Military Psychology: what it is, characteristics and functions

Over the last few years, Military Psychology has been gaining notoriety within the Armed Forces, becoming recognized as a full-fledged health profession, collected within the Military Health Corps and being called Clinical Psychology.

But the role of clinical psychologist is not the only one performed by psychologists within the Military Psychology, but the latter perform a great diversity of tasks within different scopes (p. eg, Educational Psychology, Organizational Psychology and Human Resources, as well as Applied Psychology in military operations, among others).

The military psychologists, belonging to each and every one of the units that are part of the Spanish Army, belong to the Officer Scale.

Next we will do a brief review of the functions performed by military psychologists in the Armed Forces (FAS) in Spain.

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What is Military Psychology?

Military Psychology is the field of Psychology performed by military psychologist officers

where they carry out research work, recruitment tests, educational support in training academies, prevention plans, support and psychological treatment with the In order to facilitate the military members of the SAFs to better adapt to the position in which they carry out their duties, as well as to support members who are suffering any type of mental health problem (for example, prolonged stress, post-traumatic stress disorder after being in or near the firing line, etc).

Next we will see in more detail the areas of intervention from this branch of Psychology.

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Functions of military psychologists

These are the tasks performed by military psychologists in the various departments and units of the Armed Forces.

1. Assessment of psychophysical aptitudes

Applicants for army posts must pass a series of tests, including psychophysical aptitude tests, made up of a series of Exams to assess health and physical aptitudes, which would be evaluated by a Military Doctor.

There would also be the Psychiatry (P) evaluation tests, carried out by Army psychologists and psychiatrists.

The latter aim to assess basic psychological skills such as memory, attention, verbal reasoning, spatial reasoning, etc.

They also evaluate the personality, emotional stability and if there is any psychopathology in the applicant; In which case, it will be assessed whether the degree of severity could be an impediment when it comes to performing with solvency the functions of the position to which he aspires and, therefore, he would not pass to the next phase of the recruitment.

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2. Psychological examination of personnel within the Armed Forces

Another function that is carried out within Military Psychology are psychological tests. Some recognitions that are made to the military when a superior in command has detected that a soldier could be losing psychophysical faculties.

It is then that a report is issued so that the subject is first examined in a Recruitment Unit of a Defense Hospital with the in order to detect whether or not there is any psychophysical or psychopathological problem that may hinder their abilities to carry out their position in the Army.

In case of detecting a severe psychopathology, a second evaluation by the Psychiatric Medical Expert Board would be sought.

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3. Evaluation and diagnosis in Military Clinical Psychology

These tasks of Military Psychology within the Armed Forces began being established at the beginning with the of selection and classification of the psychophysical aptitudes of the soldiers, more than with diagnostics.

In the evaluation and diagnosis of Military Psychology The psychometric, trait or attribute model is used fundamentally.

The goals of the psychologist in this section are as follows:

• Boost the performance of the different members of the FAS.
• Prepare subjects for the functions assigned to them.
• Improve the satisfaction of individuals with their work, so that they perform more.
• Help those newly recruited soldiers adapt.

4. Psychological assistance in military units

There are many reasons why a member of the military personnel may request psychological help. The Military Psychology Center is intervening taking into account the following aspects: reason for requesting help, degree of urgency and the nature of these.

The conjunction of the factors mentioned above will determine the type of assistance and its duration (severity of the problem, that there is more than one problem, the most appropriate psychotherapy for the problem to be treated, the number of professionals who must intervene, the need or not of an interdisciplinary approach if there is another pathology comorbid, etc.).

The goal of psychological assistance is that the military member can return to his post within the Army as soon as possible and with success; of course, following the psychological treatment in an orderly manner and without forcing a hasty reinstatement, respecting the pace necessary for their recovery.

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5. Brief psychotherapy as support to soldiers

This type of psychotherapy is often used by military psychologists in order to treat as quickly as possible the mental disorders that soldiers can develop as a result of certain actions required by their trade; especially when they are in the area of ​​operations of a mission.

