What Is Design Psychology?
If you’re like most people, you’ve probably been paying more attention these days to your home and spaces in your environment.
Whether we are conscious of it or not, we repeat or reject patterns in our environmental histories — including our families’ + ancestors’ experiences — in our attempts to establish a sense of place.
Understanding human behavior, development, and relationships is becoming an increasingly important aspect of creating homes + spaces that truly reflect + support us.
Developed by my mentor Dr. Toby Israel, design psychology is defined the practice of architecture, planning and interior design in which psychology is the principal design tool.
Dr. Israel and other environmental/design psychologists, including Dr. Susan Painter + Dr. Constance Forrest, have continued to develop this emerging field, with the aim of creating environments that reflect individuals + groups and also encourage positive change.
Having a sense of place + home in the world is one of the most basic human needs.
When these needs are unmet, or you are faced with conflicts around privacy and social needs, you may experience an insecure connection to your home.
Not to mention the historical, ancestral, and other societal barriers + skewed messages around certain people being able to fully take up space and feel safe doing so.
Throughout my experiences as a clinical psychologist, I have found that helping clients understand their narratives about who they are is a significant step in moving towards healing + wholeness.
Design psychology allows for a similar process of self-reflection, integration of one’s past + present, and manifestation of an ideal future vision, to take place in your physical environment.
By understanding who YOU are and what your environmental story is, you can strengthen your psychological relationship to place and more easily envision + create a home that feels like you.
I continuously adapt + integrate my personal + professional experiences into the work of helping others — especially womxn of color — learn to take up more space in their environments.
Considering how our minds perceive spaces, as well as understanding our unique psychological relationship to homes + environments, can be a powerful tool for transforming your space into an authentic + nurturing reflection of you, while still allowing room for positive growth.
My role as a design psychologist is to guide you in returning to alignment with that authentic self.
Learn more about my offerings, and how design psychology can help you elevate your home or manifest your ideal home.
Stay connected + tuned for upcoming courses + mini-consulting packages in the next few months!
What are some of your biggest questions or challenges around design/spaces in your life? Drop a comment below! ❤️