Psychologists don't sell their empathy

Perhaps due to the influence of counseling, perhaps due to the influence of the humanistic psychologyThere are many people who believe that psychologists are basically characterized by being a kind of mystic.

Not the kind of mystics so alienated that it's impossible to relate to them, but the kind of spiritual gurus who act as an inspiring mirror for others. People who, having reached a very high degree of understanding about the human mind, they are able to adapt their ideas to make room for any other way of thinking and connect with it.

In other words, it has come to be assumed that the psychologist is the one who transforms his own philosophy of life into a very simple principle: always empathize with others, without giving more importance to one's own ideas than to those of the other.

This idea, of course, is based on an exaggeration about the degree of skills that psychologists come to acquire throughout their career; after all, they are people of flesh and blood. However, my opinion is that this idea is not only wrong, but also harmful and is used simply to try to silence certain ideas and opinions.

Political correctness in psychologists

It is very common to hear phrases like "it seems incredible that you are a psychologist". What is alarming about this is not that it is common to get angry or reproach a person dedicated to this profession, but that, in the In most cases, this kind of complaint does not occur when a psychologist expresses ignorance about a topic that he should master, but when he behaves in a way that is not liked and that is considered an attack on the opinion of others.

For example, if a psychologist has very clear ideas about a controversial issue and expresses her opinion in a assertive, it is possible that the lack of tact is criticized when giving a point of view that is not very ambiguous and very committed to a way of seeing things. things.

This is not the case with almost any other profession: doctors, engineers or carpenters can have a very established philosophy of life and talk about his ideas without major worries, but the psychologist seems to be obliged to have to speak for everyone, keeping a very low and discreet profile. Political correctness is assumed as something that should emanate naturally from their profession, and it has reached the point where It must be assumed, for example, that all currents of psychology are equally valid because they include different ways of thinking. think.

Market with empathy

But psychologists They are not engaged in renting their way of thinking to constantly welcome the points of view of others with the aim of creating empathy.

First, a psychologist is defined by what he does in his professional life, not in his personal life. That a psychologist should not confront a patient's ideas, for example, does not mean that he cannot express diametrically opposed opinions to someone in any other situation.

This, which seems obvious, is often overlooked due to the influence of two elements: relativism and constructivism taken to the extreme.

The "anything goes" belief

From radical relativism, especially in its aspect of cultural relativism, it is taken for granted that there are no more valid attitudes and thoughts than others. This means that psychologists should not strive to find regularities in the way people think and act, since each individual is a world; instead, you must develop a special sensitivity to "connect" with the other person's mind at a certain time and place, to help him move closer to a certain goal.

In this vision of psychology, it is not considered that there are certain theories about behavior that are more valid than others because they have been empirically verified, and therefore psychologists they do not have the added value of better understanding the mental processes of people in general.

Thus, the only thing for which they are valuable is for their "sensitivity", the ease with which they connect with systems of meanings created from scratch by other people (that's where the constructivism). And this sensitivity, if it is not expressed in all facets of the psychologist's life, cannot be authentic.

psychology is knowledge

The idea that psychology is basically the implementation of an almost artistic sensibility it is totally contrary to the notion of psychology as a science.

What defines psychologists is not their ability to establish therapeutic connections with other people; This is just one of the characteristics of a certain class of psychologists: those who intervene on specific people and groups of people. In addition, even during therapy the psychologist does not have to assume as true all the contents of the discourse of the patient, and has good reason to believe, for example, that a mystical experience in which a saint appeared has not been real.

What all psychologists have in common is that they use scientifically generated knowledge to do their work and therefore allows to reduce uncertainty about a topic. Psychologists try to predict to a greater or lesser extent the behavior of people taking into account a series of variables, and if they do, it is because they have information that is more valid than other types of information.

Thus, psychologists do not have to accept, for example, religious fundamentalism or racism simply because they are "ways of thinking" that reflect a mental reality as valid as any other. Complaining because someone with a background in psychology does not accept the "truth of oneself" is meaningless for that very reason.