Discuss the different approaches to psychology for the development of modern psychology. Modern psychology today plays an important role in a large number of fields such as health, education, sports and industry. Psychology dates back to ancient Greece, where doctors and philosophers studied and formed theories about the minds and behavior of humans. However, it was not until the late 17th century that psychology was considered an independent field of study made possible by the scientific methods used to study behavior and mental processes. “It was only when researchers came to rely on carefully controlled observation and experimentation to study the human mind that psychology began to achieve an identity distinct from its philosophical roots” (Shultz and Shultz 2011 :3). Throughout the history of psychology, many schools have developed. of thought who have all contributed to the advancement of psychology to the complex and popular field that it is today. These schools of thought, also known as approaches to psychology, had different ideas about how human behavior and mental processes work, what aspects to study, and the methodologies used to study them. Overall, all approaches provide a comprehensive understanding of human behavior and allow modern psychologists to look at cases from different angles and understand them better. The very first school of thought called structuralism was introduced by Wilhelm Wundt, known as the “Father of Modern Psychology.” Structuralism focused on the most fundamental elements of the mind and placed importance on sensation and perception. Wundt's greatest contribution was introspection which explored conscious mental processes by looking into the middle of a paper......being strongly influenced by them. A modern approach is the psychodynamic approach which focuses on the unconscious rather than the conscious mind. He completely ignored free will by considering behavior to be motivated by unconscious inner forces over which an individual had little control and contrasted with behavioral, cognitive and biological approaches. He introduced the idea that the unconscious was important in human behavior, the importance of early childhood experiences, and the use of therapy to improve human life (Stangor nd: 32). Psychodynamics was able to explain the irrationality of human actions which could not be explained by other approaches since they focused only on the conscious mind. According to Schottenbauer et. al., psychodynamics plays a major role in clinical psychology in the treatment of PTSD and trauma.