The “Perfect” Psychologist
We decided to include this page on our website, not to show a definitive list of what makes a good psychologist, but rather to allow you the opportunity to have a think about some of your qualities and skills and to understand if this is a career pathway that suits you.
There is no “perfect psychologist”, and we wouldn’t want there to be! Psychologists are not one size fits all, and it’s the diversity in our experiences, in our stories, and in our circumstances that mean we can really understand the communities we support. The perfect psychologist is often described as having all this knowledge and insight into human behaviour. Sometimes, we imagine psychologists to have all the answers and have flawless lives, however, we’re here to tell you that is not what makes the perfect psychologist! Your skills and qualities, right from before you even learnt about psychology, will all play a part in the journey towards becoming a future clinical psychologist.
There are core qualities that act as building blocks to becoming an effective psychologist. These qualities may be ones you already have, ones you want to develop, or ones you hadn’t even thought of.
Ultimately, it’s thinking about yourself and understanding who you are, within these qualities. This will help you start to think about your journey.
But, like I said, there is no one size fits all. And what really matters is how the people we support feel and what they find helpful. So, I have below some qualities that reflect what is important to others when working with a psychologist:
