The role of the consultant's values in psychological counseling. How can a psychologist help?
Profession of a psychologist-consultant
The personality of a counseling psychologist
Goals and objectives of the consultant
Consultant value system
Professional ethics of a psychologist-consultant
General rules and guidelines of the consultant
Quite often, psychologists pronounce the following phrase: "Psychology is not a profession, but a way of life." In our opinion, there is little truth in it. If it were so easy to become a psychologist, a person would change his lifestyle to a “psychological” one, without experiencing pain and disappointment, he would independently solve his problems, would not look for answers to those questions that worry “non-psychologists”. Therefore, a psychologist is, first of all, a profession, but a very specific one. A practicing psychologist who works with people on a daily basis acquires a special view of the world. We can talk about the formation of a professional mentality of a consultant psychologist as his predisposition to perceive, feel, think, act in a certain way in relation to professional significant objects, to myself as a professional and professional activity generally.
In system vocational education Republic of Belarus there is no specialty "Psychologist-consultant". The qualification characteristics of a psychologist-consultant have not been developed, the state educational standard 2, there is no professional
Qualification characteristic - a document containing job responsibilities, characteristics of work, as well as a list of basic knowledge and skills that a specialist must possess.
State educational standard - a document that defines the requirements for the mandatory minimum content, the level of training of graduates and the maximum volume study load during preparation.
siogram, i.e. legal basis of this profession. Most of the universities of the Republic of Belarus that train psychologists work according to the standards, according to which students study the subject "Psychological counseling" in the IV-V year. This is where preparation for professional activity usually ends, and students (listeners) who are interested in this profession continue their education on their own.
However, the profession of a psychologist-consultant exists in our republic in fact: there are people involved in counseling, there are people who turn to them for help. The concept of "psychologist-consultant" has become commonplace and has entered both theoretical developments and everyday life.
The professional activity of a counseling psychologist has a structure consisting of a number of interrelated and interdependent components. Like any activity, it requires the following components:
V subject (the one who implements it, i.e. a consultant psychologist);
s object (the one for whom it is organized, i.e. the client, who is considered in counseling as a full-fledged subject of interaction);
/ goals (what result is the activity focused on);
S functions (performed by the consultant and the client);
/ means (by which the purpose of this activity is achieved).
2.2. The personality of a counseling psychologist
"The personality of a psychologist in almost all theoretical approaches is defined as the most important "healing tool." In essence, the main counseling technique is "a psychologist as a tool", i.e. the main tool that stimulates the improvement of the client's personality is the personality of the consultant.
Required personal qualities are not congenital, but develop throughout life. The effectiveness of a consultant is determined not only by personality traits, but also by professional knowledge and special skills.
What should be the combination of personality traits that best ensures the success of counseling?
National association vocational guidance The United States identifies the following personality traits:
S showing a deep interest in people and patience in dealing with them;
S sensitivity to attitudes and behavior of people;
S emotional stability and objectivity;
/ ability to inspire trust;
S respect for the rights of others.
In 1964, the Committee for the Supervision and Training of Consultants established the following personality traits necessary for a consultant: 1) trust in people; 2) respect for the values of another person; 3) insight; 4) lack of prejudice; 5) self-understanding; 6) consciousness of professional duty (according to R. Kociunas).
An analysis of the requirements of the professional activity of a consultant psychologist to his personality indicates the need for him to have high mental abilities, sociability, and emotional stability. R. May identifies the following requirements: the psychologist's awareness of his internal neurotic limitations; gaining the courage to accept failure and your own imperfection; the ability to rejoice not only in the goals achieved, but also in the very process of life; manifestation of interest in people for their own sake, and not in the name of some higher values (religious, moral or associated with social progress).
Noting the ability to practically solve communication problems as a special ability of psychologists, N.V. Bachmanova and N.A. Stafurin is distinguished in its structure by five main components:
S the ability to fully and correctly perceive a person (observation, quick orientation in a situation, etc.);
S the ability to understand the internal properties and characteristics of a person (penetration into his spiritual world, intuition);
S the ability to empathize (empathy, sympathy, kindness and respect for a person, willingness to help);
S the ability to manage oneself and the process of communication (self-control);
S the ability to analyze one's behavior (reflection).
With regard to the fifth component, reflection, two of its aspects are of particular importance for a practical psychologist. Firstly, the psychologist must have a clear awareness of how he is perceived by communication partners, i.e. clients. Secondly, a professionally directed reflection is needed, which involves the reflection of a professional position, the subject of interaction, a generalized theory and the “I-concept” of a psychologist (G.S. Abramova). For example, the low level of professional competence of novice psychologists is associated, first of all, with the predominance of the everyday approach, the lack of professionally directed reflection and its substantive provision with scientific theory.
The following components are incompatible with the work of a counseling psychologist: personality immaturity; low ego strength; authoritarianism; low intelligence; passivity and isolation; lack of empathy; inability to solve problems; excessive inhibition; low organization; poor resistance to stress; the need for overprotection; high anxiety; the tendency to use customers to meet their needs; inability to be tolerant of various motives of clients; neurotic attitude towards money.
The question arises: who can be called an effective consultant? Is it possible to say that some personal qualities are an obstacle to professional activity? The literature notes that a novice consultant is successful in about 30% of cases, while a professional - in 60%. Different approaches and directions impose a whole range of requirements on the personality of a counseling psychologist. At the same time, the unification of these requirements is absurd. On the one hand, each client needs a "own" psychologist, and a consultant who is effective in working with one client may be completely useless for another. On the other hand, if we talk about having an “ideal” combination of personal qualities for working as a counseling psychologist, this can lead to another “witch hunt”, for example, when selecting students for psychological
faculties. And yet there are qualities that contribute to the successful solution of professional problems in the field of psychological
An analysis of the professional activity of a psychologist allowed R. Kociunas to include the following qualities in the personality model of an effective consultant:
1. Authenticity(authenticity, sincerity, congruence). It should be noted that not all counseling psychologists share this position. "Professional uniform" protects the psychologist from anxiety, fear and insecurity. Even in case of doubt, the psychologist can resort to a technique or trick, to answer the client's question with a question, i.e. not to meet the latter as a person with a person. An authentic psychologist can voice their feelings and doubts if it helps to move the counseling forward. He allows himself not to know the answer to all questions, he can talk about his feelings and his own experience, he shows his true "I" both in his immediate reactions and in behavior in general.
