Important Client Questions About Psychotherapy

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Video: Important Client Questions About Psychotherapy

Video: Important Client Questions About Psychotherapy
Video: Intake Assessment: Questions for Psychotherapy Clients 2024, March
Important Client Questions About Psychotherapy
Important Client Questions About Psychotherapy
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Question 1. What is psychotherapy and who are psychotherapists?

Psychotherapy is one of the types of psychological assistance. A psychotherapist is a specialist with a higher psychological education who has undergone serious training in the field of any of the psychotherapeutic schools. As a rule, such training includes practical knowledge and skills, experience of undergoing personal therapy and work with a supervisor, a person who helps a future psychotherapist with the search for the most correct decisions, actions for more effective work with clients in the future.

Psychotherapists can apply techniques and methods from other psychotherapeutic approaches. As a gestalt therapist, I use the methods of art therapy and body-oriented therapy in my work. In the process of work, the psychotherapist seeks to create a safe environment for the client, in which he can talk about his problem, understand how he participates in its creation and make decisions that will change his life for the better.

Clients of a psychotherapist are mentally healthy people with personality traits and psychological problems that prevent them from living harmoniously and happily, as well as people with neuroses and various psychosomatic disorders. Feelings of loneliness, depression, unrequited love, fears, difficulties in building relationships, personality crises, various psychological trauma - this is not a complete list of difficulties and situations that clients bring with them to a meeting with a psychotherapist. Also, therapists are consulted about family problems: conflicts, family crises, betrayal, sexual disharmony, etc. Many clients cannot figure out why their contact with loved ones is broken, why they are unhappy, some complain about self-doubt, while others just want to develop, improve the quality of their lives, open up to something new, without having a specific request or difficulty, which needs to be resolved.

Question 2. How is psychotherapy different from psychological counseling?

For many people, psychotherapy and psychological counseling are one and the same process. Indeed, on the one hand, it is very difficult to draw the line between where counseling ends and therapy begins. However, there are still differences. Counseling counseling offers a person a “side view” that reveals ways to better use their own resources. Psychotherapy offers an “experience from within,” the process of discovering, experiencing, and living the experience for the client. If the solution to the problem in counseling is set in advance, then the way to solve the problem in psychotherapy is born in the process. That is, the experience that the client received "here and now" becomes an integral part of his personality. In the case of psychological counseling, the recommendations given by the psychologist may remain only an external orientation, which the client may or may not appropriate.

From psychological counseling, the client expects an assessment of the situation in which he finds himself, an analysis of its causes and recommendations for its resolution. The client's motivation in this case is to gain knowledge, advice or a useful skill.

The psychotherapeutic process is aimed at changing certain personal characteristics, while psychological counseling is the work of resolving a problem. Another difference follows from this. To resolve the difficulty, we may need up to 5, up to a maximum of 10 meetings with a counselor psychologist. Psychotherapy is a more complex and energetically expensive process. This is because it takes a long time to change certain behaviors or character traits.a person, according to his attitudes, habits, stereotypes, lived for a long time, they managed to gain a foothold with him, became part of his unconscious life. In the process of psychotherapy, the client realizes how he is building his life, what needs to be changed in it, and finds a new type of behavior that will make changes in his life. The client's problem in counseling is determined by the situation, in the case of psychotherapy - by the structure of the client's personality, that is, the client's personality and its features are placed in the center of psychotherapy. In this case, it is not enough to shift the perception of the situation, as in counseling. Therapy will be associated with awareness and transformation of the structure of the personality, its attitudes.

Question 3. How are consultations with a psychotherapist, and what is his work?

The task of the psychotherapist is, first of all, to create an atmosphere of trust, cooperation, respect and care. The creation of such an atmosphere contributes to the fact that the client first of all heard himself, tried to look at himself, met with something new in himself and saw his life wider than usual. The space for psychological counseling and psychotherapy is a place where the client can be himself, where he can turn to his difficulties, emotions, feelings and experiences. Thanks to this safe and supportive environment, it will be easier for a person to cope with their not very pleasant and simple emotions, it will be easier to live them, feel them, accept and use them as an opportunity for their personal growth.

What will the therapist do when the client comes to him for psychotherapy, in addition to creating a safe atmosphere in which there is trust and respect? First of all, the psychotherapist will carefully listen to the client and his story, ask clarifying questions. He will not evaluate, regret, condemn, scold, advise what is better to do in this situation, he will not impose something, change the client's mind, manipulate, etc. Having listened to the client, the psychotherapist together with him will build the conversation in such a way as to find out how the problem state or situation arose in his life, what factors support the existence of the problem, in which places it occurs most often. After that, the problem situation or state of the client is named and "separated" from it. This allows you to get rid of negative emotions that accompany the situation, such as self-blame and shame. Answering the psychotherapist's questions about how this state (or situation) arose in his life, how it affects his life, what negative consequences he experiences because of it, the person ceases to perceive himself as “abnormal”, who has something inside that's not the case. Thinking of this situation as something separate from himself, a person directs his strength and energy to overcome the problem, and not to fight with himself. Also, work is carried out to find the resources and skills of the client in order to develop in him not only the confidence to cope with difficulties, but also to develop in him a sense of the ability to act, to embody his desired changes. The psychotherapist helps to see those moments in a person's life when he could avoid the influence of the problem, counteract it and look at the situation from the other side. He also helps to live all the painful feelings associated with the situation, to appropriate this experience and make it a part of the client's life, and not to reject or avoid this experience. Another work of a psychotherapist is to understand, together with a person, what the life he wants to live and how to come to this way of life.

