Psychologists working in this area often focus on a specific area of interest, such as memory, while others may choose to work directly on specific cognition-related health concerns such as degenerative brain disorders or brain injuries.
Reasons to Consult a Cognitive Psychologist
• If you are experiencing perceptual or sensory issues
• As part of therapy for a speech or language disorder
• If you are experiencing Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, or memory loss
• To explore different interventions for learning disabilities
While we tend to take skills such as attention and problem solving as a matter of course, perhaps because they are so woven into the fabric of our daily existence, cognitive disruptions can create havoc in multiple areas of the life of an individual. Attention issues can make focusing on work or school difficult. Only relatively minor issues with memory can make it a struggle to tackle daily life’s demands.
Remember, for instance, that your health and wellbeing may be influenced by negative thinking. From time to time, we all have these negative thoughts, but some people may be overcome by depressive habits of thinking that make it difficult to work in everyday life.
Impact of Cognitive Science on Mental Health Interventions The field of cognitive psychology has also had an impact on mental health interventions as well as contributing to the understanding of how the human mind functions. Before the 1970s, most approaches to mental health were more based on psychoanalytic, psychological, and humanistic approaches.
During this time, the so-called “cognitive revolution” put a greater focus on understanding how people process information and how patterns of thought can lead to psychological distress. New treatment strategies have been developed to help treat depression, anxiety, phobias, and other psychological disorders due to research in this area by behavioral psychologists.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy and objective cognitive behavioral therapy are two approaches that concentrate on the unconscious cognitions that lead to psychological distress by patients and counselors.
If you experience symptoms of a psychological disorder that would benefit from the use of cognitive approaches, you may see a psychologist having specific training in these methods of cognitive therapy. These professionals often have titles other than cognitive psychologists, such as a psychiatrist, clinical psychologist, or psychologist counseling, but many of the strategies they use are rooted in the cognitive tradition. If you are unsure of the discipline or approach of a practitioner, ask him or her.