D. Bugental identifies three main features of authentic existence:
f full awareness of the present moment; s choice of way of life at the moment; S taking responsibility for your choices. Genuine, or authentic, existence is a rather complex and responsible life. However, this choice is supported by the fact that the only chance to live your own, and not someone else's life is given to someone who is himself, does not hide his true "I" under a mask.
Openness to own experience. Here, openness is understood as sincerity in the perception of one's own feelings. Social experience teaches us to discard negative feelings ("You can't be offended by your parents!"; "Boys don't cry!", etc.). An effective counselor must not repress feelings, which then become irrational, as a source of uncontrollable behavior.
The development of self-knowledge. The better the psychologist knows and understands himself, the greater the possibility of choosing different ways of life in different situations. The answer to the question about the possibility of helping another person lies in the consultant's self-assessment, the adequacy of his attitude to his own abilities and to life in general.
Strength of personality, or strong"ego" is a prerequisite for successful activity. The psychologist makes a choice, understanding both his feelings and desires, and social norms, values, socio-cultural factors, environmental requirements. Leading one's own inner position allows the counselor to feel strong in interpersonal relationships.
Professional and personal identity. It is the identity that makes it possible to provide the personality with integrity, identity and certainty. E. Erickson defined identity as the internal "continuity of the individual's self-experience", "lasting internal equality with oneself", as the most important characteristic of the integrity of the personality, the integration of a person's experiences of his identity with certain social groups. Identity means the identity between what is in the mind and what it finds expression in external behavior. Identity is not given to a person, its development is described not by the term "formation", but by the terms "achievement" and "becoming". Thus, a counseling psychologist must know who he is, who he can become, what he wants from life, what is really important to him and what is not.
Tolerance for uncertainty. The consultant needs self-confidence in situations of uncertainty, since it is impossible to predict which client, which situation he will face. Confidence in one's intuition and the adequacy of feelings, conviction in the correctness of decisions made help to endure stress in a situation of uncertainty.
Acceptance of personal responsibility. Many situations in counseling arise under the control of the counselor, and he is responsible for his actions. Understanding this responsibility and sharing it with the client allows you to freely make a choice - to agree with the position of the client or enter into a productive confrontation.
Depth of relationships with other people. It is very important for a consultant to be able to separate personal and professional relationships. You should not try to make clients out of friends, as well as enter into close personal relationships with clients. The therapeutic relationship is very special. They are very important and deep, but qualitatively different from ordinary relationships.
Evaluation of other people. Evaluation activity is not the main activity of a consultant (unlike, for example, a teacher). However, during the consultation, the psychologist evaluates people - their
feelings, views, peculiar features, features of interaction with other people, for a deeper understanding of their way of "being-in-the-world". It is important to do this without judgment or labeling. Feedback, which the consultant gives to the client, allows the latter to see his behavior as in a mirror. However, the acceptance of what the consultant said is possible only if his words are aimed at helping the client understand himself, his actions in order to change ineffective behavior.
The ability to express feelings. An effective counselor is not afraid to freely express her feelings to other people, including clients. This behavior is a manifestation of authenticity. At the same time, the consultant is able to restrain those feelings, the expression of which is inappropriate, which can frighten or alienate the client.
Setting realistic goals. The consultant from the very beginning must be aware of the existence of limitations, as objective, related to external environment, and subjective, related to the personality of the client. If the consultant sets unrealistic goals, this can lead to disappointment.
2.3. Goals and objectives of the consultant
Undoubtedly main goal psychological counseling is to provide psychological help. But what exactly is this help? This question does not have a clear answer. Different psychological and psychotherapeutic areas define the priority of the goals of psychological counseling in different ways.
Professional activity psychoanalysis is aimed at solving the following problems: transferring into consciousness the material repressed into the unconscious; assistance to the client in reproduction early experience and analysis of repressed conflicts; reconstruction of the basic personality.
Psychologist Adlerian direction transforms the life goals of the client; helps the client in the formation of
socially significant goals; corrects erroneous motivation by gaining a sense of equality with other people.
Behaviorist aims to correct inappropriate behavior and teach effective behavior.
Rational-emotive psychotherapist tries to eliminate the client's "self-destructive" approach to life and help develop a tolerant and rational approach; teach application scientific method in dealing with behavioral and emotional problems.
client-centered psychologist creates a favorable climate in the counseling situation, conducive to self-exploration and recognition of factors hindering personal growth; encourages client openness to experience, self-confidence, spontaneity.
Psychologist of the existential direction helps the client to realize his freedom and his own capabilities, to identify factors blocking freedom, encourages the client to take responsibility for what happens to him (R. Kociunas).
Consultants may have different goals depending on the needs of the client. For example, it can be help aimed at getting a client out of a state of depression, at developing the necessary life skills, at experiencing crisis periods, etc.
Thus, it is difficult to talk about any universal goals of counseling. R. Kociunas defines the goals of psychological counseling as a continuum, on one pole of which are general, global, long-term goals, and on the other - specific, specific, short-term. In the directions focused on the restructuring of the personality, more importance is attached to long-term goals, and in the directions focused on behavior changes, specific ones (that is, there is no contradiction between them).
In the most general view The goals of consulting are related to the solution of the following tasks:
s with correction, correction, overcoming a specific psychological difficulty;
s with the provision personal growth and customer development (R. Nelson-Jones, 2000).
In each case, the goal depends on both the needs of the client and the theoretical orientation of the consultant.
R. George and T. Christiani single out the following universal ~tsölT17^1, mentioned by theorists of various schools of thought;
1) helping the client make behavioral changes to improve
productive life;
improving the client's ability to establish and maintain interpersonal relationships by teaching the client to build them more effectively;
developing coping skills when faced with new life demands and circumstances (to
4) Facilitate effective client acceptance of vital
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personality, overcoming emotional stress)*,
5) facilitation of the client's personal growth and development of his
potential opportunities
strive to create conditions for maximum success
client's feelings (taking into account natural social restrictions),
development of "the ability of the client to be in contact with his
environment and with their own reactions ^ arising in the process
all interactions with the outside world, as well as non-increasing
personal responsibility of clients for the course of their own lives.
