Which psychologist to choose? And how do you understand whether you need the help of a specialist, and if so, what kind: a psychologist, psychotherapist, psychiatrist, coach? Let's figure out what kind of education a specialist should have, whether he will make you happy, how to find a good psychologist and what should be the price for his services. Psychotherapy is a form of psychological care aimed at treating and improving a person's psychological and emotional well-being. The main principle is that conversation and interaction with a specialist helps the patient understand and overcome psychological problems. How do you know that you need psychotherapy? You have experienced severe grief, loss, stress or a traumatic event. Your mood changes abruptly or in waves (like on a roller coaster), depending on the time of year, or it is consistently bad and dejected. There are unpleasant sensations in the body, but doctors say that you are absolutely healthy. If you want to know yourself better and understand the reasons and motives of your actions. Who to turn to, who to look for? Different specialists - different tasks. Let's figure out who is who. Psychologist This is a specialist who, as a rule, works in a short-term approach: from one session to several months. It all depends on the severity of the problem and how deep you are willing to go in exploring your psyche. A psychologist will help you improve your self-esteem, cope with self-doubt, overcome grief, and understand the reasons for recurring scenarios in your life. Often a psychologist works in conjunction with a psychiatrist. Psychiatrist This is a doctor. He won't talk to you much, he will make a diagnosis and prescribe medications. As a psychologist, I sometimes refer clients to a psychiatrist with a collected history and diagnostic hypotheses. For example, if there is a suspicion of depression or a personality disorder. You meet with him once every couple of months and adjust your medications. At the same time, you visit a psychologist to support your mental state and also for observation. PsychotherapistIn foreign practice, this is a specialist with a medical education who helps with both conversation and medication. Like a psychologist + psychiatrist. In our country this concept is not entirely defined. Most often, a psychologist-psychotherapist is a specialist who knows various methods and techniques of psychotherapy, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, psychoanalysis, Gestalt therapy, and others, and can choose an approach for a specific client. Many psychologists know different methods of psychotherapy to understand your customers better. According to the laws of the Russian Federation, a person without a medical education can call himself a psychotherapist if he knows one or more methods of psychotherapy (CBT, Gestalt, psychoanalysis, etc.). Coach This is a specialist who helps you achieve a specific goal. A coach is a mentor, a mentor who will help take your business to the next level, set goals for the future and pave the way for achieving them. Sometimes a coach works in conjunction with a psychologist, but very often psychologists themselves are proficient in coaching techniques. How to choose a specialist and not make a mistake? Look for someone who you like. A good psychologist/psychotherapist will refer you to another specialist if he understands that the request does not fit within the scope of his competence. For example, I do not work with children, but at the same time I am a member of communities of intervision (an environment of colleagues equal in experience and status) and supervision (where the psychologist receives recommendations and help from more experienced colleagues), I know other specialists to whom I periodically refer these clients. If you suspect that you have some kind of diagnosis such as depression or ADHD, you can still contact a psychologist. A good specialist will figure it out and refer you to a psychiatrist if necessary. In my practice, there was a case when a client changed 3 psychologists. All of them helped him, with all of them he achieved his goals. And then he got bored. Yes, and if everything is fine, why go to a psychologist? He came to me with the same goals as to others: “procrastination, I don’t know,what I want, I grab onto everything, but I don’t bring anything to the end, and I also become aggressive, “explode,” and have addictions.” As a result, at the first consultation I realized that he had ADHD. No one had told him about this before. Yes, coaching and CBT techniques work well for ADHD, and psychologists have previously also been successful in solving client problems with motivation. And no, it’s not that I’m so cool, I found something that 3 specialists didn’t see. They were also good and each solved the client's request. But sometimes you need to go through several specialists in search of someone who is really suitable. And this is normal. What approach in psychotherapy is best? When you look for a psychologist, you most often see something harmful: a Gestalt therapist, a CBT therapist, an emotional-image or body-oriented psychotherapist, a psychoanalyst, etc. What to choose? This is NOT the approach that works. A specialist works. It doesn’t matter which approach you choose, the contact with a psychologist/psychotherapist works. And there is a lot of scientific data and evidence for this. It all depends on the competence of the specialist himself and how well the contact is established with him. We work in different ways, but the results will come if the specialist is a good professional. A psychologist/psychotherapist is a specialist in the human psyche and how it functions. This is not a specialist in living a happy life or seducing other people. A good psychologist does not give advice and does not impose his picture of the world and values ​​on you, does not judge or devalue you. For example, he will never say: “Betrayal is terrible, you need to leave such a partner.” Or “you’ve only been together for a year, it’s not that much time, you’ll find someone new.” Will a psychologist make your life happy? To be honest, it’s unlikely. But he will definitely make it REAL. Imagine: you have been digging the earth with your hands all your life. But a specialist comes and says: “Look, there is a shovel, try it, maybe it will be more convenient.” You master a shovel, and then a psychologist tells you about an excavator. You master it too. And then you will find out that there are people you can hire and they will do everything for you. BUT! Without mastering the first point, you cannot reach the last one. This is how psychotherapy works—it expands your experience. You will not stop feeling sad, angry and other unpleasant feelings. You will feel everything to the fullest. Like happiness, joy, love. You will be able to get to know yourself better: get out of repeating stories, learn to support yourself and others, ask for help and set boundaries on how you can and cannot be treated. Psychotherapy has its own risks and results. You will most likely become uncomfortable with other people. You might stop hanging out with your friends, quit your job, or divorce your partner. Or there will be no such drastic changes, but no one can guarantee where psychotherapy will lead. Education as a psychologist. Which diploma is better? Classical higher education - specialty, bachelor's, master's. But you need to understand that basically 4-5 years of study at a university is mostly theory. Therefore, you need to look at additional documents, namely, certificates of advanced training. Universities do not have mandatory personal therapy and diplomas are issued to almost everyone. Retraining. Contrary to popular myth, it is no worse than the classical higher one. Psychological disciplines are the same, just without subjects like philosophy or mathematics. Mature and motivated people usually go into retraining with a specific goal. But the number of hours in the diploma must be more than 1000. In 2-3 month courses you can get an idea of ​​the profession, but you cannot go into practice. Those who say the opposite just want to sell you their courses. And here, too, you need to look at additional IDs and certificates. It doesn't matter whether it is a public university or a private one. Private institutions like the Moscow Institute of Psychoanalysis or the Moscow Gestalt Institute are recognized by the world community, and are not inferior (and sometimes even better) in the quality of education. In private universities, personal therapy and supervision are mandatory. 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