S u m m a r y

 

Uusitalo-Arola L (2004)

When work challenges one's whole life: Dialogical assessment of coping competencies

Psykologia 39:272-283. Vammala ISSN 0355-1067.

 

In addition to a person's ability to cope with the technical demands of work, it is often necessary to assess his or her competencies in facing the challenges of social relationships at work and in his or her personal life. However, there are few assessment methods that allow observation of these competencies as a part of the person's natural activities. In this article, social and emotional competencies are conceptualized and examined with the help of the conceptual and research tools offered by cognitive analytic therapy (CAT) (Ryle 1990) and the dialogical model of client work developed by Leiman (1997). Work in an intercultural setting was used as an example. Dialogical sequence analysis seems to be a promising means for mapping the person's emotional and social life. It offers a natural basis for training and developing of coping competencies.

 

Key words: Selection and assessment, cognitive analytic therapy, dialogical sequence analysis, coping compencies

 

Liisa Uusitalo-Arola, Lic.Psych., Lahnuksenrinne 4, FIN-02970 Espoo, Finland. Liisa.Uusitalo-Arola@kolumbus.fi.