science

Process psychology

Process psychology is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Process psychology rather than just read about it. In short: Process psychology is a branch of psychotherapeutic psychology which was derived from process philosophy as developed by Alfred North Whitehead. Process psychology got its start at a conference sponsored by the Center for Process Studies in 1998.

Key takeaways

Process psychology belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Process psychology to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Process psychology from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Process psychology is a branch of psychotherapeutic psychology which was derived from process philosophy as developed by Alfred North Whitehead. Process psychology got its start at a conference sponsored by the Center for Process Studies in 1998. In 2000, Michel Weber created the Whitehead Psychology Nexus: an open forum dedicated to the cross-examination of Alfred North Whitehead's process philosophy and the various facets of the contemporary psychological field. David Ray Griffin, a retired professor, has also been instrumental in encouraging the development of Process Psychology. Process Psychology is closely aligned with process theology and its practitioners frequently refer to spiritual concerns. John Buchanan described Process Psychology as a transpersonal psychology providing an empirical basis for what has been called mystical experience. Yet other theorists reference systems thinking and the work of Ludwig von Bertalanffy whose concept of a "system" is compared to Whitehead's idea of the "organism". The influence of Carl G. Jung is also referenced and he is considered to be among the discipline's founding fathers. Jon Mills (psychologist) has proposed a process psychology known as "dialectical psychoanalysis" (which is based, in part, on Hegelianism).

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Process psychology

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Process psychology claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Process psychology before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Process psychology ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Process psychology

In research: Process psychology appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Process psychology in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Process psychology is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Process theory, Psychotherapeutical theories, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Process psychology outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Process psychology” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Process psychology in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Process psychology means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Process psychology out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Process psychology in simple terms?

Why does Process psychology matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Process psychology?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Process psychology.