Theorist: George Kelly
Focus: This theory states and supports that each person experiences and processes every interaction and experience differently from another person. We relate each experience to what we know, what scemas we have created. A schema is the pattern that one creates to understand information and experiences. Kelly did not agree with Freud's psychology and thought it was garbage to be explicit. Kelly believed in finding the root ofthe issue and working through it. He often advocated for role-playing in therapy. This, he believed, help people to understand better different views of the situation and use that information to think (cognitions) through the issue.
Strengths of theory: A strength of the cognitive approach is that it encourages people to be inquisitive about the world around them but more importantly themselves. It encourages learning about oneself to move forward and grow. Another aspect of this perspective is with how one perceives themself. There is sometimes a disagreement with how one thinks they are and how they really are. This can lead to cognitive dissonance when the two do not match.
Weakness of theory: A weakness of the theory is that it does not take into account what someone cannot control. I think that this theory relies heavily on the preson and is not a situaional approach to psychology. People need to be accountable but I also think situations play a role in how people react and this theory leans too far on only the person.
Personal example: An example of this theory in action is about an experience my wife and I had where we saw two people talking and we interpreted the situation in different ways. One night we were walking along the boardwalk at the beach and as we approached this couple we could tell they were have an intense discussion. My wife worried for the woman and thought maybe they were fighting and I stated if they are having an argument that is their perogative and we should not interfer. Come to find out as we walked by, they we reahearsing a scene for a play they were. They were simply young people who loved to act. None of it was real! I guess my wife and I were both wrong but it lead us to having a long discussion about perception and what cognitions we each had about the situation.
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