Pedagogy of the great pandemic of the 21st century: Epistemic implications for individual psychology, family science, and psychotherapies

Abstract

As an effect of the severe health crisis caused by COVID-19, lockdown constituted a psychosocial laboratory that represented an experiment on a global scale. The lessons from the research findings in the pandemic environment have been of enormous importance to the disciplines of human behavior. This paper explores two themes evidenced in this context: people's psychological well-being is underpinned by a socio-emotional network, and the most frequent psychological symptoms experienced in the pandemic are a socio-political problem; in particular it was observed that women reported greater discomfort than men in that period, showing with it that gender inequality remains a structural malaise. The conclusion points to two issues. First, an individualistic psychology is impossible without social content, especially in the collective affectivity, where the person participates. Second, psychotherapists should contemplate, in diagnosis and intervention, the socio-emotional and political context in which the symptomatology appears. The focus of this article is based on systemic third-order thinking, from where the socio-economic and cultural structural order is closely linked to identity, well-being, or personal discomfort.