Office Address
Address: Mager 15, 10438 Athens, Greece
Working Hours
Monday - Friday: 10:00-22:00
Hotline
PHONE: +302103008012
EMAIL: contact@forensicpsycho.gr
Forensic Psychology
Analyzing criminal behavior
on an individual basis
on an individual basis
Forensic Psychology is the field of psychology dealing with criminal and delinquent behaviour,as well as the application of psychology in legal settings and the Criminal Justice System (CJS). Forensic psychologists are able to provide psychological services like any other psychologist, such as therapy. What makes them unique is that they are equipped with a deep understanding of the root causes and patterns of criminal behavior, as well as factors facilitating victimization.
They are frequently called upon to evaluate offenders’ propensity to reoffend, diagnose and treat mental health issues and suicide risk, create and oversee offender treatment and rehabilitation programs, profile offenders, conduct forensic psychological assessments and testify as expert witnesses.
Forensic or criminal psychology should not be confused with criminology. Criminology is a field of sociology, where crime is examined as a social phenomenon and also deals with the criminological procedures that need to be followed, e.g. processing a crime scene. Forensic psychology examines crime on an individual basis, focusing both on the perpetrator and the victim from a psychological perspective.
Psychotherapy
The keys to successful self-healing
At some point in life, we all have felt overwhelmed. You might be going through a situation in the present where everything seems and feels chaotic, nothing works and you’re going to lose your mind. You try so hard to put your ducks in a row, but chaos doesn’t seem to want to leave your life.
When people or life events, either instantaneously or progressively create overwhelming or traumatic experiences, we get negatively affected. This can involve a storm of multiple feelings and emotions and a turbulence of thoughts. Our thoughts, feelings and emotions are translated into movies which our brain plays on repeat in the mental video screen it has in an effort to make sense of the experience. But… a movie is not real; it is fiction! The chaos increases and we end up feeling even more overwhelmed.
There is order in chaos. Otherwise we wouldn’t know it is chaos. Simply put, chaos is not “chaos”, it is an “order” that doesn’t serve us well. The experiences we went through rearranged the order that serves our needs into a different one that does not. This is what our self perceives as “chaos”. So, all it takes is to utilize the internal resources each human has to create the change we desire.
In order for us to heal, we need to properly process and make sense of the past, we need to be in touch with what is happening in the present and why, and design a beneficial future that will serve our needs best. The personality we have, our behavioral patterns, the emotions that heat us up or turn us cold and how we process them, the mental strategies we were taught, our values and beliefs and the use or not of emotional intelligence in our interpersonal relationships can be both stumbling blocks and the remedy as well. The proper mapping of what makes you, you is the key to successful self-healing!
Behavioral Analysis
How we can solve the brain's code
Behavioral analysis refers to the ability to analyze and understand human behavior. While the general public calls it “reading people”, scientifically it has to do with the analysis of human communication, as well as the interpretation of the present along with the prediction of future behaviors. The human brain is a fascinating organ which does not operate on randomness. It always operates on mental trategies. Sometimes these strategies are consciously built and sometimes it is simply a piece of “code” wired to run in our brain creating instantaneous, involuntary reactions. For example, if we sit relaxed on a chair and we hear a very loud noise like an explosion, we will jump off. Another example would be when we experience an emotion that we didn’t consciously think about feeling and it just happens.
However, a fundamental stone of what makes us humans is that we communicate with one another constantly. Whatever our brain experiences, it is designed to communicate it one way or another. This communication consists of three main types; linguistics (what we say), paralingustics (how we say it) and non-verbals (everything that is not a word). That creates multiple channels of communication that we need to be able to monitor simultaneously, such as the face, the body, the content etc.
Behavioral analysts do not use intuition, therefore, they do not assume or speculate. Rather they are trained to critically evaluate any point of interest marked in a given communication. This is easier said than done as having scientific knowledge alone is not enough. Behavioral analysis on top of anything else is a skill that needs to be developed and honed continuously.
Mastering the art of communication can elevate anyone from just a speaker into an effective communicator. This achievement can have beneficial applications in multiple different areas of life. These areas are sales, marketing, interviewers, HR, negotiations, lawyers, investigators, psychologists, and psychotherapists where being able to comprehend the spoken as well as the unspoken can make the difference.
Behavioral analysis provides a deep, profound understanding of people. And that is what we all desire after all; to feel understood.
Emotional Intelligence
Understanding and controlling emotions, in oneself and in others, is a broad notion that includes a number of talents and abilities. Emotional intelligence (also known as EQ or Emotional Quotient), as defined by Mayer and Salovey is the adaptive identification, comprehension, control, and use of emotions to support cognitive function. It is defined as the capacity to use intellect to manage emotional life, preserve emotional balance, and correctly reveal feelings by use of abilities like empathy, self-control, self-motivation, and self- awareness. Emotional intelligence also includes the ability to recognize emotions, absorb feelings associated with emotions, comprehend emotional information, and successfully control emotions.
