Chapter 9

Developing Psychological Skills

After reading this chapter, you would be able to:

• understand the need to develop skills among psychologists,
  
• describe the basic aspects of observational skills,
  
• know the significance of developing communication skills,
  
• understand the importance of psychological testing skills in individual assessment, and
  
• explain the nature and process of counselling.
  

Introduction

As you have already studied in the previous class, psychology began as an application-oriented discipline. Psychological testing stands as a prime example of psychology in action. Psychology touches on many questions related to our lives. For example, what kind of personality make-up is required to become a successful human being? Or what would be the right vocation for a student studying in Class XII ? Similarly, there are other questions and curiosities about human beings which psychologists are asked to answer.

Psychology has two kinds of application-related images: first, as a service-oriented discipline and second, as a scientific method-driven research discipline. Both of these are interrelated and inseparable. It would be important to learn that there are certain factors which contribute in making psychology application-oriented. First, psychologists have found, both in the past and present, that solutions to many problems faced by the individuals, groups, organisations and societies require an understanding of psychological principles. As problems encountered by individuals as well as societies have become more evident and acute, psychologists have responded with concrete solutions. For instance, rapid increase in depressive tendencies and suicidal rates among adolescents is one such area, where psychological knowledge dedicated to the issues of adolescent development is utilised for getting a clearer understanding of the occurrence of these phenomena, and certain intervention models are developed to assist the youth experiencing such problems early in their lives. The other reason is that expertise of psychologists has been highly valued in the marketplace. Over the past few years, there is a growing acceptability and demand of psychology as a profession. Various sections of society have developed a keen interest towards integrating the knowledge of psychology within their core activities. It can be seen particularly in the army or in the field of education, where in some states it has become mandatory for the schools to have a trained counsellor, in the field of management, which seeks help of psychologists to combat problems related to recruitment and assessment, employee behaviour, workplace stress, etc., in management of health-related problems and more recently even in sports. These are not the only areas. Almost all areas of life are calling for help from psychologists.

The term ‘skill’ may be defined as proficiency, facility or dexterity that is acquired or developed through training and experience. The Webster dictionary defines it as “possession of the qualities required to do something or get something done”.

American Psychological Association (1973) in their task force constituted
with the objective to identify skills
essential for professional psychologists recommended at least three sets of skills. These are: assessment of individual differences, behaviour modification skills, and counselling and guidance skills. Recognition and application of these skills and competencies have strengthened the foundation and practices of applied psychology in a positive way. How can one develop into a professional psychologist?

Developing as an Effective Psychologist

Most people think that they are some kind of psychologists. We, at times, talk about intelligence, inferiority complex, identity crisis, mental blocks, attitude, stress, communication barriers and so many other terms. Generally people pick up such terms from popular writings and media. There are a lot of common sense notions about human behaviour that one develops in the course of their lives. Some regularity in human behaviour is frequently observed by us to warrant generalisation. This kind of everyday amateur psychology often misfires, sometimes even proves disastrous. There still remains a question of how to differentiate between a pseudo-psychologist from a real psychologist.

An answer can be constructed by asking such questions like professional training, educational background, institutional affiliation, and her/his experience in providing service. However, what is critical is training as a researcher and internalisation of certain professional values. It is now recognised that the knowledge of tools used by psychologists, their methods and theories are required to develop psychological expertise. For example, a professional psychologist addresses the problem at the scientific level. They take their problem to the laboratory or study it in field settings to answer various problems. S/he tries to find the answer in terms of mathematical probability. Only then does s/he arrive at psychological principles or laws that can be depended upon.

Here, another distinction should be made. Some psychologists carry out research to propound or investigate theoretical formulations while others are concerned with our daily life activities and behaviour. We need both types of psychologists. We need some scientists to develop theories and others to find solutions to human problems. It is important to know about the conditions and competencies that are necessary besides research skills for a psychologist. There are conditions and competencies for psychologists which have come to be recognised internationally.