Question 4. Why do I need to see a psychotherapist? Do I need a psychotherapist at all?

First, I will answer the second part of the question. Does a person need a psychotherapist? Many people think: "I'm not so bad at all to go to a psychotherapist." And for some reason they believe that one should turn to a psychotherapist at the very moment when other means no longer work. People come to me who, before meeting me, spent a lot of time and money trying to get rid of their problems, went to doctors, fortune tellers, bought expensive medicines, etc. But nothing helped. Clients sometimes come to me as a last resort in resolving their difficult situation. In fact, it is useful to consult a psychotherapist even when all is well. After all, there is always a place for your development and personal growth, and this is very useful. And even more so when you have difficulties in life. But, as a rule, people turn to a psychotherapist for help when they are no longer satisfied with the way they live. The determination to embody the idea to seek help from a psychotherapist arises at the moment when a person begins to realize that something in his life is repeated over and over again. This reminds him of walking in a circle, like, the situation is resolved, he overcame it, and after a while the person is faced with something similar. There is a feeling of a vicious circle and this state of affairs makes him think that the root of the problem is not in the external world and not in other people and relationships, but in himself. As a rule, this really turns out to be the case. The reason for repeated failures is that a person uses in his life a certain set of behavioral cliches that were formed in him in the process of education, or arose as a result of personal experience. But, if they worked before, now they no longer work, and they should be replaced with more constructive ones. In the process of psychotherapy, the client, together with the psychotherapist, can discover these life attitudes that prevent him from being effective, figure out where they came from, and change them to more viable ones.

Question 5. How is a simple conversation with friends different from a consultation with a psychotherapist?

Each person can talk about their difficulties with relatives and friends. How is a simple friendly conversation different from a meeting and conversation with a psychotherapist?

The psychotherapist guarantees you 100% attention. A friendly conversation does not imply a continuation, does not guarantee a result. With friends and our loved ones, we are used to talking (sometimes not because once) about our difficulties according to a well-oiled scheme, sometimes even with the same words, out of habit. And in response we get the same reactions, to which we are already accustomed: “don’t worry,” “don’t take it to heart,” “calm down,” “everything will be fine”. Sound familiar? This model of resolving one's difficulties is ineffective. Sometimes such a model of interaction can be evaluative: what are you right in this situation, what is wrong, what needs to be done in this case … By accepting advice and recommendations and acting on them, you shift responsibility for the fact that if suddenly "it does not work", you can always find someone to blame who gave you this advice.

The specialist is not burdened with friendly solicitude towards you, which means he has more freedom to be frank with you. That is, where your friend may be offended, angry, or unpleasant for him, he may remain silent. The psychotherapist, on the other hand, will tell you about it, and in a constructive manner, with respect, without evaluation and condemnation. It will help you to realize those features that you have and which make it difficult to communicate with people around you. This means that you will have the opportunity to learn about the difficulties of your contact with loved ones, and in an atmosphere of maximum safety and support from a psychotherapist, find a way to build relationships in a form that suits you.

Question 6. How can a psychologist / psychotherapist help me?

Working with a therapist can give you practical tools to improve your quality of life, feel more fulfilled, manage and take responsibility for your own life. The effect of psychotherapy will be (regardless of the situation): the emergence of self-confidence, competence in difficult issues, freedom of choice and energy in order to realize what you want in life. A good psychologist will have faith in you and know that you have the resources to overcome difficulties. He will be attentive and patient to all your manifestations and will walk this path to change not in your place, but next to you, supporting and guiding. This is not a complete list of what a psychotherapist can give you: help you understand desires, needs and aspirations, share his feelings from contact with you, and this will give you information about how you influence other people, how you build relationships with them, will support you emotionally and practically in solving a difficult situation, provide an opportunity to free yourself from accumulated emotions in a way that suits you, help you become a free person, help you find the resources of your life - everything that will support you in a difficult situation.

You can learn more in Parts 3 and 4. Questions: what is the work of a psychotherapist and why you need to see a psychotherapist.

Question 7. How long will I need to see a psychotherapist?

The number of meetings usually depends on the client's request. On average, it takes from 3 to 10 consultations of a psychotherapist to find a way out of a difficult situation, get rid of emotional pain, find a way out of a difficult situation, start implementing what you want in life, see the results of changes and consolidate them in a safe environment with a psychotherapist. Changes may occur during these consultations, but they will be superficial. In order to cope with more complex and deeper problems, it is necessary to undergo a longer course of psychotherapy (from 4-5 months).

Question 8. Can I get addicted to a psychologist, is it possible to manipulate my mind?

