The school psychologist begins his work with. How does a psychologist differ from a psychiatrist?

Glukhova Elena Anatolyevna

We'll know!

Who is a “psychologist”?

Quite often you can hear: “Oh, psychologist, is this the one who treats psychos?”, “What kind of psychologist!? My child is healthy, it’s you who don’t know how to handle him!” Such a reaction to the mention of the psychologist profession is still very common even among educated people. This is mainly due to the fact that psychologists are confused with doctors, and they believe that turning to a psychologist means admitting your own mental ill-being (illness). In fact, a psychologist is a specialist with a higher humanities education in the field of psychology who works with healthy people experiencing certain difficulties at a particular point in their lives.

How does a psychologist differ from a psychiatrist?

Many people do not distinguish a psychologist from a psychiatrist. But there are differences, and significant ones at that. A psychiatrist is a person with a higher medical education, a doctor whose duty is to help a person, first of all, through drug treatment. A psychologist does not treat anyone, he has no right to do so. The psychologist helps with words and analysis of situations. Unlike a psychiatrist, a psychologist works only with mentally healthy people who need support.

What does a psychologist do at school?

The work of a school psychologist can be divided into the following areas:

1. Psychological diagnostics consists of conducting frontal (group) and individual examinations of students using special techniques. Diagnostics are carried out at the preliminary request of teachers or parents, as well as at the initiative of a psychologist for research or preventive purposes. The psychodiagnostic direction includes: identifying the causes of academic failure, analysis of personal development problems, assessment of the development of cognitive processes and abilities, analysis of the current physical and mental state of students, career guidance, analysis of interpersonal relationships of students, analysis of family and parent-child relationships.

2. Psychological counseling is work based on the specific request of parents, teachers, and students.

3. Correctional and developmental work is carried out in the form of individual or group sessions, during which the psychologist tries to correct undesirable features of the child’s mental development. These classes can be aimed both at the development of cognitive processes (memory, attention, thinking), and at solving problems in the emotional-volitional sphere, in the sphere of communication and the problem of self-esteem of students.

4. Psychological education consists of introducing teachers and parents to the basic patterns and conditions for the favorable mental development of a child. This is carried out through consultations, speeches at pedagogical councils and parent-teacher meetings.

5. Methodological work (professional development, self-education, work with analytical and reporting documentation).

What questions should you ask your school psychologist?

It makes sense to contact a psychologist (both a school psychologist and any psychological consultant) with a specific request regarding the child’s systematically recurring (typical) difficulties. In this case, it is advisable to clearly formulate what the difficulties are, for example:

1. “Stupor” when called to the board, inability to answer a lesson well learned at home, failures on tests while doing the same tasks well at home.

2. The child systematically violates the rules of behavior, although he knows them.

3. The child has difficulties communicating with peers or the teacher (conflicts), etc.

4. It is advisable to bring at least a few children’s works to your appointment with a psychologist (drawings from different periods of life, creative products, school notebooks).

ATTENTION!!!

A psychologist cannot correct violations of children’s activity for parents (bypassing parents and teachers). Only parents and teachers themselves can make adjustments to their own behavior and interaction with the child. Therefore, everything will work out only if they are ready to do it and make every effort to change actions and attitudes. It all depends on you!

In what cases can a psychologist refuse psychological counseling?

A psychologist must refuse counseling if:

There is even the slightest doubt about the adequacy of the client;

From the first meeting he does not find a common language with the client;

The client does not adhere to the correctional work scheme proposed by the psychologist;

There are family, close or friendly relations with the client;

The client addresses a question or problem that is not psychological in nature and in which the psychologist does not consider himself competent to solve.

What else do you need to know about a school psychologist?

1. A psychologist does not solve your problems for you, does not “write out a prescription.” He explains the situation and together with you looks for possible solutions to the problem. Only parents, teachers and other adults close to the child can change the situation of a child’s development!!!

2. As a rule, what at first seems to parents to be an exclusively “school” problem for the child, is actually a consequence of either family problems or problems that have migrated from earlier stages of the child’s development. In such cases, the psychologist works not only and not so much with the child himself, but with the parent-child pair.