They cover a range of knowledge that a psychologist should possess when entering the profession after completing their education and training. These apply to practitioners, academicians, and researchers whose roles involve consulting with students, business, industry, and broader community. It is recognised that it is difficult to develop, implement and measure competencies required in a subject like psychology as the criteria for specification, identification and evaluation are not yet fully agreed upon.

The basic skills or competencies which psychologists have identified for becoming an effective psychologist fall into three broad sections, namely, (a) General Skills, (b) Observational Skills, and (c) Specific Skills. These are discussed in detail here.

General Skills

These skills are generic in nature and are needed by all psychologists irrespective of their field of specialisation. These skills are essential for all professional psychologists, whether they are working in the field of clinical and health psychology, industrial/organisational, social, educational, or in environmental settings, or are acting as consultants. These skills include personal as well as intellectual skills. It is expected that it will not be proper to provide any form of professional training (in clinical or organisational fields) to students who do not possess these skills. Once a student has these skills, subsequent training in her/his area of specialisation would only refine and further hone these skills required by a professional within her/his field of specialisation. Some examples of such skills are given in Box 9.1.

Observational Skills

A psychologist engages in observing various facets of surroundings including people and varying events. To begin with, a psychologist may begin with carefully scrutinising the physical setting in order to capture its “atmosphere”. S/he might look at the colour of the floor/ceiling, size of the window/doors, type of lighting, artefacts/paintings/sculptures, etc. These small, subtle, and irrelevant looking signals influence human behaviour, which is why a psychologist notes such signals in the surroundings. In addition to physical surroundings, a psychologist actively engages in observing people and their actions. This may include the demographic features (age, gender, stature, race, etc.), ways of dealing and relating with others, pattern of behaviours in the presence of others, etc. A psychologist records such details because something of significance may be revealed in the process of observation. The following points are taken into consideration while making an observation:

• Observe patiently;

• Pay close attention to your physical surroundings — who, what, when, where, and how;

• Be aware of people’s reactions, emotions, and motivations;

• Ask questions that can be answered while observing;

• Be yourself, give information about yourself, if asked;

• Observe with an optimistic curiosity; and

• Be ethical, you have to respect privacy, norms of people you are observing; take care not to disclose any information to anyone.

You are already familiar with two major approaches to observation, viz. naturalistic observation and participant observation. Let us now consider developing skills about them.

Naturalistic Observation is one of the primary ways of learning about the way people behave in a given setting. Suppose, you want to learn how people behave in response to a heavy discount provided by a company while visiting a shopping mall. For this, you could visit the shopping mall where the discounted items are showcased and systematically observe what people do and say before and after the purchases have been made. Making comparison of this kind may provide you with useful insights into what is going on.

Participant Observation is the variation of the method of naturalistic observation. Here the observer is actively involved in the process of observing by becoming an active member of the setting where the observation takes place. For instance, for the problem mentioned above, an observer may take a part-time job in a shopping mall showroom to become an insider in order to observe variations in the behaviour of customers. This technique is widely used by anthropologists whose objective is to gain a firsthand perspective of a system from within which otherwise may not be readily available to an outsider.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Observation

• Its major advantage is that it allows behaviour to be seen and studied in its natural setting.

• People from outside, or those already working in a setting, can be trained to use it.

• One disadvantage of it is that events being observed are subject to bias due to the feelings of the people involved as well as of the observers.

• Generally day-to-day activities in a given setting are fairly routine, which can go unnoticed by the observer.

• Another potential pitfall is that the actual behaviour and responses of others may get influenced by the presence of the observer, thus, defeating the very purpose of observation.