To achieve these goals, the consultant must be able to solve the following tasks:
s diagnosing and identifying problems that the client has;
S planning the course of the consultative process;
S formulation of a psychological diagnosis based on the system of ideas about development used by the consultant
person;
s planning a general counseling strategy based on psychodiagnostic data;
s taking into account possible complications (relapses) in order to minimize their occurrence;
S bringing the planned activities to their logical conclusion;
S flexible variation of the strategy and tactics of the consultative process when new problems are identified in the client during
counseling.
In the process of counseling, during the interaction between the consultant and the client, the formulation and reformulation of their (client and consultant) goals and objectives takes place. Realization of the goals of con-
The consultant depends on the needs and expectations of the client. In order to successfully combine their general tasks and the specific goals of the client, the consultant needs to ask the client questions from the very beginning: “What do you expect from our communication?”; "What are your desires?" etc. If the client has only the most general idea of counseling, he is not able to properly formulate goals. The consultant needs to inform the client about what usually happens during consultation meetings. Such information contributes to a better understanding of the possibilities and limitations of counseling by the client.
2.4. Consultant value system
The system of values is most often defined as the most important factor in the organization of life, the mechanism for regulating activity and an indicator of the maturity of the individual. Value is usually understood as an explicit or implicit characteristic of a person (group) idea of “what should be” 1 that influences the choice of possible means, options, types and goals of action. Social values, refracting through the inner world and life experience of a person, form individual value orientations. The problem of the latter is especially important for professions of the “man-to-man” type, which includes the profession of a counseling psychologist.
The professional activity of a psychologist is aimed at knowing, understanding the personality of another person. Obviously, each person has his own unique system of value orientations, which determines his ideas about the world around him and the decisions he makes regarding each problem. Thus, a psychologist is required not only to have deep professional training, but also a special “professional vision of the world”, which implies the presence of a specific system of values.
Explicitly or implicitly, professional values are included in any psychological theory counseling and psychotherapy. The importance of values is confirmed by M.A. Tulina, who showed that in creating systems theory professional activity (systematic eclecticism) psychologist
As you know, values cannot be identified with knowledge, since “judgments about what should be” cannot be derived from “judgments about what is” (D. Hume).
can use a wide variety of theoretical constructions, hypotheses, concepts, constructs, models, metaphors and analogies, if the subordination of developments to generally defined professional values is observed. The content of values is realized in the professional ethics of a psychologist.
In the work of a psychologist, personal and professional values are closely intertwined.
Example. A 27-year-old woman, I havehaving two children. She is pregnant for the third time. My wife's problemchina formulates as follows: “Husband wants a third childwell, I don't know what to do. I- philologist, graduated from university, butdidn't work for a day. I'm afraid that my whole life will go away, and I won't be able to do anythingdo. Tell me, should I give birth to a third child or not? Consultent- an unmarried woman who values very highlythe possibility of professional self-realization. In this specificIn this case, the personal and professional values of the consultant enterchild in contradiction.
For a psychologist, the following questions are of particular importance: to what extent should counseling be in the nature of a value discussion, and also to what extent should the consultant's personal values be represented in the counseling process? There are two opposing points of view on this:
The consultant must be objective, value-neutral and not introduce his life philosophy and value system into the consulting relationship.
The counselor must openly and clearly demonstrate to the client his value position, since the attempt to be neutral in value situations leads the client to believe that the counselor considers socially, morally and legally harmful behavior justified.
In everyday communication, we freely express our point of view on a number of issues. In the counseling process, such behavior can be detrimental to the client. For example, when a client asks for specific life advice important issue, psycho-
the log can fall into the next trap. If the advice given by the psychologist did not help, the client shifts all responsibility to the consultant and feels disappointed in counseling. In the case when the advice turned out to be effective, the client receives positive reinforcement and, in the next difficult situation, will again go for help to a psychologist, without trying to solve the problem on his own.
The following parable from EST can serve as an illustration. as presented by L. Reinhard.
“If we put a rat in a maze with four tunnels andwe will always put cheese in the fourth tunnel, the rat after a whiletime to learn how to look for cheese in the fourth tunnel. Do you want cheese?Zip-zip-zip into the fourth tunnel - that's the cheese. Do you want cheese again?Zip-zip-zip into the fourth tunnel- here is the cheese.
But after a while, the great god in a white coat puts cheese in another tunnel. Rat zip-zip-zip into the fourth tunnel - no cheese. The rat runs out. Again in the fourth tunnel. There is no cheese. Runs out. After a while, the rat stops running into the fourth tunnel and looks elsewhere.
The difference between a rat and a human is simple - MAN WILL RUN IN THE FOURTH TUNNEL FOREVER! FOREVER! THE MAN BELIEVE IN THE FOURTH TUNNEL. Rats don't believe in anything, they're interested in cheese. And a person begins to believe in the fourth tunnel and CONSIDERS THAT IT IS CORRECT TO RUN INTO THE FOURTH TUNNEL, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THERE IS CHEESE THERE OR NOT. A person needs more truth than cheese.
The consultant must consider the consequences of his influence on the choice of the client. This requires awareness of one's own values and the ability not to present them to the client in the form of a role model. An important criterion for the level of development of professionalism is the degree of integration of the professional and personal values of the consultant into a consistent form.
The value position of the consultant does not imply moralizing or moralizing. The value neutrality of the psychologist is a key moment in the therapeutic relationship. Being value-neutral does not mean hiding your true feelings from the client behind a professional mask. In some cases, the consultant's presentation of his own value position can have a huge psychotherapeutic effect.
According to J. Corry, a consultant, wishing to avoid value conflicts in the process of counseling, must have a clear position on certain issues, in particular, family issues, sex, abortion, religion, drugs, military service. Consulting
It is important for the tant to know how his values influence the course of counseling so that he can be himself and at the same time avoid imposing his own attitudes on clients. In the process of counseling, it is important to help clients most fully identify the system of their value orientations and make an independent decision. Sometimes in the process of counseling, not only the behavior of the client changes, but also his values. The consultant does not give ready-made advice - he only expands the zone of awareness of the client, and the latter is looking for solutions and makes a choice based on his own values.
2.5. Professional ethics of a psychologist-consultant
Psychological counseling as a process of psychological assistance is built on an ethical basis, since moral principles play important role in the life of each person and always have an individual-personal character. As already mentioned, due to the specific nature of their profession, a consultant often faces complex ethical issues, sometimes creating barriers to work.
