I have a friend who is really simple-minded & naive, can a psychologist help that person become more astute.?

Answer 1

He'd probably pay the psychologist a fortune and actually believe he was becoming more astute whether he really was or not...LOL.

Answer 2

Well, one factor is age. When young, the brain still has to go through some maturation (e.g.,the area of the brain regulating discretion is still not developed in teenagers, resulting in male teens doing some very dangerous things).

Age also brings experience. Many people cannot "abstract" well and cannot fully think through all the possibilities for something unless they actually experience it. Time, thus, can be an educator for even the most naive person.

A psychologist or mentor or other "guide" (even a decent and wise parent) can help educate someone so that they can benefit from experiences they have not had personally.

Therapy is not like medicine, though, where the doctor implements and controls the "cure" -- the patient in therapy is the person who decides whether therapy will be productive, and all the pscyhologist can do is ask questions and provide information in a way that the person can understand and hopefully benefit from, if they decide to listen at all.

In terms of the "simple-minded" and "naive" (and I wouldn't use those terms negatively, I would just use them to describe someone who is straight-forward, single-minded, realistic, focused on what is front of them, and doesn't multi-task well, etc.), well, if a person is lacking in imagination or simply doesn't have the right sort of brain power to think a certain way, the psychologist cannot do much about that.

Clear examples exist in many of the celebrities, who are often straight-forward "people persons," who don't think much outside the box, who aren't very complex thinkers (e.g., one negative example being the "Jessica Simpson" type). They can go to therapy and they can explore many different world views and look open-minded, but it's still clearly obvious from their actions and speech that they have no good ability to evaluate / analyze what's going on and draw reasonable conclusions from their experiences.

So that vulnerability will always be there for them, and you can't really change the "raw way" in which you process information. You can improve it, sure, and hone it, but you can't really turn someone who thinks in straight-forward and simple ways into a complicated philosopher type.

You can simply update the information that you already have, and hopefully find mentors and others you can trust who can tell you things you wouldn't think of on your own.

I think your friend could benefit from the support and insights of a psychologist, sure. The thought process can be "matured" and a person can get used to the idea of other possibilities. The more experience they get, the more options they'll "see" when exploring an issue. But it's up to your friend to work at it, and you could provide your own perspective to your friend, enabling them to benefit from the way you see things.

Answer 3

I think bringing them to a big city would be more efficient and less costly. They just need to experience reality a little bit more, and a large city has plenty to offer.

Answer 4

Not really. That may take some awakenings in the school of real life

Answer 5

Let time and mistakes help your friend grow, as long as the mistakes aren't too harmful..... and if firm conversations with him/her don't help of course.

Good luck and best wishes for you both.

Answer 6

he is going help 30% for him psychologist will need help himself god help

Answer 7

I have the same friend, And no i think their is no hope for cluelessness.

Answer 8

It comes with age and life exprerience. So, no, I don't think so.

Answer 9

you should really quit talkin about yourself that way...