Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Psychology
2025. Vol. 15, no. 2, 267–282
ISSN: 2658-3607 / 2658-6010 (online)
Conceptualization of reality in reflexive-psychodynamic training
Abstract
The educational process of clinical psychologists should include targeted methods of formation and development of general professional skills and competencies. One of such methods is reflexive-psychodynamic training, developed by professors from St. Petersburg State University. Training is aimed at both the personal development of the student through the activation of the process of reflection and self-knowledge, and the knowledge of others through observation and the possibility of detecting hidden mental processes. Conceptualization of reality is a mental work aimed at reconstructing and clarifying a consistent picture of the world that explains the phenomena observed by its author, including one's own behavior and conscious feelings. The issue of selecting effective methods for studying ongoing changes, their mechanisms, factors, and trajectories remains unresolved. The first of a series of studies aimed at studying and describing the process of professional and personal development and its mechanisms is presented. The purpose of this study was to create a model of the hidden process of conceptualization of reality by reflexive-psychodynamic training's participants. The method of included observation was used. The training hosts (the authors of the article) carried out observation during it with 10 groups of students (more than 150 participants). Verbal and non-verbal reactions of the participants, in which the process under study is manifested, are described and analyzed. It was found that the action of psychological defenses can hinder the implementation of constructive transformations, which can be overcome with the help of reflection. The conditions of RPT that contribute to the development of the reflection skill are determined. Three types of conceptualization of reality are differentiated: progressive, protective, pathological. Observation of attempts to rebuild the model, for example, by including explanations of their own behavior in it, allows participants to explore and understand the patterns of functioning of the protective mechanisms of the psyche, including their own. Reflexive-dynamic training gives students a unique opportunity to develop a professionally important skill to see the hidden components of interpersonal communications — a series of cause-and-effect processes occurring both in others and in themselves, as well as to receive and comprehend the experience of deep personal transformations.
General Information
Keywords: reflexive-psychodynamic training, professional development of clinical psychologists, conceptualization, picture of the world, mental stress, reflection
Journal rubric: Empirical and Experimental Research
Article type: scientific article
Published
For citation: Bril, M.S., Bekreneva, Y.S., Mirgorod, N.V. (2025). Conceptualization of reality in reflexive-psychodynamic training. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Psychology, 15(2), 267–282. (In Russ.). URL: https://psyjournals.ru/en/journals/vspu_psychology/archive/2025_n2/Bril (viewed: 05.12.2025)
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