Encyclopedia
Articles on psychology — from foundational concepts to specialized topics. All content is based on scientific sources.
88 articles
Transference
The unconscious redirection of feelings and expectations from past relationships onto a new person — for example, a therapist. A key concept in psychoanalysis.
Countertransference
The therapist's emotional reaction to a client, shaped by the therapist's own experience. Used as a tool for understanding the client.
Defense mechanisms
Unconscious mental processes that reduce anxiety and protect self-esteem. Examples: repression, projection, rationalization, denial.
Attachment
The emotional bond between a child and a significant caregiver (J. Bowlby). Attachment style influences adult relationships.
Cognitive distortions
Systematic thinking errors that affect perception of reality. Examples: catastrophizing, black-and-white thinking, personalization.
Empathy
The ability to understand and share another person's emotional state. Cognitive and affective empathy are distinguished.
Resilience
Psychological hardiness — the capacity to recover from stress, adapt to adversity, and maintain functioning.
Setting
The conditions of psychological work: time, place, duration, rules. A stable setting creates a safe space for therapy.
Supervision
Professional guidance of a psychologist's work by a more experienced colleague. Aimed at improving quality of care and professional development.
Personality disorders
Persistent and inflexible patterns of behavior, cognition, and inner experience that deviate from cultural expectations, causing distress or impairment. Classified into three clusters in DSM-5.
Manipulation tactics
Coercive interpersonal strategies used to control, confuse, or subjugate another person. Include DARVO, gaslighting, love bombing, triangulation, and others.
Therapeutic approaches
Major evidence-based models and methods of psychotherapeutic intervention.
Nonviolent Communication
A model of empathic communication developed by Marshall Rosenberg based on observations, feelings, needs, and requests.
Rationality
The capacity to think and act according to reason, distinguishing epistemic rationality (believing true things) from instrumental rationality (achieving goals).
Cognitive Biases
Systematic tendencies in human thinking that deviate judgment from rational norms. Tversky and Kahneman's heuristics and biases program.
Effective Altruism
A philosophical and social movement that applies evidence-based reasoning to determine the most effective ways to benefit others.
The Dark Triad
Three socially aversive yet subclinical personality traits: narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy.
Learned Helplessness
A psychological state in which an organism ceases attempts to escape aversive stimuli after repeated experiences of uncontrollability.
Positive Psychology
A branch of psychology focused on the scientific study of well-being, human strengths, and optimal functioning.
Psychological Trauma
A psychological response to an event or series of events that overwhelm an individual's capacity to cope.
Psychological Boundaries
Personal limits that define where one individual ends and another begins, regulating closeness and distance in relationships.
The Unconscious
The domain of psychic life containing thoughts, memories, desires, and impulses inaccessible to ordinary awareness yet profoundly influencing behavior.
Resistance
Psychic forces that oppose the progress of therapeutic treatment and the awareness of unconscious material.
Anxiety
An emotional state characterized by feelings of tension, worry, and physiological changes that can range from a normal adaptive response to a debilitating disorder.
Depression
A mood disorder characterized by persistent sadness, loss of interest, and cognitive, emotional, and physiological changes that significantly affect daily functioning.
Dissociation
A disruption in the normal integration of consciousness, memory, identity, emotion, and perception of the environment, ranging from everyday experiences to severe clinical disorders.
Psychosomatics
The field of study examining the interaction between psychological processes and bodily symptoms or diseases, recognizing the functional unity of mind and body.
Emotional Intelligence
The ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use one's own and others' emotions to guide thinking and action.
Self-Esteem
A person's overall evaluation of their own worth, reflecting the degree to which they consider themselves competent and valuable.
Mindfulness
The practice of deliberately paying attention to the present moment with an attitude of openness, curiosity, and acceptance.
Burnout
A syndrome of physical and emotional exhaustion resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.
Codependency
A relational pattern in which a person excessively subordinates their own needs to those of another, often in the context of addiction or dysfunction.
Shame
A painful self-conscious emotion involving a global negative evaluation of the self, as distinct from guilt which focuses on a specific behaviour.
Grief
A natural emotional, cognitive, and behavioural response to significant loss, especially the death of a loved one.
Developmental stages
Theories of the sequential phases of human cognitive, emotional, and social development. Includes contributions from Piaget, Erikson, and Vygotsky.
Object relations theory
Psychoanalytic school emphasizing internalized relationships with significant objects as the foundation of psychic structure. Includes contributions from Klein, Winnicott, Fairbairn, and Kernberg.
Trauma Bonding
An intense emotional bond that forms between a victim and their abuser as a result of repeated cycles of mistreatment followed by intermittent reinforcement.
Cognitive Dissonance
Psychological discomfort caused by simultaneously holding two or more contradictory cognitions, motivating the person to reduce the inconsistency by modifying beliefs or behaviors.
Conformity & Obedience
Psychological tendencies to adjust behavior or beliefs to align with group norms (conformity) or authority commands (obedience).
Bystander Effect
A phenomenon whereby the likelihood that a person will intervene in an emergency decreases as the number of bystanders present increases.
Placebo Effect
A therapeutic improvement produced by an inert treatment, attributable to patient expectations, the care context, and endogenous neurobiological mechanisms.
Ethics in Psychology
Principles and standards guiding the professional practice of psychology, including beneficence, confidentiality, informed consent, and competence boundaries.
Intelligence
General capacity for adaptation, learning, and problem-solving. One of the most debated concepts in psychology, with multiple theories about its structure and measurement.
Stress
Psychophysiological response of the organism to demands that exceed its adaptive resources. Can be acute or chronic, with profound effects on physical and mental health.