Some Statistics Of The Work Of A Psychologist, Part 2

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-18 02:26

I decided to entertain myself a little with the statistics of my work during my 10 years of psychotherapy practice. I suppose that these figures are influenced by the region - Yekaterinburg / Ural and my personal style of work.

So, among all the calls to me:

~ 30% - single requests (1-6 irregular meetings)

This category consists of clients seeking instant healing, the so-called "magic pill". When they learn from me that it will take them time and effort to resolve their request in therapy, they become very upset and do not come back. Also, these are clients who come with requests like "fix my husband / wife / partner / child / parent" (underline the necessary). When they find out that in therapy I will work with them and only with them, they get angry and leave therapy. This category also includes "vagabonds" - clients who go from therapist to therapist, none of them staying at work. They come, complain about their life full of problems and previous therapists, but then they "disappear". It also includes clients with a "fake" request. That is, those who, for some reason, came to work with something that is not really important to him (parents / partner insisted on therapy; decided that it was important; deceive themselves). When such clients understand that their "fake" request has no real living meaning for them, they leave safely. And the most productive clients in this category are consulting requests. If you just need a professional look, opinion, no more. When a client needs to sort out a sudden or confusing situation, put everything in its place. For this kind of work, a few meetings are quite enough.

~ 30% - short-term work less than 3 months (7-15 regular meetings)

This is a category of clients with clear and narrow demands. About ending a specific relationship, going through a stressful period, analyzing a specific conflict and ways to adequately respond to it, about working with a symptom ("I want to understand where I got a stomach ulcer", "why did I suddenly have neurodermatitis?").

~ 30% - medium-term therapy from 4 months to a year (16-57 regular meetings are mandatory)

A category of clients who want to work out not just a request, but a whole topic. For example, to improve relationships with a partner / parent / parents, get rid of a specific psychosomatics completely, get rid of panic attacks, survive a divorce, cope with depression, survive a crisis, work through an episode of violence in adulthood, change stable patterns in relationships ("I quit after a few weeks of relationship, I want to build a long-term relationship "," I fall in love with married people all the time and I don't want that anymore "," I have already quit 10 companies, I want a stable job ").

~ 6% - long-term work from 1, 5 to 2 years (63-100 regular meetings are mandatory)

This category with the longest duration of therapy consists of those who came to work on deep topics that have been relevant for decades in the client's life. Such as trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, childhood psychological trauma, addictions, including codependent relationships, traits and personality traits. As well as clients of survivors / survivors of long-term violence (physical, sexual, psychological) at any age and depression.

Considering, unfortunately, the weak psychological awareness of the population of the region, large numbers of single calls and small numbers of long-term work become clear.

At the moment, all clients are divided into 4 main groups:

• 45% - single requests, 1-6 meetings (the indicator increased compared to 2016 - 30%);

• 23% - short-term work less than 3 months, 7-15 regular meetings (the indicator decreased compared to 2016 - 30%);
• 24% - medium-term therapy from 4 months to a year, 16-57 necessarily regular meetings (the indicator decreased compared to 2016 - 30%);
• 8% - long-term work from 1, 5 to 2 years, 63-165 necessarily regular meetings (the figure increased compared to 2016 - 6%).

At the same time, among all the clients who remained in short-term, long-term and medium-term therapy:

• 18% quit therapy (“disappeared” from therapy without explaining the reasons, in 5% of them without paying for the last appointment);
• 82% officially completed therapy (regardless of the achievement of the result).

Of all who completed therapy:

• 54% got the desired result;
• 46% completed without reaching the original request;

among them: completed therapy as needed (including those who later came to continue therapy); completed therapy due to changed living conditions (including those who later came to continue therapy); independently refused to achieve the result for various reasons; found the result to be inconsistent with reality).

12% came to the meetings again after some time.

Of those who came again:

• 50% came for one-time irregular consultations (from 1-5 times);
• 50% came back to therapy (to continue the planned work after a forced break; in order to solve another problem that did not exist before; they want more for themselves in life and use a proven method that works for them)