Specific Skills

These skills are core/basic to the field of psychological service. For example, psychologists working in clinical settings need to be trained in various techniques of therapeutic interventions, psychological assessment, and counselling. Similarly, organisational psychologists working in the organisational context need to have
skills in assessment, facilitation and consultation, behavioural skills to bring about individual, group, team and organisational development besides research skills, etc. Though, specific skills and competencies are required for a very specialised professional functioning, nonetheless, all skill sets do overlap quite a bit. They are not exclusive to an area. Relevant specific skills and competencies can be classified as follows:

(a) Communication Skills

• Speaking

• Active listening

• Body language or non-verbal skills

(b) Psychological Testing Skills

(c) Interviewing Skills

(d) Counselling Skills

• Empathy

• Positive regard

• Authenticity

Communication Skills

Components of Human Communication

When we communicate, we communicate selectively. That is, from the wide range of repertory of words, actions, etc. available to us, we choose that which we believe is best suited for the idea we wish to express. When we communicate, we encode (i.e., take ideas, give them meaning and put them into message forms), and send the idea through a channel. It is composed of our primary signal system based on our senses (i.e., seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and touching). The message is sent to someone who receives it using her or his primary signal system. S/he decodes (i.e., translates message into understandable forms). For example, you may say that you heard a bell or an object feels soft. These are examples of verbal communication which express how you understand the signals your senses have received. You can also respond at a non-verbal level. You touch a hot stove, your fingers pull away quickly, and your eyes well up with tears. The pulling away of fingers and welling up of eyes with tears will communicate to an onlooker the pain suffered by you.

The model given in Figure 9.1 shows the process of communication involving different stages.

As you can see that in any communication process, the degree to which the communication is effective depends on the communicators’ mutual understanding of the signals or codes being used in transmitting a message and in receiving. Suppose you are about to take an examination and suddenly realise that you have not brought your pen to class. You ask your friend, “Do you have an extra pen that you can spare for me?” She says “yes” and gives you the pen.
You have just participated in an effective communication transaction. You (communicator A) encoded a message (you need a pen) and used a channel for transmitting it (vocal chords producing sound waves) to your friend (communicator B). Your friend received the message using her sensory agent (ears) and decoded it (understood that you want a pen). Your friend’s feedback (the word “yes” and appropriate behaviour of giving a pen to you) indicated that the message was successfully received and decoded. The communication would have been still effective if she had said, “Sorry, I cannot, because I am carrying only one pen.”

You may remember that the act of speech itself is not communication. Speech is only a biological act; the utterance of sound, possibly the use of language. Communication is broader; it involves a relationship among two or more people in which they attempt to share meaning so that the intent of message received is the same as the intent of the message sent.

Speaking

One important component of communi-cation is speaking with the use of language. Language involves use of symbols which package meaning within them. To be effective, a communicator must know how to use language appropriately. Because language is symbolic, it is necessary to be as clear and precise as possible when using words. Communication takes place within a context. So one needs to consider the other’s frame of reference, that is, the context used by the sender to say something. Also whether s/he shares your interpretation. If not, it is important to adjust your vocabulary level and choice of words to fit the level of the listener. Remember that slang expressions, words unique to a culture or region, and euphemism can sometimes become obstacles in good communication.

Listening

Listening is an important skill that we use daily. Your academic success, employment achievement, and personal happiness, to a large extent, depend upon your ability to listen effectively. At first, listening may appear to you as a passive behaviour, as it involves silence. But this image of passivity is far from true. Listening requires a person to be attentive. S/he should be patient, non-judgmental and yet have the capacity to analyse and respond.

Hearing and listening are not the same. Hearing is a biological activity that involves reception of a message through sensory channels. It is only a part of listening, a process that involves reception, attention, assignment of meaning, and listener’s response to the message presented.

Reception

The initial step in the listening process is the reception of a stimulus or message. A message could be auditory and/or visual. The hearing process is based on a complex set of physical interactions that take place involving the ear and the brain. In addition to using the hearing mechanism, people listen through their visual system. They observe a person’s facial expressions, posture, movement, and appearance, which provide important cues that may not be obvious merely by listening to the verbal part of the message.

Attention

Once the stimulus, i.e. the word or visual, or both, is received, it reaches the attention stage of the human processing system. In this phase, the other stimuli recede so that we can concentrate on specific words or visual symbols. Normally your attention is divided between what you are attempting to listen to, and what is happening around you, and what is going on in your mind. Consider, you are watching a movie. The person in front of you is constantly whispering to her/his friend. There is a buzz in the sound system. You are
also worried about the forthcoming examination. So your attention is being pulled in different directions. Divided attention makes it difficult for you to receive signals or messages.