Emotional intelligence is completely separate from the intellectual intelligence known as IQ (Intelligent Quotient) and is not defined or affected by it. Someone with high IQ can have a low EQ score and someone with low IQ can have a high EQ score. Even though we are pretty much born with our IQ, we constantly develop our EQ with the available research to suggest that the development curve tends to become horizontal around the age of 45-50. It is difficult to increase the IQ, however, it is a very achievable goal to increase the EQ in a person.
The Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test
Professors Mayer and Salovey introduced the term “emotional intelligence” for the first time in the literature in 1990. Later on, Caruso collaborated with them in developing the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso EI Test (MSCEIT). It is an ability-based EI test which practically means it measures with precision the EQ score of a person through different tasks.
The questionnaire is split into four groups, measuring the participant’s ability to perceive emotions, to use emotions properly, to understand emotions and to manage emotions properly. Each ability group consists of two tasks resulting in eight scoring subscales. The total EQ score is calculated as the average of each ability group.
The MSCEIT emotional intelligence test sits at the top of the available scientific EI tests and is considered the most valid in answering the question at what level your emotional intelligence is and in exactly which abilities and tasks.
Emotional Quotient Inventory v. 2.0 test (EQ-i 2.0)
Reuven Bar-on researched the role of emotion in humans back in 1983 and he is the one that first used the term “EQ”. He later developed the EQ-i test, suggesting that EmotionalIntelligence is a set of emotional and social skills that collectively establish how well we perceive and express ourselves, develop and maintain social relationships, cope with challenges and use emotional information in an effective and meaningful way. The EQ-i measures EI in someone’s behavior in five subscales: Self-Perception, Self-Expression, Interpersonal, Decision Making and Stress Management. The total EI score is calculated as the average of each subscale score.
The EQ-i 2.0 test is extensively used by educational institutes in the USA to assist students discover in their EI the areas of strength and the areas that need further development and contribute to the students’ decision-making process of choosing the field of studies that will lead them to success.
As EI plays a crucial role in the working place, EQ-i has the EQ360 version which involves participation of smaller or bigger groups. EQ-i 2.0/EQ360 can measure either the collective EI score in a group’s interaction or invite third-parties to provide perspective on how they see the participants EI to be. This is an incredible tool for the business world, as it can identify dysfunctional relationships within a group due to low use of EI and provides suggestions on improvement.
George Karkanis is the first psychologist in Greece certified on both the MSCEIT and the EQ-i 2.0/EQ360 tests and he is able to provide a holistic approach on measuring your emotional intelligence and interpreting your results in a way that will practically improve how you live your life.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why should I take an EI test
and what is the benefit of knowing
my EQ score?
The benefit is not the score itself. The benefit is knowing where you stand in emotional
intelligence, what are your strengths and how you can improve further. EI affects every aspect of life and is estimated to account for 45% of job success. The overall result of well-developed
emotional intelligence is healthy emotional and social functioning, which is linked to your well-being and happiness.
Is EQ similar to IQ?
No, EQ is completely different from IQ. EQ and IQ are not highly correlated, meaning that there
is nothing to suggest that if IQ is high then EQ will be high or inversely if IQ is low, EQ will be
low. IQ is set and peaks around 17 years of age, EQ is not fixed and rises steadily with age.
What is the difference between MSCEIT and EQ-i 2.0/EQ360?
The MSCEIT is an ability-based test which involves questions that have right/wrong answers.
EQ-i 2.0 does not have right/wrong answers, the participants rate how applicable or not different
statements are to themselves. We could say that the MSCEIT measures whether you actually
have EI or not and in which areas, and the EQ-i 2.0 measures how much EI your behavior
involves. Someone may have a high MSCEIT score, but they don’t behave according to the EI
they have, for whatever reason, which will be spotted by EQ-i 2.0.
Why should I pay to take the MSCEIT or EQ-i 2.0 and not just take a free online test?
Free online EI tests exist more to increase traffic in websites rather than providing you valid
results, as they are completely lacking the scientific research and validation such a
psychometric test should have. More importantly, a score on its own means nothing in terms of
triggering the change in you. Taking the MSCEIT or EQ-i 2.0 involves interpretation of your
results by a professional in a session, so that you will know how you can best utilize the
information the test gives you.
What an Emotional Intelligence test is NOT?
An EI test is not an achievement. It is not like a standardized examination that assesses the proficiency level already attained in a specific performance (e.g. school grades).
An EI test is not an aptitude. It is not a written, oral, or performance test designed to measure a person’s potential ability for performing well in some future selected skill or activity (e.g. musical aptitude)
An EI test is not a vocational interest. It assesses a person’s interests in order to help them choose, prepare for, enter upon, and progress in an occupation.
An EI test is not an aptitude. It is not a written, oral, or performance test designed to measure a person’s potential ability for performing well in some future selected skill or activity (e.g. musical aptitude)
An EI test is not a vocational interest. It assesses a person’s interests in order to help them choose, prepare for, enter upon, and progress in an occupation.