As many as 50 alumni of the Faculty of Psychology batch 1983 wrote books about their experiences in pursuing work related to psychology. This 536-page book tells about the development of psychology based on their respective perspectives and experiences.
The book, entitled Jejak Delapan Tiga: Perjalanan Hidup Satu Angkatan Psikologi UGM, gives a unique perspective because the writers were those who entered college in 1983. At that time in Indonesia, only three state universities had a Faculty of Psychology, namely the University of Indonesia, Padjadjaran University, and UGM. In that year, Universitas Airlangga Surabaya also opened a Psychology study program. However, it was still part of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences. Until now, psychology in Indonesia has grown rapidly, with 128 universities throughout Indonesia.
Professor of the Faculty of Psychology UGM, Prof. Dr. Djamaludin Ancok, expressed his appreciation for writing a book about psychology from the perspective of the thoughts and experiences of the alumni. For Ancok, psychology is a field of science that intersects almost every area of work. He gave an example of his experience of teaching MBA programs both in Indonesia and abroad. “I was asked to teach about leadership, organizational change, consumer psychology to training in companies,” said Ancok in a virtual book launch and discussion on Friday (4/12).
According to him, alumni and workers who are related to psychology are fine to study with other fields of science which, according to him, are very closely associated with psychology. “Because human behavior is related to psychology,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Professor of Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing UGM, Prof. Yayi Suryo, a member of the 1983 class who became one of the authors of the book, said that his current field of work is mainly in the medical area. However, according to him, health promotion activities and healthy lifestyle behaviors such as smoking cessation campaigns are closely related to counseling and consultation. “Health promotion is beneficial to understand people’s behavior,” he said.
In addition, Yayi said, nursing staff, based on his observation, actually carried out more activities related to psychology, such as relaxation and mindfulness. “This is a challenge for us to learn other sciences, and we are open to advise that psychology goes hand in hand with industry and health,” he said.
