What to look for when choosing a psychologist/psychotherapist?! Before you start looking for YOUR specialist, you need to remember important points that you should pay attention to (even if the psychologist was recommended to you).❗I recommend looking COMPLEXLY and highlight from the proposed points those that are important specifically FOR YOU ❗❌Each point separately may say NOTHING about a specialist as a professional ❗✅The list is based on personal experience, the experience of friends and clients, and on the requirements that are put forward to specialists during training. This is information that you can find out even before your first visit to a psychologist.✅If the input data is not enough, you can ask questions to the specialist himself.‼️ALWAYS REMEMBER! You have the right to ASK QUESTIONS and RECEIVE HONEST ANSWERS. What you can learn before meeting a psychologist/psychotherapist: 1️⃣Basic psychological education is a MUST! While studying at a university, future specialists receive not only basic theoretical knowledge, but also form their worldview and attitude towards the profession and further practice. Specialists without basic education differ radically in their knowledge and capabilities. This is neither bad nor good - this is a fact that is difficult to deny. Basic psychological education is not training or courses, it is the basis of the fundamentals, which is difficult to obtain in a short time (it is not for nothing that training lasts 4-5 years). There is the possibility of retraining in the specialty “Psychology” if the first education is in another specialty, but these cannot be short-term courses (training lasts from 2 to 3.5 years and the diploma indicates at least 1000-1500 hours of retraining). But it is important to understand that distance learning is most often inferior to face-to-face learning. Very often, in the online format, less information is given and a minimum of feedback from teachers. As a result, students receive more superficial knowledge than if they studied full-time at the institute.✅And here the student’s motivation will be no less important. If desired, you can get as much information as possible from distance learning. Accordingly, in its absence, you can only take away your minimum from full-time education.❌ There is no need to rely only on the format of education. Even now, many “specialists” hide behind certificates without having a basic psychological education, misleading clients. It’s good if this is a specialization or long-term advanced training courses, but most often these are short-term face-to-face or online courses and trainings, which, unfortunately, are completely insufficient. To understand how qualified the specialist is in front of you, I recommend using the website b17.ru (to search specialist). This platform allows you to register and be on the list of specialists only by confirming your education. Also on the resource it is possible to set several professional statuses, which will also help make it easier for you to choose a specialist (any of the statuses is confirmed by the site administration, after providing a diploma or other documents):✔️psychotherapist (with medical education, retraining in psychiatry and psychotherapy );✔️psychologist (who has a higher education in psychology, or has undergone retraining in psychology at an educational institution with a state license);✔️specialist (who does not have a psychological education, but works in a helping profession related to psychology (psychiatrist, sexologist, conflict specialist , coach, etc.);✔️training organizer (a person who does not conduct training himself, but organizes training for other specialists);✔️psychologist student (in the process of training). But, unfortunately, not all specialists register here. There are also various psychological services that provide the services of psychologists (post their resumes, promote their work, etc.). For example: YouTalk, Psyalter, Meta, Zigmund.online, Yasno and others. Projects of this kind carefully select specialists based on their education, conduct tests and interviews.Such services can be trusted, BUT, it is worth clarifying (although this information is often indicated on the official website) how specialists are recruited. Since today services have begun to appear that are not very conscientious about selection: they take everyone who is willing to pay (colleagues share their sad experiences with such services). And this reduces trust. I would also like to mention “newbies” - young specialists who are just entering the profession (often through training in some modality, more on this later). Without yet having a confirmed basic psychological education, they are in the process of learning and often receive a diploma, but later. Such “young” psychologists honestly state this and can explain why they are useful to you (sincerity in the work of a psychologist is a very important tool, pay attention to this!). These specialists often work no worse, or even many times better, than psychologists who have a basic psychological education. In my environment there are specialists with training in Gestalt therapy and not only, who currently do not have a bachelor’s degree in psychology, but I redirect to them my friends/acquaintances/clients whom I cannot hire myself. Undoubtedly, I honestly warn about education and refer to the quality of work that I was able to observe during studies, supervision, and work in threes. And I trust these specialists. There are also specialists who are good in practice, have additional education (specifications, etc.), but without a bachelor’s degree or any retraining. But, to be honest, I don’t know many of them (or I’ve only heard about them from friends). But the Internet is full of such “specialists”, and often there are problems with additional education. As far as I encounter in practice, psychologists who understand the complexity of the profession and their responsibility to clients ALWAYS complete basic education or undergo retraining, even after years since the beginning of practice (if it weren’t important and noticeable, this would not have happened).