3. When working with a psychologist, you and your child do not take the passive position of “patients,” but the position of active, interested accomplices.

4. The psychologist maintains confidentiality; he does not disclose information received from you or the child.

5. Having studied the information received, the psychologist can give recommendations to the teacher on how to work more effectively with your child.

Making a choice in favor of a certain type of activity, it already becomes clear what kind of work a novice psychologist would like to work in, what consultations attract him most, and in what field of activity he would like to try to gain a foothold. Moreover, it partially becomes clear where to look for such work.

How to start working as a psychologist - job search by profession

It is recommended that a novice psychologist search for a job by profession using the following algorithm:

Determine the range of places where your professional skills, not yet supported by work experience, will be in demand.
Send your resume to these places and also sign up for job interviews.
Talk to your friends and acquaintances about possible employment opportunities.
Look for vacancies on exchanges on the Internet, in employment centers and similar places.

This is a common search algorithm and is followed by many young people. But in order for the solution to the problem of how to start working as a psychologist to bring the fastest and, most importantly, good results, you need to apply the following tips to your life:

An aspiring psychologist looking for where to start should not set the bar too high for themselves regarding the vacancy. And, accordingly, it should not be focused on too high a salary.

In general, experience shows that the best option would be to work for one year at some low-paid job, for example, at a school or a medical institution, gain experience, and then, having a good starting position in education and experience, apply for more prestigious positions .

If circumstances require it, then in addition to your higher education diploma, you can take advanced training courses that will provide additional advantages in the labor market. But it is better to select courses not academic, but practical, and even better - with subsequent employment. By the way, such courses for those who want to make a good career will need to be taken regularly.
Stay organized. Make a plan on how you can start working as a psychologist, what places to visit, who to talk to. The more active you are in the search process, the greater the chance that you will be noticed somewhere and hired.
Be flexible with your work. Agree to suitable options, even if at first you didn’t think about them at all. You need to gain experience, and a novice psychologist, who will then be lined up for consultations, cannot do without this.
Create a resume that makes you stand out from the crowd and prepare well for interviews. Use our advice, arm yourself with optimism, and everything will work out for you!

Memo to a beginning school psychologist

You have decided to work at school. Where to start?

1. Your boss is the director. It is to him that you obey, and it is he who gives instructions.

2. Find out from the director the goals and objectives of the school and draw up your work plan based on these goals and objectives.

Study the legal framework (Regulations on the service of practical psychology in the education system of 01/01/2001 No. 000; rights and responsibilities of a school psychologist; ethical code of a psychologist (newspaper “School Psychologist” No. 44, 2001); recommended temporary standards for diagnostic and correctional activities (newspaper “School Psychologist” No. 6, 2000).

Find out how the director sees the work of a psychologist, specify your functional responsibilities in detail (this is very important!), offer your version of the activity (what age group you would like to work with, the ratio of standard time to job responsibilities, justify your opinion).

Discuss in detail with the director: who will control your activities and how, the timing and forms of current reporting.

Discuss with the director your work schedule, hours or day for self-education and methodological preparation, and the possibility of processing data outside of school.

The principal and head teachers take part in the discussion of your annual plan, since it is part of the school's annual plan.

The director must certify with his signature and seal your annual plan, job and functional responsibilities.

3. Your main assistant at work- newspaper “School Psychologist”. A lot of useful information can be found in magazines “Handbook of educational psychologist. School", "Questions of Psychology" And "Psychological Science and Education."

4. Books by Marina Bityanova and O. Khukhlaeva help make a good start:

a) “Organization of psychological work at school”

The book by a candidate of psychological sciences, associate professor, sets out the author’s holistic model for organizing psychological services in schools. The publication introduces the reader to the scheme for planning the work of a school psychologist during the school year, provides the author's options for the content of the main directions of his work: diagnostic, correctional and developmental, advisory, etc. Particular attention is paid to the issues of interaction between the psychologist and teachers, the children's community, and school administration.

b) “The work of a psychologist in elementary school”

The book outlines the system of work of a school psychologist with children 7-10 years old. Specific diagnostic, correctional, developmental and advisory methods and technologies are provided. The author's approach to organizing the work of a psychologist during the academic year, based on the idea of psychological and pedagogical support, is proposed. The authors structured the book in such a way that psychologists could use it as a practical guide for organizing work with children, their parents and teachers.

