In other words templates are not meant to be all encompassing observation tools, and a psychologist must utilize as much or even more than he or she knows to assist individuals in self-understanding and advocacy, in couple with real valid observational data. (517) One danger in the application of psychology is to over emphasize self-advocacy and under play individual character traits that are negatively effecting the individual. When a psychologist councils an individual he or she may need to do a certain amount of flattering, to make sure that the difficult process of self-observation and reflection does not scare the individual away from using it. In other words, sometimes internal and personality motivations are not what we want to hear about ourselves, particularly when they contradict "ideas" we have about ourselves as good decent people. The psychologist must find a balance and help the individual look at the good and bad of self, so the individual sees the whole picture and can affect change in behavior that does not serve him or her. (517) According to the text three ways that an individual (and even a psychologist) can avoid the pitfalls of the "Barnum effect" would be to: 1. Avoid: "all purpose" general descriptions that might apply to...
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