HOW_TO_CHOOSE_A PSYCHOLOGIST? The first criterion is higher psychological education. - a mandatory criterion according to the code of ethics of a psychologist - an indicator of the serious attitude of a specialist to his profession - the foundation, the basis that is necessary for the optimal development of subsequent practical psychological education. The second criterion is additional education and advanced training. Every psychologist is required to undergo advanced training at least once every 5 years. Certificates and certificates of advanced training will help you learn about: - the specialist’s area of ​​professional interests; - the areas and techniques in which he works; - the person responsible attitude towards one’s profession. The third criterion is the cost of the consultation. Payment for the consultation is important for both the psychologist and the client. For the client (in most cases) it is an important tool of therapy. Payment acts as an additional source of motivation. The cost, which is significant for the client, allows: - to value one’s own spent time, get involved in the work as much as possible; - do not be late or miss; - appreciate your own efforts; - do not experience negative emotions (for example, guilt) for the time spent by the therapist. The cost of a consultation, to a certain extent, reflects the specialist’s attitude towards his work. It determines not only wages in its standard sense. The money a psychologist receives for a consultation includes: - rent of an office; - payment for a supervisor or supervisory groups (a form of support with the help of a more experienced colleague on difficult issues (clients), which makes it possible to soberly and impartially evaluate their work); - payment for personal therapy ( it is very important for a psychologist to be a resource and regularly work on himself); - payment for additional training and advanced training (mandatory for every psychologist); - provision of basic needs (if a psychologist works on an ongoing basis without pay or for a nominal fee, he is most likely in the role rescuer who wants to “do good”, such motivation does not help either the psychologist or the client). If the cost is too low, then we can assume that the specialist is just gaining experience or is not confident in himself and the quality of his work, or neglects mandatory investments (supervision and additional education).The exception is: *volunteer work (help in emergency situations, for example, during terrorist attacks, disasters, when there are not enough psychologists from the Ministry of Emergency Situations) *regular free (charitable) consultations at the personal decision of a psychologist (the possibility of which is ensured by payment of standard ones) *work in the state institutions where payment is made by a third party - the state. In this case, therapy is usually short-term. The work of a psychologist is not a case where you can reduce the cost and increase the number of sales. By increasing the number of consultations, the psychologist risks his own professional burnout. There are also cases of exorbitantly high prices for consultations. What causes this? First of all, the popularity of the psychologist, which is not always based on the quality of the services provided. But such a price pleases the client’s vanity, “I can afford it,” and allows him to say that he went not to someone, but to “himself...”. And it also acts as a powerful tool and increases faith in therapy “it’s not for nothing that a consultation costs 50 thousand rubles!” (the numbers are real and far from maximum).