Manipulation of the client's consciousness is impossible, because The main goal of the work of a psychologist is to help a person become the author of his life and free himself from emotional problems. Therefore, the consultation creates conditions for people to take an active position in relation to their lives. In the process of consultation, the client himself has the right to choose which direction to move, which option to choose, to realize what is important and necessary for him. Being in an active position, the client can make decisions about how much he needs to see a psychologist, when to end therapy. The client (and only he) has the right to choose goals and criteria by which he will evaluate the effectiveness of psychotherapy. The psychologist / psychotherapist will encourage the client to independently look for suitable behavioral methods for him, so that at the end of the course of psychotherapy, a person can live confidently without the constant support of a psychotherapist and rely only on himself. I work within the framework of the Gestalt approach, and the main purpose of this approach is to give the therapist the “key” for solving his problem by the therapist. This means that after therapy, the client, having enough support on himself, without the help of a psychotherapist, knows a way to "open the door" in order to overcome and cope with similar situations in life. This is what Frederick Perls, the author of Gestalt Therapy, called "self support", or self-reliance. Metaphorically speaking, the therapist does not try to feed you, but helps you gain the ability to learn how to fish yourself. Indeed, only in this case, in difficult moments of your life, you can be sure that you can always turn to the resource that is inside you.

Question 9. What will happen at the first meeting?

At the first meeting, the psychologist and the client get to know each other, and the client tells about himself. If he is interested in learning about a psychologist, he can ask him questions. Further - the client tells his story, and the psychologist listens to him attentively, sometimes stops to ask clarifying questions. This is necessary in order to better understand the client and his problem. Everything that the client tells at the first meeting and at the subsequent ones is confidential. Therefore, joint work will depend on how much the client can open up to the psychologist. Then the psychologist and the client together determine what the problem is and how the client sees the psychologist's help in resolving the problem. Towards the end of the meeting, the psychologist proposes options for the further development of events. Further, the psychologist and the client agree on a certain number of meetings. After the psychologist and the client have decided on the number and format of meetings, the psychologist proceeds to discuss the rules of psychotherapeutic meetings. It discusses missed appointments, late arrivals, meeting places, times, etc.

Question 10. How to understand if I have chosen the right psychologist?

The fact is that the choice of a psychotherapist or psychologist to work on difficulties and the relationship between the two is a subjective process. Someone chooses a psychotherapist of a certain age or gender, someone relies on their previous experience of communicating with a psychotherapist. Someone likes a certain approach to work, others like that the psychologist is silent all the time, the third likes that the psychologist has a sense of humor, and the fourth, on the contrary, will not understand the specialist's irony. If you do not like a person, this does not mean that he is a bad specialist. Maybe he just doesn't suit you (his emotionality, the approach in which he works, his demeanor, his appearance). Sometimes the therapist's “worthlessness” imposed by the client can be a kind of resistance to work through his difficulties.

There is a basic rule by which you can determine if a person is right for you. You should feel comfortable and safe with him, he should support you, understand and offer you the best ways of your difficulties. After the first meeting, you may feel relief or a surge of energy. But it is not always easy to understand from the first meeting how good this specialist is. it takes time to build trust in your relationship. Your motivation to work with a psychotherapist plays a significant role. Not a single, even the best and most competent therapist can help you without your desire, consent and work on yourself.

It is imperative that a good therapist knows and adheres to ethical standards. He should not solve his material, social problems at the expense of his clients. Should not enter into friendly and even more sexual relations with their clients. Should not abuse his power, endowed with clients and his influence over the second. Regardless of the specialization, the psychotherapist must adhere to a code of professional ethics and fulfill certain obligations in relation to his patient: confidentiality, protection of the patient's privacy and ensuring his safety in the sessions. In addition to ethical standards, the therapist must follow the general rules. The time, location of the sessions, as well as their cost play an important role. You should be assigned the exact time and the duration of the session should always be set in advance - usually between 50 minutes and 1 hour. Payment must also be agreed - it rarely exceeds $ 100 per session. Be careful if he is not ready to determine how long (he expects) treatment will take.

It will be useful for you as a client (before starting psychotherapy) to familiarize yourself with some areas of psychotherapy in order to understand which direction of work suits you best. At the first appointment, the therapist should invite you to discuss the practical side of your relationship (frequency of meetings, their duration, price, possible payment for missed sessions).

If you doubt the qualifications of the psychotherapist or psychologist you came to, do not be afraid to ask him about his training in this area, about the direction (school) to which he belongs, about what his specialization is. If the therapist refuses to answer these questions, you should be alerted.

The most important thing in your relationship (I'm not afraid to repeat myself) is trust. And factors such as the therapist's appearance, how he meets you, how organized and punctual he is, play a significant role in building trust. If you have any doubts about this, do not be afraid to discuss it with your therapist. A good therapist will see these doubts as good material for working on your stereotypical attitudes, over your fears, and if he is wrong about something, he will be able to admit his mistake. A bad therapist will likely ignore your doubts or come up with an excuse for himself. So you will have the feeling that he does not understand you and does not even hear you.

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