High Intellectual Abilities: Management And Empowerment
The area of high intellectual abilities is one of the most interesting in the world of Psychology, both in terms of the research that is being carried out on this topic, and in terms of work with people with this trait.
The fact that there are people with this high degree of cognitive abilities shows how sophisticated the human mind can be; However, this intellectual development does not occur spontaneously without support from outside. Both in childhood and in adulthood, context is key to making the most of your potential.
In this article I will talk about how this management and enhancement of high intellectual abilities occurs through psychological support from specialized professionals.
The term “high intellectual abilities” is often used as a synonym for intellectual giftedness, and at an informal level, it is not entirely wrong to do so. However, technically these two concepts are not equivalent. And it is that All intellectually gifted people have high abilities, but not all people with high abilities are gifted
The truth is that high intellectual abilities make up a category of psychological phenomena that include intellectual giftedness, on the one hand, and talents, on the other.
Giftedness
Giftedness is a characteristic present in those who have an exceptionally high degree of intelligence In this case, intelligence is reflected in the scores obtained through the application of intelligence tests designed for this purpose, in which an Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is obtained. People who have an IQ of 130 or more are considered intellectually gifted, that is, the top 2.5% of the population.
Thus, intelligence measured through IQ is the core element of what we understand by giftedness. This implies that gifted people tend to express exceptionally intelligent behavior in most areas of their lives, since intelligence is a trait that manifests itself in many ways and in a wide variety of situations: that is what defines it. , your ability to adapt to circumstances.
The talents
Talent is the other element that is included in the concept of high capabilities. People who express a high degree of talent They are extremely skilled in a specific type of skill, and they do not have to be exceptionally intelligent in most areas of their lives. Thus, talented people are defined by the specificity of what they excel at, while gifted people show a high degree of intelligence in general, although they may not show any specific talent.
How to enhance high capacities?
The first thing to be clear about is that enhancing high abilities does not mean making a person’s intelligence level rise a lot in a short time; In fact, as far as is known, there are ways to help intelligence reach its maximum potential, but this takes years and spectacular results are not obtained in the graph of the evolution of IQ.
So… what is the objective of psychological support for people with high abilities? Mainly, the following.
1. Detect areas of interest
To maximize a person’s potential, You need to find a learning or training environment that motivates you and that is an exciting project Without this ingredient, the level of intelligence or the ability to master skills does not matter; Sooner or later, frustration sets in and progress stops. Psychologists help improve people’s self-knowledge and organize priorities and values, so that what is truly relevant comes to the front page.
Talent is, above all, the product of favorable predispositions to learn combined with a commitment to a systematized way of honing a set of skills. In many cases, the people who excel most at something are not especially privileged in terms of innate aptitudes, but they have managed to make learning a habit.
Psychological support serves, among other things, to learn to learn, which It is about being able to do it in an efficient way, without wasting time or exposing yourself to unnecessary frustrations
3. Get used to detecting distractions and risk elements
There are contextual factors that, if not attended to, can ruin people’s intellectual potential. For example, an environment of friends that is not conducive to standing out, exposure to drugs or habits that encourage a sedentary lifestyle and a bad lifestyle, routines that make it impossible to focus, etc.
4. Adopt the habit of testing yourself
There are people who, despite being very intelligent or having a great capacity to develop areas of expertise, they do not lend themselves to further progress in their skills In psychology, intervention programs are applied that propose curves of ascending difficulty in which it is possible to always have goals to achieve and criteria to determine how much progress has been made.
Are you looking for psychological assistance?
If you are interested in having psychological assistance to enhance your high abilities, Get in touch with me I am a psychologist specialized in the cognitive-behavioral intervention model and I offer services to both individuals and organizations. I attend in person at my office in Madrid, or through the online format by video call. On this page you can find more information about how I work, and my contact information.