5. There are some nuances in choosing activity priorities:

If the school has a psychological service, then you work according to the existing annual plan, having discussed in advance the features of your activities.

If you are the only psychologist at school, then it is better to organize activities based on a plan approved by the school administration. Take “under your wing” the main points of a child’s development: 1st grade (adaptation to school), 4th grade (psychological and intellectual readiness for transition to secondary education), 5th grade (adaptation to secondary education), 8th grade grades (the most acute period of adolescence), grades 9–11 (career guidance work, psychological preparation for exams).

6. Main activities:

Diagnostic- one of the traditional directions.

TIP 1: Before diagnosing, ask yourself the question: “Why?”, “What will I get as a result?” .

M. Bityanova recommends diagnostic minimums, conducting diagnostics in necessary cases, because diagnostics, processing of results, and interpretation take a lot of time. More often, great benefit can be obtained by observing children, communicating with them, teachers, and parents. The results of the diagnostics are discussed (within the limits of what is permitted - “DO NOT HARM THE CHILD”) at a pedagogical council, which includes head teachers at secondary and primary levels, a psychologist, a speech therapist, a school doctor (ideally), and ways are outlined that will be effective in solving the identified problems.

Corrective and developmental work

Advisory direction

TIP 2: Don’t expect people to come to you right away with questions and problems. GO yourself. Conducted a diagnosis - discuss (within the limits of what is permitted - “DO NOT HARM THE CHILD”) with the teacher the reality of implementing the recommendations. If your child needs correctional or developmental activities, offer your help. If this type of activity is not provided for in your job responsibilities, then recommend a specialist who is ready to help.

TIP 3: Your work schedule, when and at what time you conduct consultations for children, parents, teachers, should hang on the door of your office, in the teachers' room, in the school foyer.

TIP 4: In the teachers' lounge, I recommend setting up your stand with an original name. I put there a plan for the month, a plan - a grid of parent meetings (empty, teachers sign up), an article from the School Psychologist newspaper, helping teachers conduct thematic classroom hours, a popular test for emotional release.

Educational work(teacher councils, parent meetings, conversations with children, lectures, etc.)

a) Psychologist and school administration.

Difficulties may arise due to the “eternal question”: to whom do you report, to whom do you report. It happens that an administrator burdens a psychologist with work that is not part of his job responsibilities. What to do?

Carefully study point No. 2 in this memo.

· Gutkin.

· Methodology

Intellectual development

· Test to determine general abilities (Eysenck).

· Test of the structure of intelligence (R. Amthauer).

· Raven matrices.

· Diagnostics of systems thinking of children 6 – 9 years old (,).

· Landolt rings (development of attention).

· Toulouse-Pieron test (development of attention).

· Munsterberg technique (development of attention).

· “10 words” technique (memory development).

Professional self-determination and abilities

Aptitudes, interests, abilities

(career guidance,

selection of training profile)

· Structure of interests (Golomshtok).

· Map of interests (Henning).

· Questionnaire of professional inclinations, Methods “Profile”, “Erudite”, “Type of Thinking”, Matrix for choosing a profession (modifications by G. Rezapkina).

· Test of intellectual potential (P. Rzichan).

· CAT (Assessments of general mental abilities, adaptation).

· Bennett Test of Mechanical Comprehension.

· Test of intellectual lability.

· Torrens test. (Level of development of creative abilities)

Family relationships

Parental attitude

· Questionnaire for parents.

· Parent essay.

· Drawing of a family.

· Family education – DIA Methodology.

The position of educational psychologist appeared in secondary schools about 10 years ago, but now it is already a common occurrence. Some schools have created psychological services where several psychologists work.

