Psychology department was one of the university's first six P.G. departments, established in September 1957 with the establishment of the University of Gorakhpur. Three assistant professors staffed the department in three rooms of Pant Block, namely Dr. M. M. Sinha, Dr. S. B. L. Bhardwaj, and L. B. Tripathi. The department got its own building space, laboratory equipped with instruments and psychological testing tools, and a library in 1964. Since 1958, Miss Shakuntala Srivastava, Dr. G.D. Rastogi, Mr. L.A. Singh, Professor S. Jalota, Dr. O.P. Tayal, Dr. S.D. Kapoor, Dr. J.N. Lal, Dr. V.K. Kool, Prof. H.S. Asthana, Sri V.K. Sharma, Prof. (Mrs.) Adesh Agarwal, Dr. Girishwar Mis Dr. B.D. Tiwari, Dr. A.N. Tripathi, Dr. P.S.N. Tiwari, Dr. Babban Mishra, Dr. (Mrs.) A.N. Srivatava, Dr. (Mrs.) Sushma Pandey, Dr. Rakesh Pandey, Dr. Anubhuti Dubey, and Dr. Dhananjay Kumar have taught in the department in different years and nurtured the department through their academic and research endeavors.

Presently, only Prof. Anubhuti Dubey and Prof. Dhananjay Kumar are serving the department. The department has a two-story building with all the basic amenities and infrastructure facilities, including two well-equipped laboratories, one conference hall, three smart classes, one computer lab, a library with more than 2600 books including 100 books donated by former faculty, a girls’ common room, a research scholars’ room, multiple lecture rooms and separate chambers for teaching faculty.

Major Achievements of the Department includes that in 1980-81, M. Phil course was started in the department. UGC has granted Department of Special Assistance (DSA) in 1988-89 in the leadership of Prof. L.B. Tripathi in the thrust area of ‘Experimental, theoretical and developmental, environmental Psychology’. The second phase of DSA was coordinated by Prof. (Mrs.) Adesh Agarwal from 1997-2002 in the same thrust area. The tenure for third phase of DSA was from 2004to 2009, coordinated by Prof. P.S.N. Tiwari, was in the thrust area of ‘Environmental Psychology and Cognition’. The UGC awarded the department the ASIHSS program in 2005, which was completed in 2010. The Government of Uttar Pradesh awarded the department a ‘Centre of Excellence’ in 2011. The department have organized 30National Seminars, 11 Refresher Courses, 6 National Workshops, 2 Short Term Courses,02 National Webinars, 01 Value Added Course so for. From2009-2015, the department had collaborated with GFATM- Round 7, NACO, UPSACS and Tata Institute of Social Sciences to fight with AIDS. During the period the department had organized 09 Induction Training programs and a number of refresher courses for HIV/AIDS/STI counselors working in medical colleges, district hospitals and PHCs under UP government. Since 2013, the department has held an annual Prof. L.B. Tripathi Memorial Lecture on his birthday, September 15 in the memory of Prof. Tripathi who headed the department for 29 years. The department has so far graduated 140 Ph.D. students. The faculty members have completed 28 major research projects and a number of minor research projects funded by UGC, ICSSR, NCERT, NCW, ISRO, ICMR etc. Faculty members have authored 37 books and more than 600 research papers in Journals of National and International repute and book chapters in different edited books. The department runs the ‘Swasti Psychological Counseling Center’ to assist the students of university in times of psychological trauma and crisis. Presently, the department offers UG, PG and Ph.D. programs and PG Diploma in Guidance and Counseling and PG Diploma in Human Resource Management in accordance with CBCS pattern and as per the NEP2020. Internship opportunities are provided to UG, PG and PhD program students. Every year, many of our Ph. D/PG students qualify UGC NET, GATE, and other competitive exams and work as teachers, administrators, consultants, advisors, counsellors etc.