Compartmentalization and unity of professional psychology. A road map for the future of the discipline

The compartmentalization of psychological science and of the profession prevents the progress of the discipline. Compartmentalization is a collateral effect of the impressive scientific, methodological, and technical development of psychology, which has led to the emergence of specialized segments of knowledge and practice that unavoidably tend to progress separately from each other and weaken their reciprocal linkage. The work highlights the limits of compartmentalization and discusses motives that call for the unity of psychology. Three approaches to unification are outlined: I) the identification of the ultimate causal explanation; II) the progressive extension of the explicative capacity of specific theories; III) the building of a metatheoretical framework. Finally, the paper proposes the intervention as the criterion to compare the capacity of the three approaches to unity. According to this criterion, approaches can be validated by reason of their ability to enable professional psychology to address the current challenges that people and society have to face.

• Generating a beneficial creative chaos to manage compartmentalization in psychology: A trans-disciplinary approach to intertwine plurality and unity A. Claudio Bosio, in RIVISTA DI PSICOLOGIA CLINICA 2/2023 pp.63
  DOI: 10.3280/rpc2-2022oa14879
• Dynamics of defragmentation Tania Zittoun, Martina Cabra, in RIVISTA DI PSICOLOGIA CLINICA 1/2022 pp.75
  DOI: 10.3280/rpc1-2022oa14459
• Beyond Compartmentalization: Generalizing Clinical Knowledge in Psychology Jaan Valsiner, in RIVISTA DI PSICOLOGIA CLINICA 2/2023 pp.92
  DOI: 10.3280/rpc2-2022oa14892
• The ACES Guide for Researchers in Psychology: Fostering Researchers’ Informed Decision-Making about Theory Selection and Theoretical Integration Martijn van Zomeren, in Review of General Psychology /2024 pp.17
  DOI: 10.1177/10892680231182033
• Norcia and the central italian earthquake: Challenges and lessons learned from the italian psychiatric reform movement Richard F. Mollica, Sonia Graziano, in RIVISTA DI PSICOLOGIA CLINICA 1/2023 pp.103
  DOI: 10.3280/rpc1-2023oa16368
• Psychology and Market. Commentary on: "Psychology profession, clinical psychology, psychotherapy. Specificities and boundaries" Ruggero Andrisano Ruggieri, Maria Monaco, in RIVISTA DI PSICOLOGIA CLINICA 2/2025 pp.101
  DOI: 10.3280/rpc2-2024oa18070
• Outline of a grand theory of psychological activity Gordon Sammut, in RIVISTA DI PSICOLOGIA CLINICA 1/2022 pp.49
  DOI: 10.3280/rpc1-2022oa14456
• La psicologia della salute come professione: stato, prospettive e implicazioni per la disciplina e la formazione A. Claudio Bosio, Luca P. Vecchio, Edoardo Lozza, in PSICOLOGIA DELLA SALUTE 1/2024 pp.5
  DOI: 10.3280/PDS2024-001001
• The necessity and the challenges for a unified model of clinical psychology: A commentary on Salvatore et al., 2022 Stanley Berman, in RIVISTA DI PSICOLOGIA CLINICA 1/2023 pp.97
  DOI: 10.3280/rpc1-2023oa15427
• On unifying psychology: A view from the trenches; and what's wrong with pluralism anyway? Jose’ Saporta, in RIVISTA DI PSICOLOGIA CLINICA 1/2022 pp.60
  DOI: 10.3280/rpc1-2022oa14458
• On the quest for disciplinary unity and the virtues of open concepts Brady Wagoner, in RIVISTA DI PSICOLOGIA CLINICA 2/2023 pp.103
  DOI: 10.3280/rpc2-2022oa14745
• Digital Well-Being as a New Kind of Adaptation to the New Millennium Needs: A State-of-the-Art Analysis Alessandro De Santis, Stefania Fantinelli, in Elementa. Intersections between Philosophy, Epistemology and Empirical Perspectives 2/2024
  DOI: 10.7358/elementa-2023-0102-safa
• Two sources for a meta-theoretical framework in psychology Sven Hroar Klempe, in RIVISTA DI PSICOLOGIA CLINICA 1/2022
  DOI: 10.3280/rpc1-2022oa14455
• Towards a Semiotic Cultural Clinical Psychology: Contributions for the Discussion Mónica Roncancio-Moreno, Rita Patricia Ocampo-Cepeda, Juan José Cleves-Valencia, in Human Arenas /2023
  DOI: 10.1007/s42087-023-00372-4
• Three approaches to overcome compartmentalization: A brief epistemological analysis Nicolò Gaj, in RIVISTA DI PSICOLOGIA CLINICA 1/2024 pp.103
  DOI: 10.3280/rpc1-2024oa17127

Sergio Salvatore, Agata Ando', Ruggero Andrisano Ruggieri, Fiorella Bucci, Barbara Cordella, Maria Francesca Freda, Caterina Lombardo, Gianluca Lo Coco, Cinzia Novara, Annamaria Petito, Adriano Schimmenti, Elena Vegni, Claudia Venuleo, Andrea Zagaria, Alessandro Zennaro, Compartmentalization and unity of professional psychology. A road map for the future of the discipline in "RIVISTA DI PSICOLOGIA CLINICA" 1/2022, pp 7-33, DOI: 10.3280/rpc1-2022oa14450