At least two people are involved in the consultative process - the consultant and the client, so one should distinguish between the ethics of each of them. The consultant needs to remember that, in addition to his own moral principles, there are professional ethical standards in the provision of psychological assistance. The client also has his own ethical principles, according to which he builds his life. In a situation of counseling, the ethical norms and principles of the psychologist and the client come into contact.
In most countries, codes of ethical principles have been developed and are being applied, which define the limits of responsibility and confidentiality of a psychologist, his professional competence, resolving issues of payment and advertising. We will give the basic ethical principles.
1. Confidentiality. This is one of the basic rules that allows the client to feel safe in the counseling situation. If a psychologist wants to establish a trusting relationship with a client, he must be able to observe the rule of confidentiality. In the event that a psychologist wants to conduct an audio or video recording of a session, observation by third parties through a one-way vision mirror, he needs to obtain
prior written permission from the client. The agreement must specify the purpose of using the record: for the supervisor only; for classes with students; for the conference; for publication as an illustration, etc.
There are certain limits to the use of the confidentiality principle. In most countries, it is considered violated in the following cases:
S there is a threat to the life of the client or other people;
S the psychologist received information about illegal actions;
s violence (cruel treatment, corruption, etc.) is committed against minor children;
s The client is sick and needs to be hospitalized.
2. The responsibility of the psychologist to the client. When psycho
the log starts working with the client, it takes over the response
responsibility for own services, which includes:
^ installation of a psychologist on a benevolent and non-judgmental attitude towards the client;
f refusal to exceed one's own powers (for example, issuing ready-made advice and recommendations to clients);
*/ acceptance of the client as he is, regardless of his gender, age, religion, nationality;
S referring the client to other specialists if the psychologist is unable or unwilling to provide professional assistance;
s orientation during counseling not on socially accepted norms and rules, but on the life principles and ideals of the client;
^ the psychologist's distinction between professional and personal relationships.
3. Professional competence of a psychologist. Pro level
professional training of a psychologist-consultant should correspond to
greet professional standards. The psychologist needs
adequately assess the level and limits of their professional
competence, clearly aware of the boundaries of their own professions
sional opportunities and not try to solve problems in those
areas where he may be incompetent. Psychologist dol
wife to seek help from a supervisor or colleague in the following
cases:
^ he is faced with such unresolved problems or conflicts of his own that interfere with the conduct of counseling;
s the client's problem is beyond his professional capabilities.
A consultant psychologist should improve his professional qualifications: study professional literature, participate in professional seminars, conferences, congresses, training programs, etc.
Payment questions. There are centers in our republic where a client can get free psychological help. At the same time, the market for paid psychological services is developing. A psychologist can enter into financial agreements with clients, taking into account both his qualifications and the client's solvency 1 . The cost of psychological services is negotiated at the beginning of the consultation. A counseling psychologist should not overcharge for their services, nor should they charge a fee for referring a client to colleagues or other professionals.
Advertising of professional activity. The psychologist must objectively inform employers and clients about himself and the nature of the services provided. In the description (resume) it is necessary to indicate only the knowledge, skills and abilities that the psychologist has received in accordance with the approved education programs 2 . If inaccurate information appears, it is necessary to make adjustments corresponding to the real state of affairs. Advertising of professional activity in periodicals, booklets, business cards should reflect the level of qualification and experience of the psychologist, his coordinates, hours of admission, cost of services.
S each counseling contact is unique, so it is difficult to follow the same norms of behavior in all counseling situations;
1 In most countries, the services of a psychologist (as well as doctors) are paid through
Insurance companies.
2 To date, there are no educational institutions in the Republic of Belarus
in which a counseling psychologist could improve their skills
or confirm diplomas (certificates) obtained in other countries.
Therefore, any psychologist with a diploma of any sample today
day may declare himself a "psychoanalyst", "family counselor
Tom", "Gestalt therapist" and start a professional activity,
without obtaining a license and without confirming their qualifications.
S in cases where the consultant works in an institution (school, clinic, center, etc.), the value orientations of the institution may not coincide or conflict with the ethical standards of the consultant;
S there are such ethically contradictory situations in which a consultant, adhering to one norm, necessarily violates another, i.e. ethical standards are violated" in any choice.
Such dilemmas testify to the limitations of codes of professional ethics in the professional activities of a counseling psychologist.
Currently, there are no generally accepted professional and ethical standards for the activities of practical psychologists in Belarus. There are only methodological recommendations of the Ministry of Education, which set out the ethical standards that should guide the educational psychologist. However, the community of psychologists (and society as a whole) has not yet realized the need for legal, ethical and professional regulation of the activities of counseling psychologists.
2.6. General rules and guidelines of the consultant
Before moving on to the specific rules and requirements for the work of a consultant, we considered it appropriate to state the most general of them, usually omitted in the specialized literature.
When conducting a session, the consultant must be full, otherwise thoughts about food, which result from the dissatisfaction of one of the basic needs, will be stronger than thoughts about the client.
The counselor must be sexually satisfied, otherwise the likelihood of countertransference or projecting of his own problems onto the client increases (in a broader context, one should talk about the counselor's ability to work with his sexual problems).
The consultant must be in a clear state of consciousness. Drowsiness, tranquilizers, alcohol, drugs are unacceptable.
Uniqueness rule: Everyone is different, so every counseling situation is unique and unrepeatable.
Rule of dynamism: counseling is not a static but a dynamic process, so the client and consultant are constantly changing according to their relationship.
Responsibility rule: The best problem expert is the client himself, so you need to help him take responsibility for solving his problems.
Security rule: the client's sense of security is more important than the consultant's notions of the need to clarify certain aspects of the situation, i.e. it is inappropriate to pursue a goal at any cost, regardless of emotional condition client.
The rule of professional competence and included features: helping the client, the consultant must use all their professional and personal capabilities.
Instability rule: In the process of counseling, improvements are often replaced by deterioration, so one should not expect success from each individual meeting.
Occupational Restriction Rule: a competent consultant is aware of his/her professional qualifications and limitations, and is responsible for maintaining ethical standards and providing appropriate assistance to clients.
Multi-paradigm rule: to solve each problem, you can use different theoretical approaches, so the psychologist must develop a generalized theory.
