THE PSYCHOLOGIST'S SKILLS

Psychology, in many of its fields, often uses working methods that aren’t so much about controlling variables or predicting outcomes, but more about understanding human behavior and subjectivity. Whether we’re talking about psychologists, educators, teachers or other similar professions, they all share a common foundation: the importance of soft skills — those personal and interpersonal abilities that are crucial in many areas of life and work.

As philosopher Umberto Galimberti says (when talking about teachers) and as research in psychotherapy confirms, it’s the personality of the psychologist or teacher — their empathy and human connection — that forms the real core of what they do.

Of course, like in any profession, we also need technical skills — for instance, knowing how to correctly score a psychological test — but those aren’t the heart of the job.

If you go to a psychologist, you expect him to be a good listener, someone who’s genuinely empathetic. Similarly, when it comes to teachers, we hope they can inspire and engage their students. Sure, later we can administer that test or explain that specific topic but without the human element — which is actually the main course, not just a side dish — it all feels kind of meaningless.

It doesn’t help much to know how to perfectly score a test if the psychologist can’t first connect emotionally with the client. And it’s pretty useless to know all the dates of World War II if the teacher sounds bored and can't get the students to care.

That said, this doesn’t apply to every profession. Sometimes, we just want the job done. Like, we’d definitely prefer a grumpy but competent plumber who can fix our leaking tap, over someone super friendly who has no idea what they’re doing.

But this brings up a fair question: if we’re saying personal qualities and relationships matter so much, what’s the point of spending years studying psychology?

The danger here is reducing psychology to just a calling — as if all you need is some natural empathy and a strong desire to help others. But think about it: how many deeply empathetic people do we know who aren’t psychologists? And how many great listeners have we met who’ve never studied psychology?

That’s why we need to make an important distinction: psychology training exists to take those raw traits — our motivations, personal tendencies, soft skills — and shape them into something that’s actually professional.

Someone might naturally be a good listener, but without the right training — both theoretical and hands-on — that’s not enough to turn it into psychological listening. It’s only through proper education and experience that our soft skill of listening becomes something more precise and profession-specific.

In other words, natural talent needs to be refined, grounded in theory, and applied in a professional setting in order to truly become a psychologist’s skill. This is why we can’t just “wing it” as psychologists — and why we can’t simply pass off psychological responsibilities to people in other fields, even if they do have great people skills. They might be amazing communicators, but they’re not trained to, say, work with a borderline patient — which requires specific psychological knowledge and competencies.

And let’s not forget the importance of theory. Theory helps guide us and gives us a professional framework — it helps us make sense of what we’re hearing in a session in a way that’s structured and meaningful.

To wrap it up: yes, motivation, soft skills, communication abilities and relational sensitivity are essential for anyone training to become a psychologist. But, in order to actually become one, these “raw materials” need to be shaped by a solid educational journey — one that’s both theoretical and practical — so that we can truly master the tools and knowledge specific to our profession.