Social Skills: Assertive Training

Like any other human skill, assertiveness is capable of being learned, trained and improved. This is achieved through the techniques called Assertive Training (or also Training in Social Skills, although this encompasses a greater number of competencies). In PsicologíaOnline, we present this article about Social Skills: Assertive training.

Social skills and more specifically assertiveness are basic skills for our development in daily life. People have different interests and ways of seeing the world, which is why interpersonal conflict is the order of the day. When these skills are not sufficiently developed or are used in the wrong way, frustration and dissatisfaction arise.

With regard to mental health, it is a technique that has been shown to be effective in treating depression, anxiety and stress caused by interpersonal relationships. It helps us to respect others, and therefore ourselves.

There are several methods of Assertive Training, below is a structured procedure in 6 stages:

1. Identify the basic styles of interpersonal behavior: aggressive, passive and aggressive style.
   The function of this stage is to distinguish between each of the styles, recognizing the best way to act according to the assertive style. It will also help us to recognize our mistakes in this area.
2. Identify the situations in which we want to be more assertive. It is about identifying in which situations we fail, and how we should act in the future. The degree to which our response to problem situations can make the result positive or negative is analyzed.
3. Describe problem situations. It is about analyzing situations in terms of who, when, what and how intervenes in that scene, identifying our negative thoughts and the goal we want to achieve.
4. Write a script for changing our behavior. It is a written plan for coping with behavior assertively. Here we try to put problem situations in writing and clarify what we want to achieve. The trainer molds the script with the patient so that it is expressed in a specific way.
5. Development of proper body language. There are a series of behavioral guidelines in terms of non-verbal language (the look, the tone of voice, posture, etc.), and the appropriate indications are given for the person to rehearse before a mirror.
6. Learn to identify and avoid manipulation by others. Other people use tricks to manipulate you, making you feel guilty, avoiding the conversation, or victimizing themselves. A series of techniques are given to resist the influence of others.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.