Rule of no value: the consultant should not evaluate the client or give him advice; his task is to reach the level of awareness of his problem with the client.
problems in principle impossible to solve (for example, the problem of existential
potential guilt). In such cases, the task of the consultant is to
to help the client understand the inevitability of the situation and come to terms with it.
Effective counseling is a process that is carried out together with the client, but instead of him.
There are also certain role functions consul tanta, which include:
S building relationships between a consultant and a client based on mutual trust;
S identifying how clients themselves understand themselves, relying on their intuition, experience and resources;
S focusing the consultant's attention on the real life circumstances of clients, identifying positive resources and strengths of clients;
* creating a friendly and accepting psychological atmosphere around clients;
S tracking and minimizing by the consultant of his own attempts to manipulate the client;
S constant improvement by the consultant of his professional activity in the field of consulting (mastering new knowledge, skills, techniques; reflection; passing supervision, etc.).
And finally, the most important rule, which is often forgotten by psychologists - The consultant does not need to know more than the client. This means that the "naive" consultant tries to understand the client, his ideas about the problem, about himself and about the world around him, as opposed to the "omniscient" consultant, who can determine the client's problems already by the way the latter enters the door.
Questions for self-control
Tell us about the specifics of the professional activity of a psychologist-consultant.
List the role functions of a counseling psychologist.
List the requirements for the personality of a consultant.
What personal qualities of a counseling psychologist contribute to the effectiveness of the counseling process?
List the goals and objectives of the psychologist-consultant.
How do the counselor's values manifest themselves in the counseling process?
What ethical standards are psychological counseling based on?
GreensonP. P. Technique and practice of psychoanalysis. M., 2003. George R., Christiani T. Consulting: theory and practice. M., 2002
Kottler J., Brown R. Psychotherapeutic counseling. SPb., 2001
Kociunas R. Fundamentals of psychological counseling. M., 1999. Nelson Jones R. Theory and practice of counseling. SPb., 2000.
What influences a consultant the most?
Each person has their own value system that determines their decisions and how they perceive the world and other people. It's about about the most important life criteria. The consultant's value system determines the initial premises of counseling. Any personality problem, as R. May (1967) notes, is a moral problem; in other words, every personality problem has its own moral implications. The very question that is posed in counseling and psychotherapy is "How should I live?" - is essential to all moral systems. This is where the second question arises: to what extent the counseling process has or should have the nature of a value discussion, and also to what extent the consultant should "participate" in the counseling process. If the answer to the first question is more or less clear - the client's problems should be perceived as a consequence of a mental and spiritual disorder, and not as an object of morality, then there are two extreme positions regarding the second question.
One of them is that the consultant must be "objective", value-neutral and not introduce his life philosophy and value system into the consulting relationship.
The consultant must fully concentrate on the values of the clients. This does not mean that a consultant who does not have his own value system is considered ideal - he simply should not take a certain position in moral and value aspects during counseling. The meaning of this attitude of the consultant is based on the fact that in the process of counseling, the client, often thanks to external encouragement, learns to change the initial assumptions of his behavior; self-esteem is formed on the basis of the internalization of the assessments of others.
S. Patterson (1958) op. by: George, Cristiani, 1990) also points to a number of reasons why a consultant should avoid influencing the client's values:
o the life philosophy of each individual is unique and it is undesirable to impose it on others;
o no consultant can claim to have a fully developed, adequate philosophy of life;
o The best places to learn values are the family, church, and school, not the counselor's office.
o the individual develops his own ethical system, using not one source and not in one day, but under the influence of many life factors and over a certain period of time;
o no one can prevent another person from forming a unique philosophy of life that would be meaningful to him;
o the client has the right to reject the ethical principles and philosophy of life of another person.
At the opposite pole - the opinion of E. Williamson (1958) op. according to: George, Cristiani, 1990), according to which the consultant must openly and clearly demonstrate to the client his value position, since an attempt to be neutral in value situations encourages the client to believe that the consultant considers socially, morally and legally harmful aspects of behavior acceptable and justified. This is the position of a counselor-educator who knows what is good and what is bad.
It is difficult to agree with both extreme opinions. If you really look at the situation of counseling, it becomes clear that it is simply impossible to completely exclude the values of the consultant, worldview aspects from the consultative contact with the client, if counseling is understood as a relationship between two people, and not as something mechanical or pre-programmed. The consultant must clearly know his values, not hide them from the client and not avoid value discussions at consultative meetings, since many problems are hidden precisely in the value conflicts of clients or in their misunderstanding of their own value system. However, the consultant's clear value position does not imply moralization. In any case, the influence of the consultant's values on the client has its ethical side, if we admit that the positions put forward by the consultant and the methods used are reflected in his philosophy of life, even without directly imposing his values on the client, however, adhering to a certain philosophy in the work, we inevitably "include" in consulting your view on the system of essential issues of life.
According to S Soggu (1986), a consultant or psychologist, wishing to avoid value conflicts in the process of counseling, must have a clear position on certain issues. The most important areas in which the position of a consultant is important are family, sex, abortion, religion, drugs.
It is important for the consultant to know what impact his value has on the course of counseling so that he can be himself and yet avoid imposing his own attitudes on clients. On the other hand, the consultant's neutrality means either he is ambivalent about values, or that he only cares about "protecting" the counseling process from his values, and this interferes with authenticity and sincerity.
In the process of counseling, we must help clients to fully identify their value system and make independent decisions based on it, how they can change their behavior or even the values themselves. So, the consultant raises questions, and the client seeks and finds answers to them based on their own values. The consultant, focusing on his value system, also helps the client to better understand the consequences of certain decisions, actions for his own life and the well-being of people close to him.
The profession of a psychologist-consultant is interesting and gives a lot of useful things to the consultant himself. What other profession allows you to know so deeply and closely so much different people? partly it gives a feeling of satisfaction with yourself, especially when customers appreciate you, when you are sure that you could help.
The influence is not always noticeable from the outside, but the consultant himself feels its true value. A. Storr (1980) highlights several important aspects of this "fee":
o the threat to lose identity and "dissolve" in clients;
o negative consequences may affect personal life (family, friends);
o the threat of mental disorders due to constant clashes with the dark sides of life.
Consultants sometimes forget that their advantage in getting to know clients is somewhat relative, since they perceive clients in specific conditions and, as a rule, for a short time. Consultants do not have the opportunity to observe the activities of clients in real life and only from their words know about their anxieties, fears, failures, and to a lesser extent - about achievements.
Most often, the counselor exaggerates the client's personality disorders, and the most important consequence of the misconception is the orientation towards treatment, rather than understanding and identifying the positive aspects of life. Orientation towards treatment connects the consultant with the client too much, requires great efforts from him, which are really needed, and, finally, makes you look at life through "dark glasses" (Kochunas R., 1999).
Involvement in the profession is partly what makes the counselor's family suffer. First, ethical requirements prevent the counselor from sharing his "psychological" experiences with the family, so family members only know roughly what the counselor does. Secondly, counseling requires a lot of emotional investment, and sometimes this significantly reduces the emotional return in the family. When at work you have to listen to Other people all day and delve into their concerns, in the evening it can be difficult to feel the concerns of a wife or husband and children. And these are not the only problems that the consulting profession raises.
Psychological counseling and psychotherapy are professions that require a lot of emotional stress, responsibility and have too conditional criteria for success.
These professions are at risk of "burnout syndrome" (Paine, 1981; Maslach, 1982; Corey, 1986).
"Combustion syndrome" is a complex psychophysiological phenomenon, which is defined as emotional, mental and physical exhaustion due to prolonged emotional stress. This syndrome, according to Corey (1986) and Naisberg-Fennig et al. (1991), is expressed in a depressed state, a feeling of fatigue and devastation, a lack of energy and enthusiasm, the ability to see the positive results of one's work, and a negative attitude towards work and life in general. There is an opinion that people with certain personality traits (restless, sensitive, empathic, prone to introversion, having a humanistic attitude towards life) tend to identify themselves with other traits that are more characteristic of this syndrome (Edelwick, Brodsky, 1980).
What causes often contribute to "burnout syndrome"? Without pretending to be a complete enumeration, we will name only some of the most important of them:
o monotony of work, especially if ITS meaning seems doubtful;
o investing in the work of large personal resources with insufficient recognition and positive evaluation;
o working with "unmotivated" clients who constantly resist the consultant's efforts to help them, and insignificant, hardly tangible results of work;
o tension and conflicts in professional life,
o lack of support from colleagues and their criticism;
o insufficient conditions for self-expression of the individual at work, when experimentation and innovation are not encouraged, but limited;
o work without the possibility of further training and professional development;
o unresolved personality conflicts.
One of the essential factors preventing the increase in "burnout syndrome" is the acceptance of personal responsibility for one's work. If the counselor, due to failure or feeling unwell, takes a passive position and blames others, the feeling of powerlessness and hopelessness only increases. Responsibility can be transferred outside in various ways: "I'm not lucky because clients resist counseling and want to change anything in life"; "The organization of labor is to blame for everything, but it does not depend on me"; "I have too many clients and not enough time for each of them," etc. Such a passive position of the consultant makes him capitulate to external circumstances and feel like a victim, which, with the rest, contributes to professional cynicism. Therefore, it is especially important for a consultant to have a sense of responsibility and be able to work even in the presence of restrictions and obstacles. Instead of shifting the blame for your own impotence to the surrounding circumstances, it is better to direct your energy and attention to the realization of existing opportunities and think about changing the conditions themselves.
There are also many specific ways to prevent the development of "burnout syndrome":
o cultivating other interests not related to counseling; Zrazs (1965) points out that a specialist sees up to ten clients daily, there is no chance of working for high level. The best solution to this dilemma is to combine work with study, research, writing scientific articles;
o diversify your work, create new projects and implement them without waiting for approval from official authorities;
o maintaining your health, observing sleep and nutrition, mastering the technique of meditation;
o Satisfaction social life; the presence of several friends (preferably other professions), in relationships with which there is a balance;
o striving for what you want, without the hope of becoming a winner in all cases and the ability to lose without unnecessary self-abasement and aggressiveness;
o the ability to self-esteem without relying only on the respect of others;
o openness to new experience;
o deliberate obligations (for example, one should not take on more responsibility for the client, more than the one that he himself has);
o reading not only professional, but also other literature, just for your own pleasure;
o participation in seminars, conferences, during which there is an opportunity to meet new people and exchange experiences;
o occasional joint work with colleagues;
o participation in the work of a professional group, providing an opportunity to discuss personal problems related to advisory work.
So, in order to avoid the "burnout syndrome", the consultant must evaluate his life - whether he lives the way he wants. If the existing life is not satisfying, you should decide what needs to be done for positive changes. Only by properly caring for the quality of your life can you remain an effective consultant.
Questions and tasks for self-control
1. What rights does a counseling psychologist have?
2. What does the expression "deep awareness of the specifics of the profession" mean for a psychoconsultant?
3. Argue the opinion that the passion for professional activities partly makes the consultant's family suffer.
It is not easy for a consultant to follow the rules of ethics for enough
objective reasons. The main ones were pointed out by George and Cristiani:
1. It is difficult to meet the standards of established behavior in a huge
variety of consulting situations, because each consultative
contact is unique.
2. Most consultants practice in certain institutions
(clinics, centers, schools, private services, etc.). value
the orientation of these organizations may not be entirely consistent with the ethical
consultant requirements. In such cases, the consultant is
before a difficult choice.
3. The consultant often finds himself in ethically contradictory situations,
when, adhering to the requirements of one norm, he violates another.
Kociunas R.-A. B, after analyzing foreign literature,
formulated the following principles of ethical behavior in
psychological counseling:
1. The consultant is responsible in his work:
To your client.
To the client's family members.
Before the organization in which he works.
In general, in front of the public.
Before your profession.2. The client must make a decision about his entry into the process
psychological counseling consciously, therefore, before starting
the counseling process, the counselor is required during the first meeting
provide the client with maximum information about the process
counseling:
About the main goals of counseling.
About your qualifications.
About payment for consulting.
About the approximate duration of the consultation.
About the advisability of counseling in this situation.
About the risk of temporary deterioration of the client’s condition in the process
counseling.
On the boundaries of confidentiality.
3. The consultant is obliged to correctly assess the level and limits of his
professional competence. not allowed in counseling
the use of insufficiently mastered diagnostic and therapeutic
procedures. Consultative meetings with clients are not allowed under any circumstances.
be used to test any methods or techniques
counseling.
