Title: Holism: Definition and Examples
Headings: What Is Holism?
What Is Holism?
How psychologists use holism to understand behavior
Overview
Holism in Psychology
How It’s Used
Benefits
It Incorporates Many Factors
It Looks at the Big Picture
Drawbacks
It Tends to Be Non-Specific
It Can Be Overly Complex
Examples
Gestalt Psychology
Humanistic Psychology
Social Psychology
Holism vs. Reductionism
A Word From Verywell

Content: Learn about our Review Board
Amy Morin, LCSW
Updated on April 19, 2020
Verywell / Laura Porter
In psychology, holism is an approach to understanding the human mind and behavior that focuses on looking at things as a whole. It is often contrasted with reductionism, which instead tries to break things down into their smallest parts. This approach suggests that we can only understand the parts when we view them in relation to the whole. Overview
In terms of psychology, the holistic view suggests that it is important to view the mind as a unit, rather than trying to break it down into its individual parts. Each individual part plays its own important role, but it also works within an integrated system. Essentially, holism suggests that people are more than simply the sum of their parts. In order to understand how people think, the holistic perspective stresses that you need to do more than simply focus on how each individual component functions in isolation. Instead, psychologists who take this approach believe that it is more important to look at how all the parts work together. 1 ﻿
Holism in Psychology
As an approach to understanding systems, holism is used in psychology as well as in other areas including medicine, philosophy, ecology, and economics. One key phrase that summarizes the key idea behind the holistic approach is that “the whole is more than the sum of its parts.”