Psychologia stosowana od Witmera do współczesności

Abstract

Applied Psychology –From Witmer to Modernity This work, inspired by the symbolic “centenary”of Polish psychology has been dedicated to the emergence and development of applied psychology. The main protagonist of applied psychology, and clinical psychology in particular, has been, in the author’s opinion, Lightner Witmer (1867–1956), an American psychologist promoting the clinical method of getting to know the patient through a direct contact of the psychologist with the maladjusted, including contact in their everyday environment. Witmer’s message, supported by the new ideas of the systems theory, environmental psychology and the spreading concepts of social psychology, can be all found in what is currently expected from psychologists. Applied psychology is not only a “bridge”between the theory of psychology and professional practice, but most of all, it remains a science directed towards practice, open to the contemporary challenges; a science that accepts the necessity to adjust the ethos of the profession and the new tasks of environmental work for the improvement of health and the quality of life.