Military Psychology: What it Is, Characteristics and Functions

Over the last few years, Military Psychology has been gaining notoriety within the Armed Forces becoming recognized as a full health profession, included within the Military Health Corps and being called Clinical Psychology.

But the role of clinical psychologist is not the only one performed by psychologists within Military Psychology, but rather the latter perform a great diversity of work within different areas (e.g. Educational Psychology, Psychology of Organizations and Resources). Humans, in addition to Psychology applied in military operations, among others).

Military psychologists, belonging to each and every one of the units they are part of in the Spanish Army, belong to the Officer Scale.

Next We will do a brief review of the functions performed by military psychologists in the Armed Forces (FAS) in Spain.

Table of Contents

What is Military Psychology?

Military Psychology is the field of psychology carried out by military psychologist officers where they carry out research work, recruitment tests, educational support in training academies, prevention plans, psychological support and treatment in order to facilitate military members of the FAS a better adaptation to the position in which they perform their duties, as well as as well as supporting members who are suffering from any type of mental health problem (for example, prolonged stress, post-traumatic stress disorder after being in or near the line of fire, etc.).

Below we will see in more detail the areas of intervention from this branch of Psychology.

Functions of military psychologists

These are the tasks carried out by military psychologists in the different departments and units of the FAS.

1. Assessment of psychophysical abilities

Applicants for army positions must pass a series of tests, including psychophysical aptitude tests, made up of a series of exams to assess health and physical abilities, which would be evaluated by a Military Doctor

There would also be the Psychiatry (P) evaluation tests, carried out by Army psychologists and psychiatrists.

The latter aim to evaluate basic psychological skills such as memory, attention, verbal reasoning, spatial reasoning, etc.

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They also evaluate the personality, emotional stability and whether there is any psychopathology in the applicant ; In which case, it will be assessed whether the degree of severity could be an impediment to being able to reliably perform the functions of the position for which he or she aspires and, therefore, he/she would not pass to the next phase of the recruitment tests.

2. Psychological examination of personnel within the Armed Forces

Another function performed within Military Psychology is psychological examinations. Some recognitions that are given to the military when a superior in command has detected that a soldier could be losing psychophysical faculties

It is then that a report is issued so that the subject is first examined in a Recruitment Unit of a Defense Hospital in order to detect whether or not there is any psychophysical or psychopathological problem that may hinder his or her abilities to perform his or her position in the Army. .

If severe psychopathology is detected, a second evaluation would be sought by the Psychiatric Expert Medical Board.

3. Evaluation and diagnosis in Military Clinical Psychology

These tasks of Military Psychology within the FAS began to be established at first for the purposes of selection and classification of the psychophysical aptitudes of soldiers, rather than for diagnostic purposes.

In the evaluation and diagnosis of Military Psychology The psychometric, trait or attribute model is fundamentally used

The psychologist’s objectives in this section are the following:

4. Psychological assistance in military units

There are many reasons why a member of military personnel could request psychological help. The Military Psychology Center is intervening taking into account the following aspects: reason for requesting help, degree of urgency and the nature of these

The combination of the factors mentioned above will determine the type of assistance and its duration (seriousness of the problem, whether there is more than one problem, the most appropriate psychotherapy model for the problem to be treated, the number of professionals who must intervene, whether or not it is necessary). of an interdisciplinary approach if there is another comorbid pathology, etc.).

The objective of psychological assistance is that the military member can return as soon as possible and successfully to his position within the Army ; of course, following the psychological treatment in an orderly manner and without forcing a hasty reinstatement, respecting the necessary pace for recovery.

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5. Brief psychotherapy to support soldiers

This type of psychotherapy is often used by military psychologists with the aim of treating as quickly as possible the mental disorders that soldiers can develop as a consequence of some actions required by their job ; especially when they are in the area of operations of a mission.

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The main objective of this therapy is to help the soldier discover the causes of the mental health problem he suffers from and urgently put in place an action plan to begin a therapeutic process that goes directly to the epicenter of the root of said problem

6. Prevention of drug use in the Armed Forces

A very important work carried out by Military Psychology is prevention plans with the aim of avoiding drug consumption by soldiers.

The main drug use prevention plan strategies are:

Provide objective information about drugs to raise awareness about the harm derived from their consumption.
Promote healthy leisure alternatives in the civil sphere.
Train colleagues so that they can act as mediators in the prevention of drug use within the Unit.
Provide standards and control strategies in order to reduce accessibility to drugs within the Armed Forces.
Train soldiers to enhance social skills to effectively deal with situations related to consumption within Army Units.

In cases in which drug consumption is detected by a member of the Unit, a psychological intervention plan will be carried out through the use of a therapy modality focused on substance abuse disorders and, subsequently, therapeutic support will be provided in order to maintain abstinence and thus prevent relapses; in addition to working with any possible triggered dysphoric state.

7. Treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the FAS

PTSD is a very common psychological disorder among soldiers and, even more so, among those who have participated in complicated missions abroad or in war conflicts.

In a study carried out by Futterman and Pumpian-Mindlin (1951) it was discovered that PTSD tended to occur in a higher percentage among non-combatant military personnel than among those in the combat area, because non-combatants were exposed to the traumatic events of the situation in which they found themselves and at the same time they could not channel their emotions. The importance of the study of PTSD since the First World War is highlighted.

That is why Military Psychology has developed a brief and immediate psychological treatment plan for the toilets located near the line of fire so that people who present acute combat stress reactions can recover as soon as possible and, if possible, prevent future development of PTSD.

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8. Social benefits in the Armed Forces

In the 80s, the Special Center of the Social Institute of the Armed Forces (CEISFAS), an occupational center of the Armed Forces, was created with the aim of providing Helps people with intellectual disabilities

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Within this organization, various activities are carried out within 3 large areas:

Occupational workshops.
Social support and psychological care.
Job insertion.

The fundamental objective of CEISFAS is to help users who come to the center to achieve greater development of skills that can facilitate their labor and social integration.

9. Military training education from Military Psychology

Military Psychology has members in all academies and training centers of the Army; besides, a quarter of the psychologists in this Army carry out military teaching tasks

The other psychological officers who belong to the Army carry out reinforcement activities as tutors and teachers in other training activities in pedagogy matters, such as in the case of the Basic Psychopedagogical Aptitude Course for officers and non-commissioned officers of the Military School of Life Sciences. Education.

The main objective of the psychological officers who carry out their duties in military educational centers is to help students pass their respective study plans and, with respect to military teachers, the psychologist’s job is to help them in the development of an educational model that is based on the promotion of skills, creation of active learning strategies and the improvement of teaching capabilities among other.

Other objectives of the psychologist in this area are:

Advisory work to the military teaching center.
Education in values within military academies.
Psychological support during training for future military pilots.
Military teaching tasks at the military naval school.
Psychological performance within a psychology office of a military teaching center.
Research and development work.

10. Psychosocial risks in military personnel

These types of risks constitute one of the most important threats to health and safety in the work environment that people face, including those who belong to the Armed Forces (e.g., stressors related to interpersonal relationships in the work unit, organizational climate, etc.).

In this area of Military Psychology, psychologists carry out 5 intervention modalities: personnel selection processes, organizational socialization, training plans, regulatory regulation and career development