What Are the Branches and Fields of Psychology?

Many doctors, biologists, physiologists, and other scientists and specialists in the study of the human body say that they are in front of a sea that they have not yet crossed, except its shores.

And they still today, despite all the scientific development that humanity has reached, describe the human mind as an unknown land. So what if it is to talk about the human psyche, dive into its depths and try to find outlets within its corridors and labyrinths?

The psyche is very complex when compared to the body, which has a physical existence and a clear extension in a specific place. As for the psyche, which is the essence of any human being, there is no material existence for it, and if we want to study it, we cannot research it by itself, but the study will be limited to studying its effects and the actions resulting from it, as it is the engine of the various human activities, so every attitude and every behavior we do is due to the psyche, and this is what made us urgently need a science that deals with this basic aspect, without which no human being can exist.

As it is well known that the psyche and the body together constitute the unique and distinct human personality, so did psychology, this science, which included many branches and fields and was closely linked to all aspects of life and most other sciences, especially social and physiological. Proceeding from the importance of all of the above, the topic of our article today is the branches and fields of psychology.

Why Should We Care About Psychology?

Psychology is the science that studies the behavior of individuals and what is behind their motives and mental processes. It is a scientific study to reveal the laws and principles that explain that behavior and can predict its forms, direct it, and plan for it. Based on this definition, a number of points can be identified that show the importance of psychology in our daily lives, whether for the academic researcher or the average person, but before delving into these points, we must emphasize a basic idea that has already been mentioned.

The concept of the psyche is a recognized and accepted concept, which means  that it is not amenable to direct observation. What we observe and study are the behaviors, activities, and responses resulting from them; this means that the subject in psychology is not the psyche but the behavior of this psyche, and as we mentioned, there are a number of points that confirm the importance of psychology, which are:

1. Building a healthy and active person is not limited to building a healthy body; rather, the building must include minds and psyches as well.
2. The role of psychology is to help you understand yourself and others as well.
3. The study of psychology is an urgent necessity, especially in the fields of education, where the building of humans begins.
4. Recognize through psychology your abilities and potentials and learn from them how to use these abilities to your advantage.
5. The role of psychology in helping you to avoid stupid thinking and to avoid completely accepting the superstitious explanations of psychological disorders that a person resorts to when they don’t reach an explanation—“Agenie wears it,” “needs a veil to restore their mind,” and many other myths that are widespread in our societies—is that you will not believe in them anymore, and you will realize that every illness, even organic ones, sometimes has a psychological origin.
6. “If you know, you can” summarizes this saying a lot. If you know the reason, you can find a solution and change the results for your benefit. Psychology helps you better understand yourself and your behaviors and explains them to you, thus giving you a key to controlling and managing them.
7. The role of psychology in helping you predict that something will happen before it happens. This is because being aware of the causes and factors predisposing to the occurrence of a phenomenon enables us to anticipate it, and this is what provides us with a lot of benefit on the ground by avoiding the damages that we might predict will happen, for example.

What Is the Behavior?

Since the singular behavior is repeated more than once, it was necessary to explain its meaning in a comprehensive way, so the behavior is:

1. Every phenomenon can be observed in a person, such as speech, for example.
2. All that is not perceived by us towards the person, such as silent thinking and imagination.
3. Everything that is not perceived by the person themselves, such as the unconscious motives and desires that appear in dreams or mental illnesses.
4. Behavior also includes various bodily activities, such as breathing.

What Are the Theoretical Branches of Psychology?

If we want to achieve accuracy in research, credibility in results, and the greatest comprehensiveness and clarity of the subject under study, we must specialize. This specialty has become a feature of our time today, and thanks to it, many achievements have been made and great strides of development have been made at all levels. Psychology was also subject, like other sciences, to this principle of specialization and included under its name many scientific fields and theoretical branches, and its specializations did not stop at one field but rather included most aspects of life.

The relationship between psychology and other sciences is an inevitable one that cannot be ignored or neglected in any way. It should also be noted that the purpose and goal of dividing psychology into fields and branches is to simplify, facilitate, achieve accuracy, and reach the best results. Accordingly, this division is not definitive to the degree of commitment of each branch to specific topics, but otherwise we will find a link, overlap, and integration between these fields and branches.

