From the author: The original text of the article is on the website: Indeed, at present, this problem has become very relevant. Unfortunately, at the moment we are a society of amateurs, unlike the Western society of professionals. Finding a good professional in any field is now quite difficult. Surely everyone has a story about how they were let down by mechanics, painters, hairdressers, etc. But if in these cases we are talking only about wasted money and time, then in cases of turning to a psychologist we are talking about our soul, about the quality of our life and about our destiny. When choosing the services of a psychologist, many tend to rely on their first impression and the assessment of others people who have visited this specialist. Your impression of the first conversation is, of course, important, because it is you who will work with this psychologist in the future. But you shouldn’t rely on the impressions of friends and girlfriends, because... Their assessment is in no way a criterion of the professionalism of a psychologist. Rather, if you look at your friends, then not at their opinion, but at your own feeling of how much their life has changed in one direction or another after visiting a psychologist. Although it is quite problematic to objectively assess all the changes. So how then can one distinguish a professional from an amateur, a charlatan or an ordinary psychologist? Of course, a psychologist must have a higher psychological education. But higher psychological education does not make a person a professional. It only provides a general theoretical basis that has virtually nothing to do with practical work with clients. Moreover, according to recent studies, 80% of psychology students are driven by the motive to understand themselves. But, unfortunately, the general theory only helps them “better understand others” but not themselves. And then they try to solve their internal problems through their clients. Communication with a psychologist who has not solved your problems is more likely to do harm than good. A psychologist is a person who works with his personality! Accordingly, a psychologist will not be able to help you resolve those problems that he himself has not resolved. After all, a psychologist can only convey to you what he has. On this issue, at the beginning of the twentieth century, S. Freud spoke quite sharply: “We generally consider someone who does not have a diploma to be a charlatan. I propose that anyone who heals without knowing how to heal should be considered a charlatan.” So what makes a psychologist a professional in his field? The first and main thing is personal elaboration and resolution of personal problems. A psychologist can achieve this only by regularly undergoing personal psychotherapy with his more qualified colleague. The second thing that makes a psychologist a professional is post-graduate training in advanced training courses. It is desirable that these courses are taught by the best (successful, recognized and authoritative) psychologists and psychotherapists in the field. The third is regular supervision by a more qualified colleague. Supervision is the analysis of client cases by a more experienced professional, which allows the psychologist to more effectively help his clients and grow professionally. The fourth condition of professionalism is constant professional communication with colleagues and exchange of experience. To do this, a psychologist must be a member of a professional psychological community and participate in scientific and practical conferences. The fifth necessary condition for maintaining professionalism at a high level is constant work with clients. Psychological activity should be the main source of income for a professional psychologist. If the profession cannot support a specialist, and he is forced to do something else, then he is a bad professional. Unfortunately, there are now a lot of such “specialists” who call themselves: “Psychologist-astrologer”, “Parapsychologist”, “Magician-psychologist”, etc. Perhaps they know something in their field, but they are certainly not psychologists or good specialists. Let’s say a person is successfully engaged in astrology or fortune-telling, why should he write that he is also/