It is important to coordinate with the client in advance the possibilities of audio and video
recordings, observations through a one-way mirror, presence on
consultations of other persons (trainees, students).
Privacy Policy:
The issue of confidentiality should be discussed during the first
meeting with a client. If the client does not mind, the issue of confidentiality
from ethical becomes purely professional.1. The obligation to maintain confidentiality is not absolute, but
relatively, since there are certain conditions that can
change that commitment.
2. Confidentiality depends on the nature of the submitted by the client
information, nevertheless, the client's confidence is incomparably stricter
binds the consultant, rather than the "secrecy" of events about which
the client reports.
3. Customer information can only be used in professional
purposes. This information should only be used for the benefit of the client.
4. Proceedings of consultation meetings in a form they cannot
cause harm to the interests of the client, the consultant can use in
their professional scientific or teaching activities.
They are not subject to the confidentiality rule.
5. Focusing on the client's right to good name and secrecy,
consultant in certain cases may not provide
information about the client to law enforcement agencies, unless this
the rights of third parties are violated.
6. Confidentiality is limited by the right of the consultant to save
dignity and security of one's own person.
7. Confidentiality is limited by the rights of third parties and the public.
Kociunas R.-A. B. gives an approximate list of circumstances, when
which the requirement of confidentiality may be violated:
Criminal acts (violence, corruption, incest and the like),
committed against minors.
The need for hospitalization of the client.
Involvement of the client and others in the distribution of drugs and other
criminal actions.
Increased risk to the life of the client or other people. Having found out during the counseling process what the client represents for
someone is seriously threatened, the counselor must:
Take steps to protect the potential victim or victims.
Inform her (or them) about the danger.
Parents or relatives of this person.
Law enforcement agencies.
The consultant must also inform the client of his intentions.
6. Requirements for the personality of a consultant psychologist
Code of Ethics for Consultant Psychologist.
A counseling psychologist is fully responsible for his professional activities and organizes his work in accordance with the Code of Ethics and legal norms existing in the state.
The boundaries of professional competence
A consultant psychologist is engaged in professional activities only within the limits of his competence, which is determined by education, forms of advanced training and relevant professional experience.
The rights and obligations of a psychologist-consultant are based on the principle of professional independence and autonomy, regardless of their official position in a particular organization, from professionals of a higher rank and administration.
Respect for the identity and sovereignty of the client
The counseling psychologist respects the personality and sovereignty of the client. A client cannot be discriminated against based on their age, gender, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, any physical or mental disorder, language, socio-economic status or other distinguishing feature that characterizes the personality and worldview of the client.
The counseling psychologist must be extremely careful, restrained and critical of his concepts and conclusions about clients, given the possibility of their perception as derogatory and discriminatory.
Privacy Policy
The psychologist-consultant is obliged to ensure the inviolability of the information provided by the client, and has no right to disclose it without the consent of the client, except in cases where the disclosure of information can prevent a serious threat to the life and health of the client or another person.
The psychologist-consultant informs the client at the earliest stages of counseling about the confidentiality rule, its limitations and the conditions for the acceptable use of information obtained during work. If the work involves the participation of a supervisor, then this fact is negotiated with the client.
The counseling psychologist must be prepared in advance to protect confidential information in the event of incapacitation or death, as well as seizure or theft of records and data.
The counseling psychologist protects the audio and video recordings received during the session from misuse by the client.
During a scientific or professional discussion (supervision), the counseling psychologist must eliminate or change information that could lead to the identification of the client by third parties.
Discussion of information received from clients is permissible in accordance with scientific or professional goals and only with those persons who clearly understand the boundaries of the discussion of this information.
The use of materials of work with a client in publications or scientific presentations is only allowed with the consent of the client and the removal from the text of any signs by which the client's identity could be identified by other people.
Do no harm rule
In his professional activity, the psychologist-consultant proceeds from the interests of the client.
The psychologist-consultant must be aware of the degree of his influence and take into account the possibility of developing dependence on the part of the client. A counseling psychologist must be able to recognize the dependency relationships that arise during therapy in time and not exploit them.
The psychologist-consultant must be aware of the degree of influence of his personal problems on the effectiveness of working with the client. If the personal problem of the counseling psychologist coincides with the problem of the client and is an obstacle in the work, the counseling psychologist turns to a colleague for supervision.
If a personal problem of a counseling psychologist becomes an insurmountable obstacle and limits his ability to work, the counseling psychologist decides to stop working with this client and transfer him to another counseling psychologist.
Prohibition of "double relationships"
( Dual relationships are those relationships in which the consultant psychologist, in addition to the professional one, acts in some other role in relation to the client.)
The counseling psychologist should not have contact with clients outside of the professional relationship, including after the end of therapy, as such contacts may harm the client.
In situations where a counseling psychologist cannot avoid an extra-professional relationship with a client, he must consider the strength of his influence and minimize the harm caused by an extra-professional relationship.
The counseling psychologist does not have sexual relations with his clients, students or supervisees.
The psychologist-consultant does not accept as clients those with whom they have been or are in a sexual, family or other close relationship.
Ethical aspects of the beginning of psychotherapy, psychological contract(contract)
The psychologist-consultant begins work with the client only if he is informed. (Informing implies that the client seeks help from a counseling psychologist of his own free will and without outside pressure, understands the essence of what is happening and is aware of possible consequences future work.) If the client cannot give informed consent, the counseling psychologist obtains consent from those people who, in accordance with the law, are responsible for him.
If clients agree to the conditions offered to them, then in the client's card he puts his signature on the consent of working with a psychologist.
The contract (agreement) between a psychologist and a client defines the boundaries of psychological assistance, the level of confidentiality, the expected number and frequency of meetings, contacts between meetings, conditions for completing work, mutual responsibility, the need for possible medical assistance, the procedure for filing complaints, etc.
If the client does not have a completely or has a distorted idea of the specifics of the upcoming work, the psychologist-consultant in a form accessible to the client clarifies the necessary questions, and also informs the client about the possible consequences of the upcoming work.
When clarifying the client's request and determining the goals of the work, the psychologist-consultant does not support the client's unrealistic goals and does not give him guarantees of a result that cannot be achieved.
In the interests of the client and correct relations with colleagues, the psychologist-consultant respects the client's relationship with other psychologists and refuses to "parallel" work with another specialist.
