionals today
• Encouragement to the “troops on the ground” to do to secular psychology what St. Thomas Aquinas did to secular philosophy
• Hope and optimism for the future of psychology

Resources mentioned or relevant: 

• Psychology as Religion: The Cult of Self-Worship by Dr. Paul Vitz
• A Catholic Christian Meta-Model of the Person: Integration with Psychology and Mental Health Practice
• Learn more about our Certification program: CatholicPsych Model of Applied Personalism 
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Contact us! Have a topic or a question you would like Dr. Greg to address on the podcast? Want to give some feedback about this episode? Email us at beinghuman@catholicpsych.com - we would love to hear from you!

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