How would you know that someone has been listening? Ask her/him to restate what you had said. The person in doing this does not repeat your exact words. S/he makes a summary of the ideas just received and provides you with a restatement of what s/he understands. This is called ‘paraphrasing’. It allows you to understand how much s/he understood of what was communicated. If someone cannot repeat or write down a summary of what was said, then s/he probably did not get the whole message or did not understand it. We can keep this in mind when we are listening to our teacher in the class or to others. Try to paraphrase what you heard and if you cannot do so, you should seek immediate clarification, if possible.

Try verbally paraphrasing the next time you are engaged in a demanding conversation, such as when you are receiving directions or when you are in a conflict situation with a friend. Repeat to the speaker what you think she or he had just said in order to check whether you both received and understood the same thing. You will be surprised how many times conflicts result from miscommunication.

Assignment of Meaning

The process of putting the stimulus we have received into some predetermined category develops as we acquire language. We develop mental categories for interpreting the message we receive. For instance, our categorising system for the word ‘cheese’ may include such factors as a dairy product, its peculiar taste and colour, all of which help us to relate the word ‘cheese’ to the sense in which it is used.

Role of Culture in Listening

Like the brain, the culture in which we have been brought up also influences our listening and learning abilities. Asian cultures, such as India, emphasise on listening by being a silent communicator when receiving messages from seniors or elders. Some cultures focus on controlling attention. Buddhism, for instance, has a notion called ‘mindfulness’. This means devoting your complete attention to whatever you are doing. Training in ‘mindfulness’ which starts in childhood can help to develop longer attention spans and therefore, lead not only to better listening but also to sympathetic listening. However, in many cultures, such listening enhancing concepts are not present. Box 9.3 gives some tips to improve your listening skills.

Body Language

Do you believe that when you commu-nicate with another person, your words communicate the complete meaning of the message? If your answer is yes, then you are mistaken. We all know that it is possible to communicate a great deal even without using verbal language. We are aware that non-verbal acts are symbolic and closely connected to any talk in progress. Such non-verbal acts are part of what is called ‘body language’.

Body language is composed of all those messages that people exchange besides words. While reading body language, we must remember that a single non-verbal signal does not carry complete meaning. Factors such as gestures, postures, eye contact, clothing style, and body movement — all of them have to be considered together, that is, in a cluster. Also, in verbal communication, non-verbal signs can have many different meanings. For example, crossing arms over the chest may suggest that a person likes to keep aloof. But, crossed arms accompanied by an erect posture, tightened body muscles, a set clenched jaw, and narrowing of the eyes are likely to communicate anger.

A person’s background and past patterns of behaviour are also considered when we analyse body language. The consistency between current and past patterns of behaviour, as well as harmony between verbal and non-verbal communication, is termed as congruency. When you say to your friend, “you do not look well today”, you are basing your statement on an evaluation of the person’s appearance today and comparing it with how s/he looked in the past. In other words, something has changed, and you see that difference. If you did not have experience to draw on, you would not have noticed the change. Let us recall how much we use body language to encourage or discourage conversation. For instance, we consciously wave at waiters or friends to catch their attention. Much of the use of body language occurs in conversing with others without conscious realisation.

Psychological Testing Skills

The next set of competencies which psychologists require is concerned with the knowledge base of the discipline of psychology. They involve psychological assessment, evaluation and problem solving with individuals and groups, organisation, and the community. Psychologists have always been interested in understanding individual differences from the time of Galton in the late 19th century. Psychological tests have been devised and are primarily used for the determination and analysis of individual differences in general intelligence, differential aptitudes, educational achievement, vocational fitness, personality, social attitudes, and various non-intellectual characteristics. Psychological tests have also been used for studying a variety of psychological studies on groups besides making an assessment of a particular individual. Psychologists study these differences based on factors such as occupation, age, gender, education, culture, etc. While using psychological tests an attitude of objectivity, scientific orientation, and standardised inter-pretation must be kept in mind.

