THE INTEGRATIVE MODEL OF PSYCHOLOGY
The Integrative Model of Psychology is a meta-theoretical model that integrates dozens of psychological theories of wellness, personality, emotion, cognition, and lifespan in 9 different domains: elements of human nature (wellness and character strengths), structure of human nature, theories of social relationships, personality, cognition, affect, behavior and lifespan development, and identity development, and their interconnectivity. This model merges a number of existing theories of psychology, including Witmer and Sweeney’s wellness model, Maclean’s triune brain model, Freud’s structure of the mind and theory of psychosexual development, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, Erickson’s theory of psychosocial development, Loevinger’s theory of social development, Fowler’s faith development theory, multicultural and ecosystemic theories, Prochaska and Norcross’s stages of change, several process models of psychotherapy, and several major theories of psychotherapy, including behaviorism, cognitive-behavioral therapy, psychodynamic personality, humanistic psychology, interpersonal therapy, functional family therapy, person-centered therapy, cognitive therapy, rational-emotive behavior therapy, reality therapy, multicultural counseling, ecosystemic counseling, existential therapy, and transpersonal psychology. The Integrative Model makes many specific predictions about the specific identity issues – psychological, social, sexual, developmental, cognitive, moral, needs, and faith identity issues – that people address at different eras of the lifespan. It proposes a theoretical model for how to provide psychotherapy to people based on their specific problems and developmental issues. We also hope to develop similar theoretical models for how to teach and how to provide career counseling, based on the Integrative Model. We are starting to empirically test this model through survey research, through component projects called the Faith Development Project, the Character Strengths Project, and the Well-Being Project. We have content analyzed the research on 87 character strengths and their relationships to spirituality, and mediators and moderators of the relationship between spirituality and wellness. We have surveyed adults about the relationships among their faith development, cognitive development, psychosocial development, personality, and academic performance. We have also written articles about faith development theory and the application of multiple intelligences theory to career assessment. To fund this research, we are applying for grants from the American Psychological Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation.