A dozen years ago, the idea of introducing the institute of psychologists in the army was met with considerable skepticism. It was believed that the unit commander was the best psychologist. New socio-economic relations in the country have dramatically changed the" psychological mentality " of society. Naturally, all this could not but affect the army system. The prolonged so-called transition period formed conscripts in the context of the war in Chechnya, growing unemployment, uncertain moral guidelines, a deep crisis in public education, and an increased number of family and household disasters.

On this occasion, in a conversation with me, the deputy commander for educational work of the Leningrad-Pavlovsk Motorized Rifle Division, Lieutenant Colonel N. G. Markov, reasoned as follows::

- To put it bluntly, the Institute of military psychologists came to our army with a big delay. The idea itself was generally treated very coolly. Because it wasn't backed up by anything. And really, who was the psychologist at first? Most often, he did not have any relevant education or basic professional training. The old approaches were not suitable, and the regulatory and methodological framework was practically nonexistent. What should I do in this situation, and what documents should I rely on?.. So such an officer, often appointed to a position against his will, looked like an artificial figure, with unclear functions and capabilities. When the Military University began to produce certified specialists, when the "Manual on Psychological Work in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation" finally came to the troops, a peculiar stereotype had already developed in relation to psychologists, which could only be overcome with the help of psychology... This is a joke, of course, but there is some truth in it.

Time has shown that literally all army structures should be permeated with this important work. Today, alas, only a full-time psychologist is provided for the regiment - this is so little...

Soon the author of these lines had the opportunity to make sure that many of the conclusions made about the work of military psychologists were correct. In particular, after I managed to work quite closely with the psychologist of the N-sk motorized rifle regiment, Major Kizenkov. Here's someone who really has to schedule almost every hour of their daily service. The workload is enormous, and yet Kizenkov understands with regret that even if he works all day long, he will still be able to cover only the most important areas. There is no time for nuances. And the approaches and methods of the "adjuster of human souls" are very often based on subtleties.

At the time when the author of these lines worked in the aforementioned motorized rifle regiment, Vladimir Nikolaevich had the hottest time - soldiers of the next draft were becoming active. When asked where he starts his work in such cases, Major Kizenkov said::

- Probably, like everyone else, with the introduction. True, the psychologist has a peculiar one. This is not only visual contact, but also the study of biographies of former conscripts based on documents, testing, and individual interviews. And after establishing a psychological profile, a more difficult period begins: psychological study, consultations, and sometimes psychocorrection.

Yes, almost medical terms are now used in the daily service of military psychologists. And add to this a lot of questionnaires, diaries, meetings with people who receive psychological assistance...

Vladimir Kizenkov uses several questionnaires in the process of primary examination of individual psychological characteristics of young soldiers. Depending on what you want to know about your employees. This can be a multi-level personal questionnaire "Adaptability" developed by A. G. Maklakov and S. V. Chermyanin, or a questionnaire "Forecast-11" by V. Y. Rybnikov, or a test developed by K. N. Polyakov and A. N. Glushko. As a result of this work, data is entered in the work log for further actions. For example, work on the initial study of individual psychological characteristics of young specialists in one of the battalions forced Major V. Kizenkov to make this entry: "I checked 51 people. Among them - with a low level of development of communication abilities-26 people; low level of neuropsychological stability in 12 people; inadequate assessment of their place and role in the team in 10 people."

The result of such work is always a report addressed to the regimental commander, which indicates special recommendations. It is clear that the effectiveness of educational work largely depends on the relationship between the psychologist and the commander.

Conducting his observations, Major Vladimir Kizenkov comes to the conclusion that the situation in psychological terms is getting worse every year. This is evidenced by such facts. In 1995, 17 people independently applied to him for psychological help, of which 7 servicemen were recommended for in-depth examination in the hospital. In 1996, out of 17 people who applied to the hospital, 13 people were already sent. In 1998, 21 servicemen came to a psychologist.

