Modern day Psychology is as varied as its past is long, but that doesn't mean that it has to be confusing. Sure, there are more schools of thought than can be counted on one hand, but that doesn't mean that it has to be difficult to learn about them. Many of these schools of thought have very historical originations, while others have only recently come to the spotlight. The one thing that is for certain however is that each philosophy specializes in a certain type of treatment and psychological perspective, and as a result may or many not work for you.

Behavioral Psychology is an older form of Psychology that focuses on the individuals' behavior rather than their thoughts. Behavioral psychologists believe that since thoughts cannot truly be captured with certainty, that the only rational way to treat a psychological problem is via the person's behavior. Therefore, these types of psychologist focus on changing behavior rather than the thought processes. Some famous behavioral psychologists are Pavlov (you may remember the experiment dubbed: Pavlov's dog) and B.F. Skinner.

Cognitive Psychology is also a more historical school of thought and actually replaced behaviorism as the main school of psychological thought. Cognitive Psychology rationalized that one could not focus solely on behavior and that cognition had to be recognized as at least a variable.

Eventually, Humanism became popular because it focused on psychology as a treatment of the human, rather than individual parts of the boy. This was founded mostly in existentialism, such as that of Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Sartre. This method sought to understand human beings through questioning and research, rather than conjecture. Some of the miscellaneous treatments used by this school of thought are psychotherapy and self-help.

Functional Psychology focuses more on solving psychological problems through introspection. A therapy session from someone in this school of thought might spend more time focusing on self-examination and understanding than changing behavior or thought processes.

Recently, a new form of Psychology has started to take root in the United States, particularly in the West where religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism are starting to take deep root. This brand of Psychology is called Transpersonal Psychology and takes a spiritual and religious approach to Psychology. Although this form of psychology is basically a hybrid form of Eastern Philosophy remade into a form of psychological treatment, it is still important to understand because the prevalence of it has increased dramatically in the 2000's. Transpersonal Psychology focuses and altered states of consciousness and transcendental philosophy, which has put it in the face of plenty of criticism. However, there are a variety of schools forming that teach this method.

As you can clearly see, the schools of thought within the realm of Psychology are as vast as the medical profession itself. Although some of these schools have evolved, diminished, or even disappeared over the years, it is important to understand the different approaches to Psychology in the event that you need psychological treatment at some point in your life.