Graphologists study handwriting to analyze personality, mental state, and nervous system health. They can assist forensic document examiners and companies with hiring procedures. Handwriting is unique like a thumbprint and can reveal psychological problems or predict compatibility with others or a job. There is no formal legal definition for a graphologist, and training ranges from short internships to years of professional education.
A graphologist is someone who studies handwriting and usually applies his or her studies to analyzing specific documents. In some cases, a graphologist is also a psychologist, because handwriting is believed to provide insight into someone’s personality, mental state, and nervous system health. There are a number of potential careers for a graphologist, ranging from assisting forensic document examiners to assisting companies with hiring procedures, and training ranges from short internships to years of professional education. The art of graphology has been practiced for thousands of years; some of the ancient Greeks, for example, boasted that they could learn a great deal from each other by examining their handwriting.
Handwriting can be used to examine different aspects of personality. When employed to examine questionable documents, a graphologist will observe how the individual writes in multiple samples, identifying distinctive features that can reveal whether or not a document is false. In a sense, handwriting is like a thumbprint; it is very difficult to pretend, and no two writers are the same. Doctors can also use it to examine a patient’s overall health. Because the hands are controlled by the central nervous system, changes in handwriting style can reveal nervous system problems such as temporary incapacity due to alcohol intoxication, or the early stages of Parkinson’s disease and other serious nervous system diseases.
However, a graphologist usually examines handwriting to gather information about the author’s personality. Graphologists believe that writing can reveal distinct personality traits of the subconscious, because the ego is often suppressed as people write. Also, some traits tend to be accompanied by some handwriting quirks, and a good graphologist can identify potential psychological problems or simply open a window into how someone’s unconscious brain works. By analyzing handwriting, it is believed that a graphologist can predict compatibility with other people or a job, identify areas of tension in someone’s life, and see what kind of emotions the person was feeling while writing.
In most areas of the world, there is no formal legal definition for a graphologist. Most graphologists learn by studying with others, although some choose to pursue graphology after already graduating from medical school, commonly as a psychologist. Many forensic education programs also offer graphology classes, and it can take years to become a skilled and accurate graphologist. People interested in graphology should probably start by studying broad psychology, so they have a solid foundation to work from when looking at handwriting.
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