Psychology Terms A–Z

A self-help recovery program that guides people through 12 steps to overcome addiction. It began in 1935 with AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) and is now used worldwide.

A way of healthily managing the fear that your success is just luck and that others will eventually see through you.

Virtual Reality Therapy uses VR technology to conduct psychological treatment in a safe, controlled environment. It helps people gradually overcome phobias, post-traumatic stress, and other challenges within a virtual setting.

Parole psychology is a field that studies and supports the psychological factors involved in parole decisions and the process of reintegrating into society afterward.

Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation that causes someone to doubt their own experiences, memories, and judgment.

The availability heuristic is the tendency to judge the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples come to mind. Vivid or recent events feel more common than they actually are.

Addressing disagreements within a family while protecting respect, boundaries, and each person's needs.

Family secrets are hidden facts or experiences that are not openly discussed within a family. They can influence the emotional lives of family members across multiple generations.

A therapeutic method that visually recreates the roles and relationship patterns among family members to uncover and heal hidden dynamics within the family system.

Family roles are the specific parts each family member takes on within the family system. These roles help maintain family balance, but can sometimes limit an individual's personal growth.

A family system is a perspective that views the family not as a collection of individuals, but as a single interconnected system where each member influences and is influenced by the others.

Family Systems Theory views the family as a single interconnected system, focusing on the patterns of interaction between members. A change in one person ripples out to affect the entire family.

A family member who is blamed as the source of the family's problems. In reality, the entire family's dysfunction may be projected onto this one person.

A treatment approach that views the entire family as one unit rather than focusing on an individual, working to improve relationships among members.

Values-Based Living means knowing what truly matters to you and making daily choices that align with those values. It's the starting point for living a life that feels authentically yours.

Values clarification is the process of exploring and identifying what truly matters to you in life — your personal compass for making choices and finding meaning.

A couples therapy approach developed by Dr. John Gottman, based on decades of research with thousands of couples. It focuses on building healthy communication patterns and strengthening relationship bonds.

Sadism is the tendency to feel pleasure or satisfaction from the pain or suffering of others, and is considered one element of the Dark Tetrad.

Arousal refers to the degree to which the body and mind are activated and alert — ranging from deep sleep at the lowest end to extreme excitement or panic at the highest end.

Memory lasts longer when learning is spread out over time with intervals, rather than cramming everything at once.

Interference Theory explains how memories can disrupt each other, making it harder to recall specific information. The more similar memories you have, the more likely they are to get mixed up.

A psychological mechanism where rewards or affection are given in unpredictable, irregular patterns, causing the other person to become more intensely attached and dependent on the relationship.

An approach that looks beyond ending conflict and tries to change the deeper patterns underneath it.

The process of working through disagreement in a way that is respectful, clear, and constructive.

A pattern of hiding feelings, staying quiet, or backing away to avoid disagreement or tension.

The snowball effect in conflict refers to when small, unresolved conflicts accumulate over time and gradually grow into much larger, more serious problems.

An intense urge or desire for a particular substance or behavior.

Sensation is the process by which sensory organs — such as the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin — detect external stimuli. It is the first gateway through which information about the world enters our minds, serving as the starting point for perception and awareness.

Sensory memory stores information received through the senses for a very brief period (1–3 seconds). It is the first gateway of memory, and only information that receives attention passes on to the next stage.

A therapy approach that heals trauma and psychological difficulties by paying close attention to the body's sensations and movements. It opens a path to healing emotional wounds that are hard to express in words, through the body itself.

This is the period (ages 0–2) when babies explore the world through their senses and movements. They learn by looking, touching, and tasting.

GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that calms down brain activity. It helps reduce anxiety and soothe the mind.

Gratitude is the feeling of noticing and appreciating the good things in your life. Even small moments of thankfulness can create great happiness.

A daily habit of writing down things you're grateful for, proven to boost happiness and overall well-being.

A psychological attitude of recognizing and appreciating the good things in life. Research abundantly shows that practicing gratitude increases happiness and improves mental health.

A legal defense arguing that due to a mental illness or psychological condition, a person lacked full judgment at the time of the crime, which can serve as grounds for a reduced sentence.

A manipulation technique where someone deliberately triggers intense emotions in another person to cloud their rational judgment, then exploits that confusion to steer them toward a desired outcome.

Emotional labor is when your job or situation requires you to express feelings that differ from what you actually feel inside.

Emotional blunting refers to a state where you can no longer feel emotions — whether joy or sadness — as vividly as you once did. It's like experiencing your feelings through a filter, making everything seem muted and distant.

Emotional agility is the ability to acknowledge your feelings as they are, without being controlled by them, and to choose actions that align with your values. It's about learning to move wisely with your emotions rather than against them.

It means your emotions change quickly and intensely. Even small events can cause your feelings to swing dramatically.

Emotional granularity is the ability to differentiate emotions with precision — going beyond 'happy' or 'sad' to identify exactly what you're feeling.

Emotional vocabulary is the ability to express what you feel using specific and precise words. The richer your emotional vocabulary, the better you can understand and care for your own inner world.

A defense in which painful feelings or memories are pushed out of awareness without realizing it. Unlike emotional suppression, where you notice a feeling and hold it back, repression happens unconsciously.

Feeling an emotion but holding it in so it doesn't show in your face, words, or actions. It can help in the moment, but as a habit it tends to wear down both mind and body.

Affective forecasting is the psychological process of predicting how future events will make us feel, including the intensity and duration of those emotions.

A model that maps emotions using two dimensions: pleasantness and energy level.

In relationships, positive interactions build up like deposits in a bank account, while negative interactions drain it like withdrawals. The healthier the balance, the stronger and more resilient the relationship.

Emotional First Aid is immediate psychological care you can apply when your mind gets hurt. Just like you disinfect and bandage a physical wound, emotional wounds also need prompt attention.

Putting what you feel into words—"hurt," "anxious"—which by itself can soften the emotion's intensity. It's both a finding and a practice, often summed up as "name it to tame it."