WHAT A PSYCHOTHERAPIST AM I?

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

Does this path have a heart?

If there is, then this is a good way;

If not, then it’s no use.

K. Castaneda.

What kind of psychotherapist am I? Am I growing as a professional?

A good therapist asks himself these reflexive questions periodically. I do not consider such anecdotal situations when the therapist "made the same mistakes for 20 years and called it a rich therapeutic experience." The content of this article is the result of reflection on their professional activities, their professional development. The selected criteria, in my opinion, are the indicators of their professional growth subjectively experienced by the psychotherapist.

Increased reflexivity

The ability to evaluate and analyze not only individual working moments of professional activity (analysis of specific sessions, specific clients), but also, in general, analysis of all his professional activities, his professional path, individual style of work. For the psychotherapist, this manifests itself in the appearance of the following reflexive questions:

What is important to me in the profession? What are my professional and personal values? Is this my professional path? ("Does this path have a heart" - as K. Castaneda writes). What is my style of work? What do I get from my profession?

Selectivity,

legibility, understanding of their professional preferences and capabilities. Actualization by a psychotherapist in connection with this of the following reflexive questions:

What can I do in psychotherapy? What can I do better? What can I give a client? With what, with whom can / want to work?

The therapist no longer undertakes to "treat" all clients, to work with all problems. The therapist is able to refuse the client, redirect him to a colleague, or to another specialist.

Interest prevails over fear

A new client arouses more interest, curiosity than fear. Here are typical questions like:

What is a new client like? What will the therapeutic contact be? How will our work go? What difficulties can arise during psychotherapy? What are the predictions for the results of psychotherapy?

These questions for the therapist become colored with interest rather than fear.

Self-confidence, professional capabilities

The presence of such experiences is manifested in the psychotherapist's attitudes “not to rush” and “not to save”.

During therapy, the ability to pause, be silent, wait, listen appears. The number of questions asked significantly decreases with professional growth. The volume of empathic listening is increasing, and “uh-huh-therapy” comes to the fore in contact.

Courage

It manifests itself in the psychotherapist's authenticity, sincerity, acceptance of himself as he is. The ability to say what you think, the ability not to be afraid to present oneself in contact (to work on the border of contact), to share personal experience, to go to the client's psychotherapy for their own curiosity. The courage of the psychotherapist is also manifested in the ability to deviate from professional patterns, the ability to take risks, experiments, and creativity.

Stenicity

Resistance of the psychotherapist to negative reactions of clients, increasing the ability to contain them (Bion's term), retention. Ability to withstand negative transferences, inadequate projections, tension in the session. The emergence of a balance of frustration-support in the work. The ability not only to support all the time, but also to frustrate the client.

Neutrality

This quality-experience is manifested in the ability to perceive the reactions and projections of the client (both negative and positive) not as an assessment of oneself, one's personality and one's professional abilities, not to try them on oneself, to look deep into the essence of the problem, “behind the symptom”, the ability to maintain a professional position in a relationship, not to cross the boundaries of what is professionally permitted.

Environmental friendliness

Ability to get tired of working with clients less. The prevalence of positive emotions in relation to clients and their professional activities. This is due to a decrease in tension in contact, the appearance of lightness, pleasure from work.

Value yourself as a professional

The emergence of experiences that you, as a professional, are worth the money that you are paid).

One of the most important criteria for professional growth, in my opinion, is:

Highlighting your own professional style of work. The emergence in the psychotherapist's mind of an understanding of their strengths and weaknesses in the profession, the ability to rely on personal values, personal experience, and opportunity in work “Fill” professional activity with your personality.