60 years of Ispa, the pioneering psychology institute in Portugal
With eyes on future generations, the University Institute of Psychological, Social and Life Sciences (Ispa) celebrates this year 60 chapters of history that accompanied the change in the perception of mental health in the country. Divided between the areas of Psychology, Education and Biosciences, the institute is proud to be the first Higher Education Institution to introduce the study of Psychology in Portugal.
In conversation with the DN, the dean Isabel Leal says that the area of Psychology was not always seen with due importance, contrary to what happens today. “60 years ago Psychology was a subversive and revolutionary thing. Therefore, it was only accepted because those who suffered from it did so within the scope of religious congregations”explains.
Six decades after its inauguration, Ispa is now celebrating the impact of the institution, which followed the signs of the times and the “path of society”, which led to the integration of this area of study in the country.
“These 60 years were the time of naturalization… of building and affirming a discipline that accompanies society. In the past, people did not know what psychologists were doing. With the advancement of time, psychology became a phenomenon of fashion and today it is a perfectly acquired area, since people understand that psychologists intervene in the most different social levels, from health promotion to the economy and the environment”, explained the dean.
According to Isabel Leal, the “small institution that was born within the scope of religious congregations” is today a recognized university institute and “the reference school of Psychology in the country”, responsible for training several generations of psychologists.
With “some undergraduate degrees, many master’s degrees and quite a few doctorates”, Ispa has been increasing, year after year, its number of candidates and has, in the current academic year, a new degree in Cognitive and Behavioral Sciences. According to the dean, the most recent course “attempts to take advantage of psychological knowledge linked to computing, research and new technologies. It is aimed at a young audience, updated and who wants to make a career in research or in more digitized areas. It is the first course of its kind in Portugal.”
This new behavioral course aims to address one of the many activities of Psychology. According to Isabel Leal, psychology “is not just a profession, but knowledge that is at the service of many professions”.
“Psychology is linked to the most diverse activities – from communication to marketing, advertising, human resources, and even the digital world. At Ispa, we are now investing in these areas and we hope it will be challenging for young people who are interested in fusion”, he argues.
Taking into account the signs of the times and the most recent difficulties, such as the covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, Isabel Leal congratulates the “naturalness” with which psychology is, nowadays, spoken in Portugal: “All we ended up realizing that, in work, organizational and even educational contexts, psychology is part of life and is a tool to study a set of phenomena. the psychological experience of individuals.”
In this sense, and taking into account that “we live in a world in constant change”, the dean considers that “it is inevitable” the increase in the need for psychological guidance. “The more sophisticated, computerized, digitized, mechanical societies are, the greater their need for individualized monitoring”it says.
Between corridors, auditoriums, in the library and in the classrooms… art is present throughout the school, being one of the main mottos of the institution. Malangatana is one of the most prominent artists, with several works made by psychologists and a provision dedicated to the institution’s anniversary.
“We have a culture closely linked to art and a humanist perspective – prioritizing the human side of science, in the sense that we want to be scientific, but we try to combine that through caring for our students. All of this is what sets us apart”, he says. a responsible.
To mark 60 years of history, Ispa has designed some scientific, cultural and convivial initiatives included in a “party program that aims to meet the institution’s former students”. The events, organized mostly by the alumnicontemplate concerts, theaters, conferences, and lunches with different generations, remembering each decade of the first Institution of Higher Education in Psychology.