In my April 14 column, I decided to try to answer a question that I get asked on a regular basis.
What makes a good shrink?
(Source: À la recherche d’un bon psy. Journal Métro, April 14, 2009)
Whenever I meet with high school students about careers in psychology I always get asked the same question: What does it take to be a good psychologist?
While finding a licensed psychologist may be easy, finding a good one may not be. Here are the qualities I look for in someone whom I believe is competent:
Be normal
It may sound simple but I usually tell people that a good psychologist should be a fairly normal individual. By normal I mean someone who is relatively mainstream in their attitudes, someone who is not overly dominant or passive, someone who does not push any strong beliefs or values on others, someone who does not overreact to things, someone without a “schtick.” You know…normal.
Be smart
A good psychologist must be fairly intelligent. By intelligent I do not mean one has to understand theoretical physics. I mean the person must have the ability to remember things and to see connections in patterns of behaviour that may not be obvious to others.
Be open-minded
Psychologists work with people from all walks of life – people with radically different values, education, cultural beliefs, styles, professions, and circumstances. No two people or situations are alike. A good psychologist must be open to everything and be prepared to respect choices in others. A close-minded psychologist cannot do that.
Have true empathy: Be honest with oneself
Another obvious asset for a psychologist is empathy. If you are to have empathy, you must be able to imagine yourself in other people’s circumstances. That’s the easy part. The difficult part is to be truly honest with yourself in assessing how you would feel in the shoes of others. It isn’t possible to be completely accurate when we want to feel empathy but being honest with oneself, especially if you are “normal,” goes a long way.
Above all, don’t have all the answers
The final asset, and perhaps the most important one, is the recognition that they do not have all the answers. Not even close. A good psychologist is a critical thinker who questions his or her own ideas. A critical thinker does not jump to conclusions, or taint observations with bias. A critical thinker knows what is and isn’t known.
A good shrink, a good anything
If you put all of the above ingredients together you get a pretty good shrink. Come to think of it, these are the same qualities that make good managers, engineers, physicians, welders, teachers, or anything else. How about that? These qualities also make pretty good human beings as well.
Tagged as Psychologists, shrinks.
Posted in Mental health, Random thoughts.
Posted on 26 Apr 2009
