Professional And Personal Qualities Of A Psychologist

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

In accordance with the methodological recommendations in the activities of psychological service workers, the main tasks of a psychologist are:

1) psychological prevention (promoting the development of psychological culture, the formation of a desire to know oneself and be able to solve difficult situations in communication)

2) psychological diagnostics (identification of individual psychological characteristics, personality relationships and the specifics of group interaction)

3) psychological correction (the action of a psychologist on the client's inner world in order to reveal his reserves for solving a psychological problem);

4) psychological development (the formation of new psychological qualities, personality traits that allow the client to develop in his chosen direction)

5) psychological counseling (creating conditions for a person to understand himself and significant others, to make decisions about what to do and how to relate to it).

The necessary qualities for any profession are acquired and developed in the process of special education throughout the entire professional life. In addition to professional knowledge and skills, specialties of the person-to-person type (E. Klimov) are determined by personal qualities and social competencies.

Professional and personal in the work of a psychologist are very often closely related. It is difficult to be one personally personally, but completely different in professional activity. Therefore, personal qualities constitute an important foundation for the professional success of a psychologist.

L. Schneider proposes to combine all the personal properties that are in the "image of the I" of the psychologist-consultant into the concept of "humanity", which includes spirituality, empathy, openness, integrity, wisdom, orderliness, stability, patience, faith in another person.

E. Sidorenko and N. Khryascheva most fully describe and describe some of the general qualities of a practical psychologist: psychological observation, psychological thinking, listening skills, empathy, creativity and poise.

According to the ethical code of a psychologist, the following ethical standards are desirable for a psychologist: responsibility, competence, protection of client's interests, confidentiality. Since the object of a psychologist's work is the inner world of a person, these norms are basic for mastering the profession of a psychologist.

The US National Vocational Guidance Association identifies the following personality traits of a psychologist:

showing a deep interest in people and patience in society with them

sensitivity to the attitudes and behavior of other people

emotional stability and objectivity

the ability to inspire the trust of other people

respect for the rights of others

It is advisable to add personal responsibility for the formation of a personal image to this list.

It is difficult to find personal qualities that are equally important for such different areas of the psychologist's activity as scientific psychology, practical psychology, teaching psychology. Each of them makes a number of specific requirements for the personality of the psychologist.

According to K. Ramul, the following personality traits are necessary for every scientist, including a psychologist:

1) enthusiasm for the job and its task,

2) oddities - the ability and inclinations to long-term and perseverance of work,

3) discipline,

4) the ability to criticism and self-criticism,

5) impartiality,

6) the ability to be in harmony with people

The important moral qualities of a psychologist are undoubtedly considered benevolence, respect for people, sensitivity, responsiveness, altruistic, humanity, intelligence.

The communicative qualities of his personality are of great importance for the psychologist: the ability to understand other people and psychologically correctly influence them … A psychologist must be able to work with people, taking into account the character and temperament of the opponent, have not only psychological knowledge, but also psychological intuition. The communicative qualities of a psychologist, which are important for his professional activity, can be considered attractiveness, sociability, tact, politeness, the ability to listen and understand another person.

In general, the complex of these qualities is often called "communication talent".

Communication is verbal and non-verbal. Let's take a closer look at verbal communication.

The structure of communication has interrelated aspects: communicative, interactive, perceptual.

The communicative side of communication is the exchange of information. The means of the communicative process are various sign systems: language (or verbal communication) and gestures, facial expressions, intonation (or non-verbal communication).

The interactive side consists in the exchange of actions, in the organization by the subjects of communication of a general strategy of interaction. There are different levels of interaction between people (from cooperation to competition). It is in the process of interaction that the status-role positions of the interlocutors are determined (who dominates and who will obey).

The perceptual side involves the perception and understanding of the interlocutors of each other. Perception is, first of all, the process of forming the image of another person in the mind of the interlocutor. This is achieved by “reading” the partner's psychological traits and possible features of his behavior. The main mechanisms of cognition of another person are identification (identification) and reflection (awareness of how other people perceive the subject of communication).

For a psychologist in professional activity, it is necessary to skillfully use all aspects of communication.

As you can see, there is no single "gold standard" for the qualities of a psychologist. And yet, it is desirable to combine the aforementioned personality traits in order to achieve all the goals set by the psychologist.