The main objective of this therapy is to help the soldier discover the causes of the mental health problem that he suffers and urgently put an action plan to begin a therapeutic process that goes directly to the epicenter of the root of the problem.

6. Prevention of drug use in the Armed Forces

A very important work carried out by Military Psychology are prevention plans with the aim of avoiding drug use by soldiers.

The main drug use prevention plan strategies are:

• Give objective information about drugs to raise awareness about the damages derived from their consumption.
• Promote healthy leisure alternatives in the civil sphere.
• Train colleagues so that they can act as mediators in the prevention of drug use within the Unit.
• Provide standards and control strategies in order to reduce accessibility to drugs within the Armed Forces.
• Train soldiers to enhance social skills to deal effectively with situations related to consumption within Army Units.

In cases where drug use by a member of the Unit is detected, a psychological intervention plan will be carried out through the use of a therapy modality focused on substance use disorders and, subsequently, therapeutic support will be provided in order to maintain abstinence and thus prevent relapses; in addition to working with any possible dysphoric state triggered.

7. Treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in FAS

PTSD is a very common psychological disorder among soldiers and, even more so, among those who have participated in complicated missions abroad or in military conflicts.

In a study by Futterman and Pumpian-Mindlin (1951) it was found that PTSD tended to occur in a higher percentage among non-combatant military personnel than among those in the combat area, because the non-combatants were exposed to the traumatic events of the situation in which they found themselves at the same time that they could not channel their emotions. The importance of the study of PTSD since the First World War is highlighted.

That is why Military Psychology has developed a brief and immediate psychological treatment plan by the restrooms near the firing line in order that people with acute combat stress reactions can recover as soon as possible and, if possible, prevent a future development of PTSD.

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8. Social benefits in the Armed Forces

In the 1980s, the Special Center of the Social Institute of the Armed Forces (CEISFAS) was created, an occupational center of the Armed Forces, with the aim of providing helps people with intellectual disabilities.

Within this organization, various activities are developed within 3 large areas:

• Occupational workshops.
• Social support and psychological care.
• Labor insertion.

The fundamental objective of CEISFAS is to help users who come to the center to achieve greater development of skills that can facilitate their labor and social integration.

9. Military education training from Military Psychology

Military Psychology has members in all the academies and training centers of the Army; what's more, a quarter of the psychologists who are in this Army carry out tasks of military education.

The other psychology officers who belong to the Army carry out reinforcement activities as tutors and teachers in other training activities in Pedagogy subjects such as in the case of the Basic Course of Psychopedagogical Aptitude for officers and non-commissioned officers of the Military School of Sciences of the Education.

The main objective of the psychology officers performing their duties in the military training centers is to help the students to pass their respective curricula and, with respect to military teachers, the job of the psychologist is to help them in the development of an educational model that is based on the promotion of competences, creation of active learning strategies and on the improvement of their teaching capacities, among other.

Other objectives of the psychologist in this area are:

• Advisory work to the military educational center.
• Education in values ​​within the military academies.
• Psychological support during training for future military pilots.
• Military teaching tasks in the military naval school.
• Psychological performance within a psychology cabinet of a military educational center.
• Research and development work.

10. Psychosocial risks in military personnel

These types of risks constitute one of the most important threats to health and safety in the workplace that people face, including those who belong to the Armed Forces (p. eg, stressors related to interpersonal relationships in the work unit, organizational climate, etc.).

In this field of Military Psychology, psychologists carry out 5 intervention modalities: processes of personnel selection, organizational socialization, training plans, normative regulation and development of career

11. Other duties performed by military psychologist officers

Other functions performed by military psychologists are listed below.

• Peace missions in countries that are in a warlike conflict.
• Leadership tasks and training in command exercises.
• Negotiations in the Army.
• Social skills training.
• Psychological treatment in military prisons.
• Psychological interventions in emergencies and disasters.
• Operational model of psychological combat potential.
• Psychological support for stress management in military operations.
• Psychological help in international missions of the Army.
• Hostage Survival Techniques Practice.
• Psychological preparation of personnel embarked on a warship.
• Treatment of psychological aspects in Terrorism.