I think there is no point in giving further quantitative indicators. I just wanted to emphasize once again what serious and deep work is required from the psychologist of the regiment. There are individual conversations and dynamic observation in a variety of situations, in particular during combat training in the field, when Major Kizenkov provides psychological support. Sometimes meetings with military personnel's parents and letters become a "help". Vladimir Nikolaevich once had a case that he could not "decipher" for a long time. Private Sergei Pimenov flatly refused to perform a training exercise during shooting classes. Major Kizenkov immediately intervened in the situation, but neither conversations, nor various tests, nor observations made it clear. However, the psychologist clearly determined that Pimenov is afraid of weapons. It wasn't until he got a reply to the letters from the soldier's house that he realized what was going on. As a child, in front of Sergei's eyes, a neighbor shot a dog with a gun. The barbaric shot was also a bad one. The dog suffered for a long time. This shocked the child's soul, and from then on, he subconsciously hated guns. Now Major Kizenkov knew in what direction to work, how to "erase the minuses" and "work out the pluses", conducting psychological correction.

I would like to note, by the way, that the Manual on Psychological Work in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is a significant help in the work of psychologists. Even without special knowledge, but constantly and persistently engaged in self-education in the field of psychology, the officer is able not only to learn its basics, but also to acquire good practical skills.

This is what venerable psychologists from Akademgorodok, Novosibirsk, told me when I introduced them to this document. They emphasized the modern and progressive nature of the recommendations. So in the reserve of the regimental psychologist Major Vladimir Kizenkov there is a good set of tools for work. Vladimir Nikolaevich says that after he understood what was happening with Private Pimenov, he spent the whole evening working on the " Manual...", rereading it again, figuring out how best to conduct the consultation, what to use, what to play on. The document described in detail the effect of directional influence. But which one should I choose? And he found the answer to these questions by using a technique called "self-disclosure". He didn't ask the soldier anything. He just talked about himself, about a vaguely similar case, made his interlocutor empathize. Then this empathy turned into a reverse story-a memory. Then Major Kizenkov once again heard about the dog shot as a child in front of the boy's eyes.

But this was only the beginning of the work, an experienced psychotherapist could handle it further, so in his resume to the report, the psychologist wrote about the need to send Pimenov to the hospital...

This is one situation that we have described. And Kizenkov has about three hundred subordinates in the regiment, such as those who require psychological observation and control. Yes, this is a lot even for a motorized rifle regiment. But sociologists predict an increase in the number of people in need of psychological help. Can a single specialist handle this task? The conclusion is obvious. By the way, there are only three psychologists in this division with special education. One of them, Lieutenant Colonel Petrishchev, leaves for the reserve. When I had a chance to talk to civilian psychologists on this topic, they were surprised to hear about how many military personnel should be in the field of activity of a regimental psychologist. Twenty people, they said , was a valid group. 100 is already too much, the rest is beyond reasonable. Thus, it is obvious that in army conditions such a position should be introduced at the company level. But, let's say, in the conditions of reducing the Armed Forces, such a fantastic project will be implemented. Another problem will arise: where to get highly qualified personnel? It is obvious that one Military University, even with the additional three-month courses that are organized on its basis, will not be able to cope with this task.

Lieutenant Colonel Nikolai Markov, with whom we started a conversation on this issue, as if summarizing, stressed: "It is obvious that military psychologists should be trained in each school, taking into account the type of troops. Despite the deepest social and economic crisis in our country, the Institute of psychologists is now rapidly becoming established. Moreover, the demand in the labor market is very high. Almost any civil university accompanies the preparation for some specialty with a kind of psychological "equipment". A striking example is Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University. There are such departments as "Russian language and Psychology", "English language and Psychology", "History and Psychology". And this is despite the fact that this subject itself is considered basic in this university. The same thing happens in other universities, even technical ones. There are fears that we will again fall far behind in terms of military education... It's great that psychologists were introduced to the troops. But it is impossible even for such exceptionally efficient and loving people as Major Kizenkov, for example, to work with such a large number of people. The vast cannot be embraced. It is no wonder that the specialist is still more often acting in the "role of a firefighter"...

And in conclusion, I can't help but tell you about the case that Major Vladimir Kizenkov told me:

- Once, when assigning a squad to the guard, I did everything necessary and was about to leave the guardhouse, when I suddenly noticed the soldier's frowning face. I thought he was going to cry. I ask for your last name. He calls it-I feel something familiar, disturbing, but I can't really remember. I went to my office, opened the folder, and was taken aback: this man should not be on guard, should not take up arms. I had to step in. Didn't catch up, missed it... How? Why? I think it's because there are too few of us, military psychologists, and the contingent we have to work with is too large.

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