9 Myths About Psychotherapy

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

Myth 1.“Psychotherapy is needed only for mentally unhealthy people, people who are not“all right with their heads”. This also includes: “Am I a nutcase to go to a psychotherapist?” These are the most common delusions of people.

Very often psychotherapists are confused with psychiatrists, it is the latter who work with mental disorders. Psychotherapists work with mentally healthy, full-fledged people who find themselves in difficult situations, cannot cope with them on their own and need help, or simply want to get to know themselves better. Psychotherapy in modern society is aimed at a wide audience, has a large number of opportunities that respond to a wide variety of human needs. If we consider psychotherapy from the point of view of the "last hope" of resolving the situation, one can underestimate its real purpose and not fully assess its potential.

Myth 2. "I myself can cope with all the difficulties in my life, I know everything about myself, I am my own psychologist, etc." This can also include the myth: "Only weak people who are not able to cope with difficulties in life turn for such help."

In the course of his life, a person acquires a unique experience, learns to better understand people, discover new sides of his personality, learns to cope with difficulties, overcome obstacles. He is able to provide himself with self-support, ask friends for help, or just cry into his waistcoat when it's hard for him. Indeed, for a while it becomes easier for him, but difficult situations return to his life again and again, problems are not solved, unfulfilled needs remain. Because a person continues to think, feel, act and behave as he is able and accustomed to.

If a person knows the cause of his problems and has a sufficient level of awareness of difficult situations, but they continue to bother him, it is worth contacting a professional, because Knowledge alone is not enough to solve a problem, concrete actions are required. No one person can look at themselves from the outside. Even a psychotherapist, possessing a large amount of experience and knowledge, will turn with his difficulties to the same psychotherapist or psychologist.

The very appeal for help speaks of determination and desire to find a way out of a difficult situation as soon as possible, speaks of a person's personal maturity and the ability to take responsibility for his life. Seeking help speaks not of weakness, but on the contrary, of the strength of a person's spirit to face their fears, doubts, shortcomings, worries face to face!

Myth 3. "A psychotherapist is a magician (magician, sorcerer) who knows the answers to all questions, has universal rules of conduct for all occasions, and gives advice."

Each person is unique in nature. And only he knows how to live and what decisions to make in life. The task of the therapist in this case is not to make someone else out of a person, but to help him expand the boundaries of his own self-knowledge in order to follow his unique life path, follow his goals and realize his needs.

Most clients, coming to therapy, try to shift responsibility for the process onto the therapist, and then for making important decisions in their lives. Psychotherapy is aimed at the ability of a person to look at their difficulty from the outside. And together with a psychotherapist, discuss ways to resolve it. The decision about what to do and what decisions to make is always up to you. If a psychologist “knows” how you need to live and gives advice for all occasions, run away from him, this is a charlatan who cannot be called a “professional in his field”.

Myth 4.“I am ashamed to ask for help, what if he will tell my relatives and colleagues about me; I am afraid that he will condemn me, criticize me …"

The first and invariable rule of any psychotherapist is the confidentiality of any information told by a client. Information that you are visiting a therapist can only be disseminated by you.

Clients often ask for help in situations in which they are afraid to confess even to close people. This fear of condemnation has a basis, it seems to the client that the therapist will condemn him, will scold him, as friends, relatives, parents can condemn. Perhaps he has already encountered this in his life. A good therapist has a nonjudgmental acceptance of each client and values the uniqueness of their personality. He builds relationships in terms of respect for the client, for his needs and desires. He will not condemn, criticize, but will accept him as he is. And even more: a good therapist will try to see the best qualities in the client, and will use these resources to solve the problem posed.

Myth 5. "A psychologist will solve all my problems in one meeting!" This can also include: "I will come to the session and I will watch how the psychologist will solve my problem."

Psychotherapy is a reciprocal process in which there is a division of responsibility between therapist and client. In order to get a positive result from psychotherapy, the client needs to be actively attuned to solving his problem, to be sincere. But, nevertheless, many clients believe that if they seek help, the therapist should make every effort to surprise the client, show him an easy and simple way (as if by magic) to cope with everything that worries him. And his behavior is understandable, because he decided on changes in his life and is anxious about what awaits him.

Myth 6. "If I go to a psychotherapist, I will learn to avoid any difficulties and negative emotions in life."

In the life of every person, there are irreversible situations that he cannot influence. Psychotherapy helps to cope with difficult situations, but not completely eradicate them in life. She teaches you to cope with negative emotions while remaining a stable, integral personality, she provides support in coping with crisis and difficult situations, new ways and new resources for transition to a new stage without negative consequences.

Myth 7."The therapy process will be easy and enjoyable."

Many clients, coming to therapy, think that a psychotherapist will relieve them of suffering and difficulties in life, without touching painful "points" and unpleasant emotions. And when faced with such unpleasant emotions, the client has a desire to interrupt the therapy without resolving the situation to the end. But this moment is the most important, this is the time when the situation is close to resolution. Just returning to experiencing heavy feelings is a prerequisite for effective psychotherapy and gives the best results in work. If a person has already decided to seek help, then the psychotherapist will help him survive and free himself from heavy feelings and let them go.

Myth 8. The opposite myth to the previous one - "Psychotherapy is very painful."

Psychotherapy can be painful in some way, because every person has something that he would not like to know about himself. And when this manifests itself in the sessions, the client may be hurt, ashamed, he may be tormented by a feeling of guilt, but this does not mean that he will always have to experience these and other unpleasant emotions. There are sessions in which the client gets relief, laughs, enjoys knowing himself.

Myth 9."I turned to a psychotherapist, did not see instant changes, which means that psychotherapy did not help me, it is not effective."

It cannot be fully argued that there are no instantaneous changes in the course of therapy. Already at the first meeting with a psychotherapist, we can feel noticeable relief, see the situation from the other side, already at the first meeting you may have an awareness of what you did not notice before. But, as a rule, the effect of therapy does not come immediately, but after some time - from several days to several weeks, and this will depend on the situation.