Developing Psychological Skills
This domain tests the professional skills a psychologist needs - observing, listening, interviewing, counselling and behaving ethically - and asks you to recognise a skill in a short transcript.
Core skills
- General skills: psychological knowledge, patience, the ability to communicate and to establish rapport.
- Observation: systematic, objective recording of behaviour in natural settings; description must be separated from interpretation.
- Listening: active and empathic, attending to verbal and non-verbal cues; techniques include paraphrasing, reflecting feelings and minimal encouragers.
- Interviewing: opening, body and closing phases; structured, semi-structured or unstructured; open questions first, leading questions avoided.
- Counselling: empathy, unconditional positive regard and genuineness build the working alliance.
Communication
Clarity, appropriate language, congruence between words and body language, and a non-judgemental stance.
Ethics
Informed consent, confidentiality (with limits where there is risk of harm), professional competence, avoiding exploitation and dual relationships, accurate recording and the client's right to withdraw.
Worked example
A client says, "I've failed everything this term." The counsellor replies, "It sounds as though you feel worthless right now." Reasoning: the counsellor has reflected the feeling rather than judging or advising, which is empathic listening that helps the client explore - it is not sympathy, and it is not an interpretation drawn from another school.
Traps
Empathy is understanding the other's frame of reference; sympathy is feeling sorry for them. Confidentiality is not absolute. Observation records behaviour, whereas interpretation assigns meaning. A leading question pushes the client toward the answer the counsellor expects, so the reply is no longer the client's own view.