For example, in organisational and personnel work, in business and industry, where specialised tests are used to select individuals for specific jobs, it is essential to use actual performance records or ratings as a criterion for establishing validity of a test. Suppose, the personnel department wants to know whether a certain psychological test can help it to identify potentially best stenographers, it must be established that the test differentiates among employees of several performance levels. In addition, it should be found that the performance on the job of a newly employed worker selected on the basis of a test indeed matches with her/his test scores. Box 9.4 presents the essentials of psychological assessment skills.

Interviewing Skills

An interview is a purposeful conversation between two or more people that follows a basic question and answer format. Interviewing is more formal than most other conversations because it has a pre-set purpose and uses a focused structure. There are many kinds of interviews. The employment interview is one which most of you are likely to face. Some other formats are information gathering interview, counselling interview, interro-gatory interview, radio-television interview, and research interview.

Interview Format

Opening of the Interview

The opening of interview involves establishing rapport between two communicators. The purpose is to make the interviewee comfortable. Generally, the interviewer starts the conversation and does most of the talking at the outset. This serves two functions, i.e. it establishes the goal of interview, and gives the interviewee time to become comfortable with the situation and the interviewer.

Body of the Interview

The body of the interview is the heart of the process. In this stage, the interviewer asks questions in an attempt to generate information and data that are required for the purpose.

Sequence of Questions

While closing the interview, the interviewer should summarise what s/he has been able to gather. One should end with a discussion of the next step to be taken. When the interview is ending, the interviewer should give a chance to the interviewee to ask questions or offer comments.

Counselling Skills

Another prerequisite for developing as a psychologist is the competence in the domain of counselling and guidance. In order to develop these competencies, psychologists must undergo proper training and education under guided supervision. The consequences of getting into a wrong vocation are pretty serious. If a person enters a job for which s/he does not have requisite aptitude, s/he can develop serious problems of adjustments, develop negative emotions, suffer from inferiority complex, etc. These difficulties may then come to be projected onto someone else. Contrary to this, if anyone who takes a vocation for which s/he is well adapted, there will be considerable satisfaction in doing the job well. The positive feeling thus generated would have tremendous impact on overall life adjustment. Counselling is also one such domain where a person entering the field is required to engage in self-introspection in order to assess her/his inclination and basic skill set for being effective in her/his vocation.

Meaning and Nature of Counselling

Counselling provides a system for planning the interview, analysing the counsellor’s and client’s behaviour, and determining the developmental impact on the client. In this section, we will discuss skills, concepts, and methods that are designed to help develop concrete competencies. A counsellor is most often interested in building an understanding of the
clients problem by focusing on what understanding the client has of her/his problem and how s/he feels about it. The actual or objective facts of the problems are considered less important, and it is considered more important to work on the feelings and their acknowledgement by the clients. The focus is more on the person and how s/he defines the problem.

The following elements about counselling are common to the major theoretical approaches to counselling :

1. Counselling involves responding to the feelings, thoughts, and actions of the clients.

2. Counselling involves a basic acceptance of the client’s perceptions and feelings, without using any evaluative standards.

3. Confidentiality and privacy constitute essential ingredients in the counselling setting. Physical facilities that preserve this quality are important.

4. Counselling is voluntary. It takes place when a client approaches a counsellor. A counsellor never uses any kind of coercion for obtaining information.

5. Counsellors and clients both transmit and receive verbal and non-verbal messages during the process. Therefore, awareness and sensitivity to the nature of the message is an important prerequisite for a counsellor’s effectiveness.

Breaking the Myths of Counselling

• Counselling is not merely giving information.

• Counselling is not giving advice.

• Counselling is not selection and placement of individuals onto jobs or for courses.

• Counselling is not the same as interviewing though interviewing may be involved.

• Counselling is not influencing attitudes, beliefs and behaviour by persuading, admonishing, threatening, or compelling.

