Developing Psychological Skills Class 12 Psychology

Developing as Effective Psychologist

The basic skills or competencies which are a prerequisite for psychologists to become an effective psychologist fall into three categories listed below-

1. General Skills

These skills are generic in nature and are needed by all psychologists irrespective of their field of specialization like counseling psychology, industrial psychology, clinical psychology, etc.

Intellectual and Personal Skills

• Interpersonal skill -Ability to listen, be Empathetic, etc
• Personal Skills-Personal Organisation, Perso
• Reflective Skills-Ability to examine and consider one’s motives Being sensitive to others behavior
• Expressive skills Ability to communicate ideas, feelings in a verbal, non-verbal, and written manner
• Cognitive skills-Problem solving, critical thinking
• Affective skills-Understanding of interpersonal conflict, emotional control and balance
• Personality/Attitude-Desire to help others, openness to new ideas

Sensitivity to Diversity: Individual and Cultural Differences

• Ability to respect and appreciate different cultural norms and beliefs
• Knowledge of self(one’s own attitudes, values, strengths, limitations) as one operates in professional settings with diverse others
• Ability to work effectively with diverse backgrounds in assessment, treatment, and consultation
• Knowledge about the nature and implication of individual and cultural diversity in different situations

Observational Skills

• In order to become an effective psychologist, good observational skills are indeed a prerequisite
• Observational skills are basic skills that are used by psychologists as a starting point for providing insights into the behavior
• The following points are taken into account while making an observation-
  • Observe patiently
  • Pay close attention to physical surroundings-who, what, when, where, and how
  • Be aware of people’s reactions, emotions, and motivations.
  • Observe with an optimistic curiosity
  • Be yourself, give information about yourself if asked
• There are two major approaches of psychology which are explained below:
  • Naturalistic Observation- Here the psychologists observe phenomena or subjects in natural, real-life settings.
  • Participant Observation- Here the psychologist studies the subject or phenomenaby being actively involved in the process of observing by becoming an active member of the setting where observation takes place.
• Merits of Observation method:
  • Helps in observing behavior in a real-life setting.
  • People from outside, or those already working in a setting, can be trained to use it
• Demerits of Observation method:
  • Events being observed are subject to bias due to the feelings of the people involved as well as of the observers.
  • In participant observation, the actual behavior and responses of others may get influenced by the presence of the observer.

Specific Skills

These skills are core to the field of psychological service. For example, psychologists working in clinical settings need to be trained and attain expertise in various techniques of therapeutic interventions, psychological assessment, etc. Organizational Psychologists need to have skills in assessment, facilitation, consultation which can bring out positive behavioral outcomes in people working in the organization.

Relevant specific skills and competencies are classified as follows:

1. Communication skills

• Communication is a conscious, unconscious, intentional, or unintentional process in which feelings and ideas are expressed as verbal/non-verbal messages that are sent, received, and comprehended.
• Various levels of communication are elaborated below

Intrapersonal Communication

• Involves communicating with oneself.
• Encompasses activities like personal decision-making, introspection.

Interpersonal Communication

• It refers to the communication that takes place between two or more persons who establish a communicative relationship.
• Forms of interpersonal communication include interviews, group discussions, face to face conversation.

Public Communication

• It is characterized by a speaker sending a message to an audience.
• It may be direct, such as face-to-face messages delivered by the speaker to an audience, or indirectly such as messages relayed over radio.
  • Encoding refers to giving proper meaning to our ideas and converting them into message forms and sending it through a channel and decoding implies translating the encoded message into understandable forms.
  • The degree of effectiveness in communication depends on the mutual understanding between the parties involved in the communication process.

Components of human communication are explained below

• Speaking involves the use of language and language involves the use of symbolsthat are meaningful in nature and a communicator must know how to use symbols effectively
• Listening is a process that involves reception, attention, assignment of meaning, and the listener’s response to the message presented.

Academic success, employment, achievement, personal happiness to a large extent depends on effective listening skills Body Language is composed of all those messages that people exchange besides words. Factors such as clothing, body movement, eye contact are considered together in clusters.

2. Psychological Testing Skills

• It involves psychological assessment, evaluation, and problem-solving with individuals and groups, organizations, and communities
• Psychological tests have been devised and primarily used for the determination and analysis of individual differences in general intelligence, differential aptitudes, educational achievement, social attitudes, and other characteristics of personality
• While using psychological tests an attitude of objectivity, scientific orientation, and standardized interpretation must be kept in mind

An interview is a purposeful conversation between two or more people that follows a question and answer format and it is more formal in nature than most conversations because it has a pre-set purpose and uses a proper structure

The basic format of an interview irrespective of its purpose is elucidated below:

Opening Of The Interview

• Involves establishing rapport between two communicators and the purpose is to make the interviewee comfortable.
• Generally, the interviewer starts the conversation and does most of the talking at the outset

Body Of The Interview

• It is the heart of the interview process
• In this stage, the interviewer asks questions in order to elicit information and data required for the purpose
• The set of questions prepared by the interviewer as per the purpose is called a schedule

Closing The Interview

• The interviewer must summarise what he/she has been able to gather
• The interviewee should be given a chance to ask questions if required

Counseling involves helping relationships which includes someone seeking help, and someone willing to give help, who is capable of or trained to help in a setting that permits help to be given and received.

Some of the myths of counseling are listed below

• It is not merely giving information
• Not the same as interviewing
• It is not about giving advice.
• It is not influencing the behavior of clients by persuasion, compelling

Characteristics of an Effective helper are elucidated below-

• Authenticity – It means that your behavioral expressions are in sync with what you value and the way you relate to your inner self-image
• Positive Regard For Others – Focuses on acceptance of the idea that feelings of both counselor and client are important and giving a comfortable space to the client to help clients express their feelings freely
• Empathy - The ability of a counselor to understand the feelings of a client from their perspective.it is like stepping into someone else’s shoes and trying to understand the pain of the other person
• Paraphrasing – It is the ability of the counselor to reflect on what the client says and feels using different words.

Specific Skills

These skills are core to the field of psychological service. For example, psychologists working in clinical settings need to be trained and attain expertise in various techniques of therapeutic interventions, psychological assessment, etc. Organizational Psychologists need to have skills in assessment, facilitation, consultation which can bring out positive behavioral outcomes in people working in the organization.

Relevant specific skills and competencies are classified as follows:

• Communication Skills
• Psychological Testing Skills
• Interviewing Skills
• Counseling Skills

Communication skills

• Communication is a conscious, unconscious, intentional, or unintentional process
  in which feelings and ideas are expressed as verbal/non-verbal messages that
  are sent, received, and comprehended.

Ethics In Counselling

APA has listed down the following guidelines to be followed in counseling-

• Knowledge of ethical/professional codes, standards, and guidelines
• Knowledge of statutes, rules, regulations, and case law relevant to the practice of  psychology
• Recognize and understand the ethical dimensions of his/her own attitudes and practice in the clinical setting
• Seek appropriate information and consultation when faced with ethical issues
• Practice appropriate professional assertiveness related to ethical issues