Background A multitude of studies have investigated, assessed, and debated the merits of self-assessment within medical education and related fields, yielding inconclusive results. This raises questions about the reliability of selfassessment as a tool for evaluating competency development. The objective of the current study was to investigate the self-assessment accuracy of psychology students regarding their performance in training for interviewing and communication skills. A novel assessment instrument was employed for this purpose. The main research questions were: (1) How accurate are students’ self-assessments of their performance in comparison to instructors’ ratings? (2) How well do these self-assessments align with perceived changes in skill development at both group and individual levels?

Methods The study was conducted in three phases to achieve the research objective. In Phase 1, 206 psychology students from the first three semesters of a 5-year master’s program at Stockholm University conducted 15-minute video-recorded interviews, which were rated by instructors using an 11-item assessment instrument. Data were analyzed using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). Phase 2 included 173 second semester students conducting 15-minute video interviews. These were reviewed in small groups, with both students and instructors rating the interviews using the same instrument. The process was repeated after one week. Two Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFAs) were conducted on instructors’ and students’ ratings to validate the three-factor model identified in Phase 1. In Phase 3, correlation analyses and paired-samples t-tests were conducted at both group and individual levels to address the research questions.

Results The findings indicated high self-assessment accuracy, reflecting strong self-assessment abilities among the students. Comparisons between instructor ratings and students’ self-assessments of skill progression demonstrated good overall alignment. The validated assessment scale developed in Phases 1 and 2 shows potential for application in various educational contexts.

Verbal interaction is at the heart of many helping professions. This is often reflected in the curriculum of professional training. Somewhat surprisingly, there is a dearth of research regarding the assessment and training of students in these skills, not least of those about to become psychologists. The present study focused on communicational microskills in psychology students. We were interested in generic skills that should be observable across different training tasks focused on training interviewing skills. Video-taped interview segments, where the students acted as interviewers, were rated by their instructors using an eleven-item assessment of active listening skills. A total of 206 students were included, of whom 63 were assessed on five consecutive occasions over three semesters. The assessment showed satisfactory overall homogeneity. An investigation of the factor structure identified three principal components: Attention and exploration; Structuring skills; and Direct relating. In the subsample that was studied over repeated sessions, a marked progression was observed over time. The results are discussed in terms of implications for assessment and training within an educational context.

Många olika yrkesgrupper använder stödjande samtal professionellt. Stödsamtal och stödterapi används inom till exempel sjukvård, social­­tjänst, skola och psykiatri när man av olika skäl inte kan erbjuda traditionell och evidensbaserad psykoterapi.Trots att dessa stödformer är så vanliga har de inte särskilt hög status och är inte heller väl utforskade. De bygger därmed till stor del på samtalsledarens egna erfarenheter och tysta kunskap om vad som är viktigt i stödjande samtal.


Denna bok operationaliserar och konkretiserar begrepp som hjälper oss att förstå vad skickliga stödsamtalsledare och stödterapeuter gör, hur de gör det och varför. Därmed synliggörs professionella stödsamtal och stödterapi som det kvalificerade arbete det faktiskt är.


I boken beskrivs den professionella samtalsledarens generiska samtals­färdigheter. Både stödsamtalet och stödterapin ges en teoretisk ram men presenteras också med konkreta exempel. Såväl det gemensamma som skillnaderna mellan de båda stödformerna tydliggörs.


Stödsamtal och stödterapi riktar sig främst till professionella hjälpare inom psykiatri, vård, skola och omsorg samt till studenter inom dessa utbildningsområden. Den är en fristående fortsättning till Samtalet som psykologisk metod (2014).

Samtalet som psykologisk metod presenterar konkreta beskrivningar och en systematisering av generiska professionella samtalsfärdigheter. De har ofta betecknats som s.k. tyst kunskap och som därför inte tidigare i nämnvärd utsträckning har systematiserats så att man kan beskriva vad och hur man gör när man leder ett professionellt samtal. Dessa generiska färdigheter är av sådan karaktär att de ligger till grund för alla professionella psykologuppdrag. Boken ger även förslag på hur undervisning och bedömning av samtalsfärdigheter kan läggas upp.

Boken vänder sig i första hand till psykologstudenter men även till studenter vid övriga professionsutbildningar där samtalet är ett professionellt verktyg. Det kan till exempel vara socionomer, läkare och jurister. Förhoppningsvis kan även redan yrkesverksamma ha glädje av boken.