Let's take a closer look at the features of the activity under discussion using the example of the experience of a psychologist - Marina Mikhailovna Kravtsova, a graduate of the Faculty of Psychology of Moscow State University, specializing in the Department of Developmental Psychology. Her responsibilities include working with students in grades 1-5, their parents and teachers. The goal of the work is to improve the educational process. The work is structured not only in general with the aim of optimizing the educational process, but also taking into account specific difficulties that arise in the learning process, relationships in the triad “student - parent - teacher”. Individual and group lessons are conducted with schoolchildren (increasing motivation for educational activities, establishing interpersonal relationships). M. Kravtsova notes: “It is important for me that every child feels comfortable at school, that he wants to go to it and does not feel lonely and unhappy. It is important that parents and teachers see his real problems, want to help him and, most importantly, understand how to do it.”

It is necessary that the child, parents and teachers are not “isolated” from each other, so that there is no confrontation between them. They must work together on emerging problems, because only in this case is an optimal solution possible. The main task of a school psychologist is not to solve the problem for them, but to unite their efforts to solve it.

Literally in the last few years, the administration of an increasing number of schools understands the need for the participation of a psychologist in the school process. Specific tasks are emerging more and more clearly, the solutions of which are expected from the school psychologist. In this regard, the profession of a school psychologist is becoming one of the most in demand. However, a psychologist is in demand not only at school, but also in other children’s institutions (for example, in kindergartens, children’s homes, early development centers, etc.), that is, wherever the ability to work with the triad “child – parents – teacher” is necessary ( teacher)".

The functions of a school psychologist include: psychological diagnostics; correctional work; counseling parents and teachers; psychological education; participation in teacher councils and parent meetings; participation in the recruitment of first-graders; psychological prevention.

Psychological diagnostics includes conducting frontal (group) and individual examinations of students using special techniques. Diagnostics are carried out at the preliminary request of teachers or parents, as well as at the initiative of a psychologist for research or preventive purposes.

The psychologist selects a methodology aimed at studying the abilities and characteristics of the child (group of students) that interest him. These can be techniques aimed at studying the level of development of attention, thinking, memory, emotional sphere, personality traits and relationships with others. The school psychologist also uses methods to study parent-child relationships and the nature of interaction between the teacher and the class.

The data obtained allow the psychologist to build further work: identify students in the so-called “risk group” who need remedial classes; prepare recommendations for teachers and parents on interaction with students.

Correctional classes can be individual or group. During the process, the psychologist tries to correct undesirable features of the child’s mental development. These classes can be aimed both at the development of cognitive processes (memory, attention, thinking), and at solving problems in the emotional-volitional sphere, in the sphere of communication and the problem of self-esteem of students.

The school psychologist uses existing lesson programs and also develops them independently, taking into account the specifics of each specific case. Classes include a variety of exercises: developmental, gaming, drawing and other tasks - depending on the goals and age of the students.

Consulting parents and teachers is work on a specific request. The psychologist acquaints parents or teachers with the diagnostic results, gives a certain prognosis, and warns about what difficulties the student may have in the future in learning and communication; At the same time, recommendations are jointly developed for solving emerging problems and interacting with the student.

Psychological education consists of introducing teachers and parents to the basic patterns and conditions for the favorable mental development of a child. This is carried out through consultations, speeches at pedagogical councils and parent-teacher meetings.

In addition, at pedagogical councils, the psychologist participates in making decisions about the possibility of teaching a given child according to a specific program, about transferring a student from class to class, about the possibility of a child “stepping over” through a class (for example, a very capable or prepared student can be transferred from first grade immediately to third).

One of the tasks of a psychologist is to draw up a program interviews with future first-graders, conducting that part of the interview that concerns the psychological aspects of the child’s readiness for school (the level of development of volition, the presence of motivation to learn, the level of development of thinking). The psychologist also gives recommendations to parents of future first-graders.

All of the above functions of a school psychologist make it possible to maintain at school the psychological conditions necessary for the full mental development and formation of the child’s personality, that is, they serve the goals psychological prevention.

The work of a school psychologist includes methodological part. A psychologist must constantly work with literature, including periodicals, in order to track new scientific achievements, deepen his theoretical knowledge, and become familiar with new techniques. Any diagnostic technique requires the ability to process and summarize the data obtained. The school psychologist tests new methods in practice and finds the most optimal methods of practical work. He tries to select literature on psychology for the school library in order to introduce teachers, parents and students to psychology. In his daily work, he uses such expressive means of behavior and speech as intonation, posture, gestures, facial expressions; is guided by the rules of professional ethics, the work experience of himself and his colleagues.

A big problem for a school psychologist is that often the school does not provide him with a separate office. In this regard, many difficulties arise. A psychologist must store literature, teaching aids, work papers, and, finally, his personal belongings somewhere. He needs a room for conversations and classes. For some activities, the room must meet certain requirements (for example, be spacious for physical exercise). The psychologist has difficulties with all this. Usually he is allocated the premises that are free at the moment, temporarily. As a result, a situation may arise when a conversation with a student is conducted in one office, and the necessary literature and methods are located in another. Due to the large volume of information processed, it would be desirable for a school psychologist to have access to a computer, which the school often cannot provide him with.

It is difficult to correlate the school schedule, the distribution of a student’s extracurricular activities and psychological work with him. For example, the conversation cannot be interrupted, and at this time the student needs to go to class or go to the sports section.

The psychologist is visible most of the time, in contact with teachers, parents or students. This is a lot of stress, especially if there is no separate room where you can rest. Problems arise even with having a snack during the working day.

The interviewed school psychologist's relationship with the team is mostly smooth. It is very important that there are no conflicts in the team; the psychologist must be unbiased, he must be ready to listen to the polar opinions of colleagues about each other.

A psychologist is constantly in a stream of numerous and often contradictory information in which he needs to navigate. At the same time, sometimes information about the problem can be excessive, and sometimes insufficient (for example, some teachers are afraid to let a psychologist into their lesson, believing that the psychologist will evaluate their work and not observe the behavior of students in the lesson).

Naturally, the workplace of a school psychologist is not only at school, but also in the library and at home.

The salary, unfortunately, is low, lower than that of most teachers. The situation is complicated by the fact that the necessary literature and methodological support have to be purchased with their own money.

Of course, the school psychologist must be mentally healthy. He must be resilient and withstand great physical and psychological stress. To work as a school psychologist, you need to have certain qualities, namely: the ability to listen and empathize. When working with people, it is important to formulate your thoughts clearly and clearly, to be hardworking, sociable, responsible, tactful, contactable, erudite, and tolerant. It is important for a psychologist to have a sense of humor, have broad professional knowledge, and love children. In the process of work, such qualities as the ability to communicate with different people, understand their problems and interests, analyze, and find a compromise are developed; observation and professional knowledge develop.

The profession is attractive due to the variety of tasks that arise, its unconditional social significance (real help is provided to real people), the opportunity to constantly discover something new and improve, it is full of impressions.

At the same time, the school psychologist is constantly involved in various conflict and problem situations; his position may not coincide with the position of the school administration; he has to overcome the mistrust of teachers, parents, and sometimes students. You constantly have to quickly find a way out of complex, ambiguous situations. Sometimes a psychologist is expected to do more than he can do.

The profession of a school psychologist can be obtained by studying at any department of the Faculty of Psychology, but for successful initial adaptation it is useful to specialize already at the university in the field of developmental psychology and educational psychology. Improvement of qualifications is facilitated by:

attending psychological seminars and master classes, including those dedicated to correctional work with children;
participation in scientific conferences and round tables dedicated to the work of psychologists in the education system;
regular visits to the library and bookstores to familiarize yourself with new psychological literature;
familiarization with new methods and research related to problems of child development and learning;
postgraduate studies.

Thus, the profession of a school psychologist today is necessary, in demand, interesting, but difficult.

The text was prepared by a student at the Faculty of Psychology of Moscow State University A. Kruglov based on an interview with a psychologist working at the school - M.M. Kravtsova.