How I Became A Psychologist

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

Many subscribers are interested in why I chose the profession of a psychologist and how I came to this decision, because it is clear from the video that before I had completely different professional interests.

As a child (I was about twelve years old), I dreamed of writing a bestseller that would be published and read in America. But the most important thing is that the stories I told had to change the lives of people, their views. However, faced with the harsh reality, I realized that in Ukraine it is quite difficult to become a successful writer with a solid fee for his work. Nevertheless, life does not stand still, and financial issues today occupy the leading first position.

How else can you realize a deep personal need and benefit people?

In fact, it has always been important for me to help people, to bring something salutary into their lives. The first impression about the profession of a psychologist is that psychotherapists help people by saving them. In fact, psychologists can only help those who are ready for change and think about a better life. At school age, I chose the nickname "owe" (from the English "to be owe" - "to be due"). The choice was quite symbolic - as if I had for a very long time a feeling of being useful to others (I have to bring something into the world, be useful and important).

If we look at the situation in more detail, the desire to become a psychologist arose after receiving my first education, but it was immature and thoughtless to the end - I thought that I could become a psychologist on my own after reading 5-20 books.

However, in life, everything is, as always, much more complicated. First education - telecommunications engineer and fiber optic. There is practically no work experience in the specialty - six months in a telecommunications company in the technical support department. After graduating from the academy and receiving a second higher education, there was an opportunity to become a lawyer, but after talking with familiar lawyers with stable and long-term practice, I realized that the profession is not as romantic as it seems at first glance. In addition, in the legal field, a lot is decided by connections.

Realizing that this option was not suitable for me, I decided to use the brainstorming method to stimulate my creative activity and select the most successful ideas that I could put into practice. What do I really like to do, even without paying for my labor? Communicate and listen to people! So, you need to try to be realized in the field of psychology!

I decided not to choose an official educational institution and went to the Moscow Gestalt Institute (a society of psychologists practicing the gestalt approach). Currently, the institute has been renamed - the All-Ukrainian Society of Psychologists Practicing the Gestalt Approach. I absolutely don’t regret my choice.

Two years before graduating from the Moscow Gestalt Institute, I temporarily left psychology (due to the high cost of training), but I continued to burn with the idea and dream of my own business, so I even chose a therapist with business experience. In some of the therapy sessions, we discussed business ideas and business success. In the opinion of my psychotherapist, you should first of all get pleasure from your work, it should not be a burden. At one point, I decided to leave the business, graduated from the Gestalt Institute, got certified and accredited, and created my own YouTube channel. I do not regret a single step in my life. There were only doubts about the first higher education - wasn’t five years wasted?

When I realized that I wanted and would work as a psychologist, I decided to get another higher profile education in the specialty "Psychology". This allowed me to gain some theoretical knowledge in terms of practice - all skills were acquired at the Gestalt Institute.

In general, if we talk about the profession of a psychotherapist, there is nothing romantic about it. Most of all, I am inspired, nourished and made to grow in the professional sphere of achieving clients, even the smallest ones, the shadow of a smile that flickers on people's faces from the fact that something good is happening in their lives.

The hardest part of psychology is being a successful psychotherapist. This does not mean recognition and large incomes at all. No! The success rate of a psychotherapist is clients who have gotten better in life. To do this, you need to constantly improve yourself, analyze the dialogue with the client (Why did I say that? Why did I ask this question? Why do I have such a reaction to him (her)?).

Lately, there are many more men in therapy than women. On the one hand, this is very good - men, regardless of their confusion, consciously ask for help and are included in the process. When communicating with a client, it is important to understand what such interventions can lead to. For example, a client wants to get a divorce. If the therapist is categorically against divorce, no matter what questions are asked to the client, the latter will hear a negative attitude towards his desire in tone. A person may want to do something all his life, but he is forbidden - in this case, the behavior of the therapist will be regarded as another prohibition. That is why it is important to differentiate each client, use an individual approach, ignoring your personal beliefs and values. However, in some cases it is necessary to show the second side - if a person sees only his own opinion and does not think about what may be different in life.

Do you want to become a psychologist? Get ready to work on yourself, improve, work out your energy resources and be sure to "live" with your idea. It's not always easy, but it has its fun.