â € ‹â €‹ â € ‹â €‹ â € ‹â €‹ â € ‹Psychology and psychology. Episode two
In this article, we will talk not only about psychology, psychodiagnostics, fate analysis and scientific methods. I would like to acquaint readers with the position of a person who is rightly considered by a large number of experts in academic circles to be the flagship of personality psychology in the Russian Federation. In addition, I have long wanted to meet personally with Lyudmila Nikolaevna Sobchik and discuss with her such a topic as the problem of false psychologists. I am sure that the position of Lyudmila Nikolaevna will be not only interesting, but also useful both for colleagues, novice specialists and ordinary people. So, let me introduce my interlocutor: a Russian psychologist, Doctor of Psychology, a leading specialist in the field of psychodiagnostics and personality psychology — Sobchik Lyudmila Nikolaevna.
Journalist:
Lyudmila Nikolaevna, please tell me how many years you have been studying depth psychology?
Lyudmila Nikolaevna:
I started studying personality psychology when I was over thirty years old, and to this day I practice creating methods for diagnosing personality traits and developing the theoretical foundations of the psychology of individuality.
Journalist:
Please tell us about your first PhD work.
Lyudmila Nikolaevna:
My PhD was related to the practice of applying test methods. It was an event for Russia because it happened for the first time. In particular, the base of the well-known MMPI test was improved, which I adapted and modified. My adaptive version of the MMPI test methodology, the SMIL test, consists of 375 statements. Each statement is clear, easy to perceive and works on the personal characteristic that corresponds to it.
And to this day in Russia this version of the test is quite widespread.
Journalist:
In what professional areas is it most widely used today?
Lyudmila Nikolaevna:
He is especially popular in personnel selection, career guidance, and in the Department of Employment. It is also very successfully used in the Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and such large organizations as Lukoil and Gazprom. For the past thirty years, many methods, original author’s, as well as those that have been adapted by me, have been widely used by pedagogical psychologists and school psychologists to visualize the pedagogical process.
Journalist:
Lyudmila Nikolaevna, what can you say about personality theory?
Lyudmila Nikolaevna:
At the time when I started my research activity, in Russian psychology there was still no single view of the whole personality. Only Leontiev’s Theory of Activity is possible. In the domestic theoretical approach, the approach prevailed, in which it was necessary to avoid references to the innate characteristics of people. All the features were tried to be attributed to the convective, emotional, behavioral characteristics that appeared as a result of upbringing, social environment and social factor. Although at the same time the well-known Leningrad psychologist Ananiev said that all three components must be taken into account: biological, psychological and social. In this I am his collaborator. This is the approach I use in my work. In my work, I have always paid more attention to the roots, the origins that form the personality. I took into account the genetic past and innate characteristics. The typology of personal properties developed by me highlights such basic properties as sensitivity, anxiety, aggressiveness, emotiveness, extraversion and introversion, pedantry, and spontaneity. It is these eight basic typological properties that underlie personal interpretation. I want to draw your attention to the fact that this approach is quite universal. Using this approach when conducting a comparative analysis of different indicators of several methods, you can get the most reliable results.
Journalist:
Lyudmila Nikolaevna, I know that your new book will be published soon?
Lyudmila Nikolaevna:
Yes that’s right. My new book is coming out soon, called The Psychology of Individuality. Theory and practice of psychodiagnostics. This is an updated reprint of this book, which first appeared in 2000. I also plan to start writing the next book with a medical psychological bias on the fate of women and work with adolescents in the very near future.
Journalist:
In what countries and who uses your methods?
Lyudmila Nikolaevna:
My methods are used both by practical psychologists and in research institutes in Russia, Latvia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan.
Journalist:
Do you plan to hold seminars or refresher courses?
Lyudmila Nikolaevna:
Undoubtedly. On April 4, I will conduct an 80 hour course for psychologists. This course is very comprehensive and informative. In such courses, I share all my practice and knowledge that I have acquired throughout my scientific career in the field of psychology and psychodiagnostics. One of the main goals that I set for myself is to help psychologists in mastering and acquiring practical skills in the application of psychodiagnostic methods. After my training, psychologists who work in various fields know and, most importantly, can apply this data in their practice.
Journalist:
Lyudmila Nikolaevna, have you been to the homeland of Leopold Szondi? Perhaps you know Mr. Juttner?
Lyudmila Nikolaevna:
Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to visit Szondi’s homeland and I never met Mr. Yutner. Although I certainly visited Europe and even lived in London for several years. My husband was a diplomat. That’s when I learned languages. In addition, I had a unique opportunity to study rare books by foreign colleagues.
Journalist:
Lyudmila Nikolaevna, what do you think a person who calls himself a psychologist should be like?
Lyudmila Nikolaevna:
A psychologist must be an educated person. In moral terms and in his erudition, he should be head and shoulders above others. Only then does he have the right to bear the title of psychologist and invade the inner world of another person. Such a person should have a wide range of knowledge and a corresponding depth of knowledge, not only in psychology, but also in literature and philosophy.
Journalist:
You know that as a journalist, I am interested in the topic of pseudo-psychologists. How would you describe such a phenomenon and how common do you think it is today?
Lyudmila Nikolaevna:
Unfortunately, many people who have barely learned to read and write have decided that they are psychologists. Sometimes they discuss everyday topics at the level of common sense. People are explained how to live in order to be happy, in harmony with themselves and the world around them, but this has nothing to do with scientific psychology. False psychologists mislead people who seek help from smart people in order to overcome everyday difficulties regarding their spiritual world and communication with others. When it suddenly became fashionable to turn to psychologists, some intelligent people realized that this was a great opportunity to make money. Frankly, I have not met such false psychologists who would not try to make money on it. Perhaps the exception is ambitious graphomaniacs. There simply aren’t any. They have many ways of acting — for example, to write a book that is popular, but at the same time has nothing to do with academic science. There is also a form of some kind of call from psychologists: “Come to us! We will tell you everything and show you the way to happiness! We will tell you how to achieve everything! You see, they hit very painful points such as ambition, human dissatisfaction, and these are vulnerable areas of a person and they are open for pseudo-psychologists and they are the easiest to influence. Well, then according to the known plan. People come, people believe, they pay big money. But all this does not bring the expected success. Those works and methods that I was familiar with were most often delusions and the desire to present their own reasoning and demagogy as the ultimate truth. But in all this there is no knowledge from real scientific psychology. In the vast majority of cases, pseudo-psychology is based on an unscientific approach. They assign titles and academic degrees to themselves, which is not confirmed by the facts of their existence. Due to their lack of education in the field of psychology, people pay a lot of money to such unfortunate specialists. As you understand, such “psychologists” only earn money. They are not going to help anyone. There is only mercantile interest. Unfortunately, this has become a trend today. The consequences of the actions of such false psychologists are extremely deplorable.
Once again I would like to thank Lyudmila Nikolaevna for meaningful conversation. In my opinion, all sane people should listen to the words of such specialists, because the worst evil is that which pretends to be good. In order not to become a victim of pseudo-psychologists, it is worth distinguishing this phenomenon and learning how to make the right decisions when choosing not only methods, but also specialists. To be continued…