Among the theoretical branches of psychology, we will mention the following:

1. General Psychology

We can say that this branch is the theoretical basis for other branches of psychology, and this branch provides a lot of benefit to non-specialists, as it is interested in studying the principles and general origins of psychology, which means studying the phenomenon or behavior in general without going into other details related to upbringing, for example, or social conditions. In short, general psychology studies psychological phenomena that are widespread among people without any specialization, such as personality, psychological development, adaptation, and others.

2. Evolutionary Psychology

This branch specializes in studying the evolution of human behavior from childhood to old age, trying to find the characteristics and behaviors that characterize the normal behavior of each of the stages. The main goal of evolutionary psychology is to understand how the human psyche rises and develops through the different age stages.  Thus, this branch includes both the psychology of childhood and adolescence, among others.

3. Social Psychology

In short, it can be said that this branch focuses on the study of human behavior as a social being, as it is concerned with the scientific study of the social, human, and psychological interrelations within the group and how the individual is affected by them. It also deals with the study of all psychological and social phenomena resulting from this interaction and the psychological factors affecting it, and among its topics is the study of intolerance, for example, leadership, jealousy, and others.

4. Differential Psychology

It studies the differences between individuals and groups from a psychological point of view only, in an attempt to find an explanation for the existence of these differences, their causes, and their consequences. Differential psychology divides the difference into two main sections: individual differential psychology and group differential psychology.

5. Psychopathology

As evident from its name, this branch is concerned with various types of functional disorders and mental illnesses and attempts to research the underlying causes, conditions, and influencing factors in order to find solutions for the prevention and treatment of these diseases.

6. Psychophysiology

It focuses on the relationship of the body with behavior and, therefore, on the study of the nervous system and its functions, the endocrine glands called the personal glands, and the impact of their secretions on human behavior and personality. Psychophysiology is also concerned with the study of physical diseases that are due to psychological causes and psychological diseases that are due to physical causes.

What Are the Applied Fields of Psychology?

Psychology has been benefited from, and its knowledge has been employed and invested in various aspects of life. Thus, this science is no longer a theoretical science only, but as a result, it has become an applied and practical science. In the following, we will mention some of the applied fields of psychology:

1. Educational Psychology

This science is concerned with the application of psychology theories in the educational field in order to solve psychological problems that hinder and impede the progress of the educational process in a way that contributes to raising the efficiency of education and making it more successful. Its topics include the problem of adolescence, for example, and its impact on academic achievement and academic excellence, among others.

2. Industrial Psychology

This science is directed to the study of psychological problems that arise in the work environment through the application of basic principles and theories of psychology in the field of work in order to find appropriate solutions to them and work to improve production and achieve the greatest possible comfort and safety for workers. Its topics include career guidance and work disputes.

3. Criminal Psychology

It is interested in studying the psychological motives and factors behind the commission of crimes, researching the psychology of the criminal and society's view of them, and working to transform this view into one of sympathy instead of one of hatred and revenge. It also examines the usefulness and fairness of punishments and raises very important questions about this punishment and its function. Was this punishment designed with the intention of reform, deterrence, or retribution?

4. Clinical Psychology

It is one of the applied branches of psychology. Its main focus is on psychiatric and mental patients, monitoring them, diagnosing their condition, choosing the appropriate psychological treatment for them, and always adjusting it in a way that achieves the best results.

5. Family Psychology

It is one of the new branches in the field of psychology, and it combines being a theoretical and applied science, but the applied aspect prevails. It studies the relationship of the husband to the wife and the father to the children and how these relationships develop and change, and searches for ways to help and recommendations to improve their psychological functions so as to make the family atmosphere free of any mental illness or deviation and filled with safety and love.

6. Counseling Psychology

This science is not concerned with psychological problems that are deeply rooted in a person's psyche; rather, it deals with accidental and superficial psychological problems. It is guidance and direction for the normal individual to help them solve their problems, understand themselves and their abilities, and discover their talents, strengths, and weaknesses.

In Conclusion

We can never deny the great importance of every science, but at the same time we have to admit that psychology has very special importance due to its close connection with almost all sciences and its overlap with every aspect of our daily lives, as it bears the responsibility of searching for ways to elevate and achieve a state of psychological well-being for the human being, and this will be reflected directly on society and contribute to its development and progress.