Psychosocial approach. Concept and applicability in the professional training of psychology students

Abstract

The psychosocial approach is a type of theoretical and empirical knowledge – still difficult to define - that links the individual with society. The current trend in professional training seeks to reduce the permanently criticized gap between the academy and social life. The ethical and professional training tends to use knowledge at the service of the communities in which the university is inserted, from a critical perspective that considers the response to the needs of the organizations in which it participates. The objective of this paper is to reflect on the psychosocial approach developed in the Psychology undergraduate program at Universidad del Bío- Bío, through the students' understanding of it and through the evaluation of the implementation of the servicelearning methodology as a form of concrete expression of the psychosocial approach. The general consideration suggests that; first, it is necessary to give greater visibility and practical expression of the approach in professional training, and second, to increase the opportunities for reflection regarding the opportunity it provides, both for personal professional training and for the communities that are favored by the progressive consolidation of the methodology.