HOW TO CHOOSE A PSYCHOLOGIST?

HOW TO CHOOSE A PSYCHOLOGIST?

● When choosing a psychologist, his personality and his ability to hear you are quite relevant. The main tool of a psychologist is his psyche. To some extent, he should attract you with his personality traits and inspire confidence as a professional. There are no psychologists that suit everyone. The psychologist who is good for your friend may not be good for you. Sometimes it takes a long time to find your psychologist. Feel free to search forums, watch YouTube videos, or ask for recommendations.

● Why do I need a psychologist? I’d rather ask a friend for advice! It seems that a friend and a psychologist are almost the same things. Good friends are those people whom we trust, whom we can tell everything about ourselves and get support and acceptance. The same thing is about a psychologist. However, there is a big difference. Your friend can support you in a difficult situation and advise what to do. But your friend is guided by his own view of how he would act in a particular situation. We often know that it is good advice, but we do not follow this advice. A psychologist does not give advice but creates conditions for detecting ineffective strategies and taking responsibility for new decisions and their implementation. He directs you based on the knowledge of how mental processes work and taking into account the characteristics of your personality, as well as your needs and mental constructions. As a result of interaction with a friend, you get good advice and support; as a result of interaction with a psychologist, you get support and personal growth, and, in the long run, change your life for the better.

● Why do I need a psychologist if no one knows me the way I know myself?That’s true and not true at the same time. According to Jung, our personality consists of several parts. Our “ego” is responsible for socialization, achievement, and defense, and we know this part quite well. Our “true I” is our true purpose, true goals, and needs that we often suppress for the sake of effective existence in society. Our “shadow” is the dark side of our personality and shortcomings, which are often suppressed but require healing. Therefore, on the one hand, we know ourselves well, but there is a large part of our personality that is outside the zone of our consciousness. And it is almost impossible to realize all these parts and work them through alone, even if you have a psychological degree.

● How to formulate a request for a psychologist? A clear request and the goals of psychotherapy are formulated together with your psychologist during the first sessions. Therefore, you can start work with the wording: “I cannot bear it anymore. I’m tired of everything,” and then you will decipher it together with your psychologist. Questions that can help formulate a clearer request: What exactly is bothering you and how long does it last? Why do you need a psychologist right now? What exactly happened? What exactly are you feeling? What important events in your life may be related to the current problem? Where do you think are the origins of this problem?

● Questions that you may ask your psychologist at the very beginning: What is your degree? What refresher courses did you take? How often/how many? Which psychotherapeutic approach do you use? Are you in personal therapy/supervision? What kind of requests do you usually get? What kind of clients do you work best with?