Developing Effective Relationships

For most people who seek help from a counsellor, effective or satisfying relationships are almost non-existent or infrequent. Since change in behaviour is often created and supported by a network of social support, it is essential for clients to start developing more positive relationships with other persons. The counselling relationship is the initial vehicle through which this begins. Like all of us, counsellors too are not perfect, but they are trained in developing a more healthy and helpful relationship than others.

Characteristics of Effective Helper

Being a trained helper, the counsellor has the responsibility for ensuring that her/his client is benefited from counselling and its therapeutic effects are achieved. To a large extent, however, the success of a counselling process depends on the skill, knowledge, attitude, personal qualities and behaviour of a counsellor, any or all of which can enhance or diminish the helping process. In this section, we will discuss four qualities that are associated with effective counsellors. These include: (i) Authenticity, (ii) Positive regard for others, (iii) Ability to empathise, and (iv) Paraphrasing.

Let us understand these qualities briefly.

(i) Authenticity : Your image or perception of yourself makes up your “I”. The self-perceived “I” is revealed through ideas, words, actions, clothing, and your life-style. All of these communicate your “I” to others. Those who come into close contact with you also build their own image of you for themselves, and they also sometimes communicate this image to you. For example, friends tell you what they like and dislike about you. Your teachers and parents praise and/or criticise you. You are also evaluated by persons you respect. These collective judgments by people you respect, also called ‘significant others’, develop into a ‘me’. This other perceived ‘me’ is the person that others perceive you to be. This perception may be the same as or different from your own self-perception of ‘I’. The degree to which you are aware of these perceptions of others as well as of your own perception of your self indicates that you are self-aware. Authenticity means that your behavioural expressions are consistent with what you value and the way you feel and relate to your inner self-image.

(ii) Positive Regard for Others: In a counselling-counsellor relationship, a good relationship allows freedom of expression. It reflects acceptance of the idea that the feelings of both are important. We should remember that when we form a new relationship, we experience feelings of uncertainty and anxiety. Such feelings get minimised when a counsellor extends a positive regard to the client by accepting that it is all right to feel the way the client is feeling. In order to show positive regard to others, the following guidelines may be kept in mind:

(2) Respond to what the other person has said, after checking with her/him.

(3) Give the other person the freedom to share feelings or anything s/he wants to say. Do not interrupt or cut in.

(4) Do not assume that the other person knows what you are thinking. Express yourself according to the frame of reference, i.e. in the context of the verbal exchange taking place.

(5) Do not label either yourself or the other person (e.g., “you are an introvert”, etc.).

(iii) Empathy: This is one of the most critical competencies that a counsellor needs to have. You have already read in Chapter 5 that empathy is the ability of a counsellor to understand the feelings of another person from her/his perspective. It is like stepping into someone else’s shoes and trying to understand the pain and troubled feelings of the other person. There is a difference between sympathy and empathy. In sympathy, you play the saviour. You may think that someone deserves your kindness.

(iv) Paraphrasing: This skill has already been discussed in the section on communication earlier. You will recall that this involves the ability of a counsellor to reflect on what the client says and feels using different words.

Ethics of Counselling

In recent years, counsellors have taken important steps to develop their professional identity. A critical criterion for any professional group is the development and implementation of appropriate ethical standards. Social workers, marriage counsellors, family therapists, and psychologists — all have their ethical codes. Awareness of the ethical standards and codes is extremely important, because counselling is a part of the service sector. Not following the ethical standards may have legal implications.

While learning about the competencies of a counsellor, it is important for you to know that the client-counsellor relationship is built on ethical practice. The American Psychological Association (APA) has developed a code of ethical conduct for behaviour and decision-making in actual clinical settings. The practical knowledge of these ethical domains can guide the practice of counselling in achieving its desired purpose. Some of the APA practice guidelines are: 

• Knowledge of ethical/professional codes, standards, and guidelines; knowledge of statutes, rules, regulations, and case law relevant to the practice of psychology.

• Recognise and analyse ethical and legal issues across the range of professional activities in the clinical setting.

• Recognise and understand the ethical dimensions/features of her/his 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.

SUMMARY