As a sexologist, my approach to my work is multi-disciplinary. In other words, I cull from numerous fields, including psychology, human reproductive biology, anthropology, as well as sociology to inform my world view and the way I approach my clients. These days, as part of my writing and research activities, I find myself drawn much more to the sociological side of things, rather than the psychological. There are various reasons for this that I think are important to clarify, not only because it may help prospective or existing clients to better understand how I think, but also to contrast what in essence are very different ways of viewing and understanding human behavior. And when it comes down to it, my overarching point in this article is that any psychotherapist’s training is inadequate without a thorough grounding in sociological theories and principles.

Let’s begin. Sociology is the study of social behavior. Psychology is the study of the individual mind and resulting individual behavior. There is some overlap, for example with social psychology. But the main difference being that sociology focuses on the external forces within society that influence behavior, while psychology’s intent is to keep its focus within the individual. So, sociologists might take a look at how group dynamics shape human interactions, while social psychologists would be more interested in understanding how the individual relates to and processes these groups. This is just a brief and superficial explanation, and I’m sure some PhD student somewhere will want to argue some of the finer points stated here, but my purpose here is just to provide a rough outline of how […]