George Kelly is a famous American psychologist. He gained his popularity for the developed concept concerning the cognitive activity of the individual.
Short biography
George Kelly, after receiving a bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics, changed the direction of his interests. He began to study social problems. Having defended his master's thesis, the scientist taught for several years. After that, at the University of Edinburgh, he was awarded a bachelor's degree in pedagogy. George Kelly completed his Ph. D. at Iowa State University. A few years before the start of World War II, he organized a program of mobile psychological clinics. They acted as a base for students' practice. During the war, Kelly was an aviation psychologist. After the end of hostilities, he became professor and director of the clinical psychology program at Ohio State University.
Personality Constructor Theory
J. Kelly developed the concept, according to which the formation of the mental processes of an individual is carried out on the basis of how a person anticipates ("models") upcoming events. The author considered people as researchers who constantly form their image of reality with the help of their own structure of categorical scales. In accordance with these models, a person puts forward hypotheses about upcoming events. In the event that the assumption is not confirmed, the system of scales is restructured to one degree or another. This allows you to increase the level of adequacy of upcoming predictions. This, according to George Kelly, is the cognitive theory of personality. The researcher also developed a special methodological principle. It is called "repertory grids". With their help, methods for diagnosing the specifics of individual modeling of reality were formed. Subsequently, the methods developed by George Kelly began to be successfully applied in various areas of psychology.
Cognitive theory
In the 1920s, the researcher used psychoanalytic interpretations in his clinical work. George Kelly marveled at the ease with which patients accepted Freud's concepts. However, he himself considered his ideas absurd. As part of the experiment, George Kelly began to change the interpretations that his patients received in accordance with various psychodynamic schools. It turned out that people perceive the samethe principles that were proposed to them. Moreover, patients were willing to change the course of their lives in accordance with them. Thus, neither the analysis of children's conflicts according to Freud, nor the study of the past itself is of decisive importance. This is the conclusion made by the results of the experiment George Kelly. Personality theory was associated with the ways in which an individual interprets his experience and anticipates future events. Freud's concepts were successful in research because they undermined the pattern of thought that patients were accustomed to. They offered to understand events in a new way.
Causes of disorders
George Kelly believed that people's anxiety and depression arise as a result of falling into the trap of inadequate and rigid categories of their thinking. For example, some believe that authority figures are right in every situation. In this regard, criticism from such a person will have a depressing effect. Any technique used to change this attitude will have an effect. At the same time, effectiveness is ensured regardless of whether it is based on a theory that links this belief with the Oedipal complex, with the need to have a spiritual mentor, or with the fear of losing the love and care of parents. Thus, Kelly came to the conclusion that it was necessary to create techniques that would directly correct inadequate thought patterns.
Therapy
Kelly suggested that patients be aware of their own attitudes and test them in reality. Yes, one womanexperienced anxiety and fear at the thought that her opinion might not coincide with the conclusions of her husband. Nevertheless, Kelly insisted that she should try to express her thoughts to her husband on some issue. As a result, the patient was convinced in practice that this did not pose a danger to her.
Conclusion
George Kelly was one of those psychotherapists who first tried to change the direct thinking of their patients. This goal underlies many existing methods today. All of them are united by the term "cognitive therapy". However, in modern practice, this approach is almost never used in its pure form. Mostly behavioral techniques are implemented.
