Psychological Theory, Practice, and Real-Life Circumstances: An Epistemological Analysis of Their Intersections

The relationship between psychological knowledge and professional practice is a traditionally neglected topic that deserves careful consideration. This chapter examines both the relationship between theory and practice and that between professional action and real-life circumstances. The close connection between theory and practice is discussed in relation to the apparent bifurcation between them and its causes. In addressing the connection between professional practice and real-life situations, the principles of design science are used to develop a framework that captures the process of implementing psychological interventions in ecological settings; more specifically, it is proposed that the first step in this process is to analyze the issue presented by the client, while the second entails delivering the actual intervention, understood as a locally constrained, structured set of affordances. Overall, the design approach is presented as a hinge point with the potential to bridge the gap between the generality of scientific knowledge and the uniqueness of real-world circumstances. Hence, the aim of the proposed framework is to offer a preliminary account of the common conceptual core that undergirds all psychological intervention.