✅Summarizing point 1️⃣: yes, a diploma in psychology is not a guarantee of quality, there is no need to create illusions here. BUT! It is undeniably important. Indeed, in the profession of psychologist, the scientific knowledge that is given at the institute is important and necessary in further practice. They provide an understanding of working methods (not including esoteric directions) and important processes of the psyche, and simply introduce the profession from different angles and different directions and methods of work. 2️⃣. Additional education: specialization and/or modality in psychotherapy. Additional education is received both in a separate modality (for example: Gestalt therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, sexology, etc.), and in a narrower specialization in the same modality or in integrative approach (for example: gestalt therapy in working with trauma and crises, specialization in working with children and adolescents, etc.). Psychologists often have a specialization and modality, or in other words, a direction in psychotherapy (almost the same as like doctors) and talks about who the specialist works with (children, couples, adults, families, pregnant women, etc.) and what methods the specialist uses in working with clients.📍Yes, specialization and method of psychotherapy are not required, but today, few psychologists continue to practice without them, since basic education for practice is not enough.✅Specializations and modalities expand the psychologist’s capabilities in his work. They help you gain extensive knowledge for working with certain clients (children, couples, etc.) and go deeper (into therapy), and not remain at the level of just counseling.✅Having learned the specialization or direction in which the psychologist/psychotherapist works, you will be able to understand , what methods the specialist uses and what problems he works with. This may make your choice easier. You can find information about directions in psychotherapy on the Internet, or read a short description in my article: Brief overview of the main directions of modern psychology. At the same time, focusing on onespecializations/modalities do not always guarantee a good result in working with clients, as does the presence of several specializations/modalities.🔸There are specialists who successfully integrate several areas in their work with clients.🔸There are specialists who delve into one modality and are also successful and effective in working with clients. There are those who have many specializations, but there is no effect in their work. It’s a matter of preference. Choose what is closest to you now and what issues you want to work with at the moment. But remember, only modality or specialization does not determine the quality of a specialist. 3️⃣. Availability of hours of personal therapy (in individual or group format).✅ Firstly, this suggests that a psychologist is also a person who visits a psychologist himself to solve personal problems and takes responsibility for his psychological health by seeking help from another specialist.✅Secondly, personal therapy helps the specialist not to mix his personal experience and the client’s experience. It happens that a client raises a topic that affects the therapist himself (many topics already concern absolutely every person on the planet), but there are topics that can “hook” at the moment. For example, a client talks about his betrayal, and a psychologist in his life has encountered a partner’s betrayal. If a psychologist has not worked through all the grievances and emotions associated with his partner’s betrayal in personal therapy, he may begin to bring his experience to work with this client, push through his interests and impose his relationship to the betrayal (may even begin to shame). Having discovered a painful point in himself regarding the issue of betrayal, a psychologist can bring this topic to his personal therapy, and then his experience will not interfere with his work with the client.✅ Thirdly, it reduces the risk that the psychologist will begin to “be treated about the client.” In the absence of personal therapy, a specialist can begin to get more and more involved in the work for his own benefit: turn the topic into a direction that is interesting to him, hear only those points that are interesting to him (and not the client) and lead away from the client’s real problems (not solve them).✅ Fourthly, this suggests that the psychologist cares about his development as a specialist, because part of the training takes place precisely through his experience of undergoing personal/group therapy. Such a specialist understands perfectly what it is like to be a “client of a psychologist.”✅Fifthly, the psychologist fulfills the requirements of his school in which he receives a specialization/modality (there are requirements that students must fulfill to receive a certificate, with a minimum number of hours of personal therapy) , and also complies with the ethics of a psychologist.‼️For me, this point is a must have‼️ 4️⃣. Passing supervision.✅Supervision is a visit by a psychologist to a more experienced psychologist to analyze his professional decisions, actions and choose a work strategy.✅Supervision can take place in individual and group formats.You can ask in advance whether your specialist is undergoing supervision, but usually , the psychologist himself will warn you about this and ask you for permission to discuss your joint work with his supervisor (everything is strictly confidential, details are not disclosed, the work of the specialist himself, hypotheses and work strategy are discussed, and, if necessary, adjusted).‼️And this I also consider this point a must have!! ️Breaks and pauses are also possible here, but your psychologist must have a supervisor. Even very experienced psychologists/psychotherapists may have questions about the strategy and methods of work. And that’s normal👌☑️Personal therapy and supervision are a necessary part of a psychologist’s work. At the moment they may be on pause, which a psychologist/psychotherapist can also tell you about. 5️⃣. Constant professional development and attendance at conferences (the number of confirming certificates). This is an integral indicator of interest in the profession, which is sometimes a mandatory requirement for obtaining some specializations (as well as personal therapy and supervision). The field of psychology is huge, and is only expanding every year : new research is being carried out,New techniques, exercises and much more appear. For this reason, it is impossible to acquire this knowledge during higher education and one specialization. Periodic updating and replenishment of one’s knowledge is the key to the success of a psychologist. But! There are several nuances at this point that do not always affect the quality of work. I would recommend paying attention to them in order to understand whether this is right for you: 📌 A specialist is constantly studying, learning everything, and in all directions - on the one hand, this enriches the specialist and expands his methodological base, but at the same time, there is a possibility that such a specialist will often change his working style (which may suit and help one client well, but not another). Or he can professionally integrate the acquired knowledge to help each client in his own way, selecting a unique combination of techniques and exercises. I had an experience when the therapist began to change her approaches to work and it was very stressful and did not progress, it seemed as if the therapist was practicing skills on me, and not helping me (it’s not hard to guess that I didn’t go to her after that).📌Specialist , who received additional education more than 4-5 years ago - it’s worth thinking about whether he is interested in his own field of work, new techniques, gaining new experience through communication with other specialists? Perhaps this specialist still undergoes training, but does not receive certificates. Now there are many different courses and webinars on the market, but not all of them are issued with confirmation certificates. A specialist can also read professional literature, of which there is so much now that you can bury yourself in it for a couple of years and gain practical knowledge for work. In any case, a good option would be for a specialist to attend new courses and conferences at 2-3 year intervals.❗An important comment that I would like to give regarding certificates❗A training certificate is something that any specialist is proud of. And if you don’t see instructions about additional training, and the psychologist tells you that you can buy certificates – think about it! Yes, you can buy everything now! But they are proud of even the purchased certificates. And they are doubly proud of the education and certificates obtained through their labor and resources (spent money, time, etc.)!! ️ After all, this undoubtedly speaks of the specialist’s attitude towards his profession. 6️⃣. Regalia and membership in associations. Any specialist needs a community that will provide support, advice and some protection. Carefully study what association the specialist belongs to, whether this association is real, whether it is related to a modality or is a general association. Are there any reviews about this community/association, and what are they?✅Also, membership in associations indicates that this specialist is recognized by other specialists. In order to obtain membership in many associations, it is necessary to provide recommendations (from more experienced colleagues, a trainer or supervisor), and fulfill several requirements (for example, what level are you currently studying at, how many hours of personal therapy and supervision, confirmation of completion from specialists, etc.). ☑️Yes, involvement in an association or community may not guarantee the quality of a specialist’s work (remember that there are many other important points). But membership in an association may also indicate that a specialist takes his profession seriously and competently chooses the association/community in which he wants to be a member. Or at least cared about being involved in an environment of like-minded people. 7️⃣. Personality and values. Most often we react to the personality of a specialist. Look at his website or work page on social networks or on b17. Read what this specialist writes about, do his words and articles resonate with you? Does the appearance of this specialist inspire confidence in you? Do you have a desire to go to an appointment? You can also pay attention to how the specialist answers you: in a respectful manner or immediately switches to “you”; is rude or?!".