Regardless of who pays for psychotherapy, therapy is carried out only in the interests of the client.
Ethical aspects of payment for the services of a counseling psychologist
The counseling psychologist sets the cost of the consultation independently and informs about it during the first contact with the client.
The counseling psychologist refrains from accepting gifts and other favors from clients.
Ethical aspects of the termination of psychotherapy
The psychologist-consultant stops working with the client when it becomes clear that the client no longer needs his services and / or further work does not bring results.
If the psychologist believes that these methods of work are not suitable for the client, or the client himself refuses them, then it is necessary to offer another method (method, form) of work or the help of another specialist.
The psychologist-consultant is obliged to inform the client in advance about the termination or breaks in work. Before the termination of therapy, the counseling psychologist ascertains the current state of the client and conducts appropriate preparations upon completion of the work.
If the continuation of the work of a psychologist-consultant is impossible due to insurmountable circumstances (moving, health status, loss of working capacity, etc.), he takes the necessary actions to transfer the client to another specialist.
Safety
The psychologist-consultant takes care of the safety of the place and environment, for psychological work with a client.
Psychologists are strongly advised to insure their professional activities.
Any non-compliance with these principles endangers mental health client, the image and status of the organization, the effectiveness of psychological methods and is considered as a gross violation in the application of methods of psychological work.
Each person has his own value system that determines his decisions and how he perceives the world around him and other people. These are the most important life criteria. The consultant's value system determines the initial premises of counseling. Any personality problem, as R. May (1967) notes, is a moral problem; in other words, every personality problem has its own moral implications. The question itself, often asked in counseling and psychotherapy, is "How should I live?" - is essential to all moral systems. Here the second question arises: to what extent the counseling process itself has or should have the character of a value discussion, and also to what extent the counselor's values should "participate" in the counseling process. If the answer to the first question is more or less clear - the client's problems should be perceived as a consequence of mental and spiritual ill health, and not as an object of morality - then there are two extreme positions on the second question.
One of them is that the consultant must be "objective", value-neutral and not introduce his life philosophy and value system into the consulting relationship. He must fully concentrate on the values of customers. This does not mean that a consultant who does not have his own value system is considered ideal - he simply should not take a certain position on moral and value aspects during counseling. The meaning of this attitude of the consultant is substantiated by the fact that in the process of counseling the client, often thanks to external encouragement, learns to change the initial assumptions of his behavior; self-esteem is formed on the basis of the internalization of the assessments of others. C. Patterson (1958; cited in George and Cristiani, 1990) also points to a number of reasons why counselors should avoid influencing the client's values:
the philosophy of life of each individual is unique and it is undesirable to impose it on others;
no consultant can claim to have a fully developed, adequate philosophy of life;
the most appropriate places for learning values are the family, church and school, not the counselor's office;
the individual develops his own ethical system, using not one source and not in one day, but under the influence of many life factors and over a long period of time;
no one can prevent another person from forming a unique philosophy of life, which would be the most meaningful for him;
the client has the right to reject the ethical principles and philosophy of life of another person.
At the opposite pole is the opinion of E. Williamson (1958; cited in: George, Cristiani, 1990), according to which the consultant must openly and clearly demonstrate to the client his value position, since an attempt to be neutral in value situations encourages the client to believe that the consultant considers acceptable and justifiable socially, morally and legally harmful behavior. This is the position of a consultant-educator who knows what is good and what is bad.
It is difficult to agree with both extreme opinions. If you really look at the situation of counseling, it becomes clear that it is simply impossible to completely exclude the values of the consultant, worldview aspects from the consultative contact with the client, if counseling is understood as a relationship between two people, and not as something mechanical or pre-programmed. The consultant must clearly know his values, not hide them from the client and not avoid value discussions at consultative meetings, since many problems are hidden precisely in the value conflicts of clients or in their misunderstanding of their own value system. However, the clear value position of the consultant does not imply moralizing and moralizing. In any case, the influence of the consultant's values on the client has its own ethical side, if it is recognized that the goals put forward by the consultant and the methods used reflect his philosophy of life. Even without directly imposing our values on the client, but adhering to a certain philosophy in our work, we inevitably “bring” our view of the system of essential issues of life into counseling.
Client: woman 30 years old, married, has three children, the eldest of them is 10 years old. The problem with which she asked for help is the difficulty in deciding whether to save the marriage or divorce her husband, whom she characterizes as not caring for her and the children, completely immersed in her work, boring and self-satisfied. The husband refused to participate in counseling on solving family problems, arguing that everything was fine with him, but his wife needed treatment, as this was her problem. The client claims that she would have divorced immediately if not for the children, who, in her opinion, need a father. Her main difficulty lies in the need to make a decision whether to save the family, i.e. choose stability, neglecting relations with her husband, or still get a divorce, i.e. take the risk of essentially changing your life. She sees one acceptable way out in the preservation of the family and in connection with another man (or men) in order to satisfy her emotional and physical needs.
Faced with this particular case, the consultant raises many value questions. One of the reasons for the preservation of the marriage by the client is the interests of the children. What does the consultant think about this - is it more useful for children to have both parents in the conditions of an unsuccessful model of the relationship between a man and a woman, or is it better for them to witness a divorce? What does the consultant think about marriage, family, divorce, the situation of children in the family? The client is talking about extramarital affairs. What does the consultant think about their legitimacy? Are these connections helpful or destructive to the client's life? What does the counselor think about the need for security and risk in a person's life? Both the process of counseling and its result will largely depend on the answers to the questions asked.
According to G. Corey (1986), a consultant or psychotherapist, wishing to avoid value conflicts in the process of counseling, must have a clear position on certain issues. The most important areas in which the position of a consultant is important are family, sex, abortion, religion, drugs.
It is infinitely important for the counselor to know how his values influence the course of counseling so that he can be himself and yet avoid imposing his own attitudes on clients. Each person's life philosophy and values are unique. It would be too arrogant to think that only a consultant knows what a "good and righteous life" is. On the other hand, the consultant's neutrality means either he is ambivalent about values, or that he only cares about "protecting" the counseling process from his values, and this interferes with authenticity and sincerity. In the process of counseling, we must help clients to fully identify their value system and make independent decisions based on it, how they can change their behavior or even the values themselves. Consequently, the consultant raises questions, and the client seeks and finds answers to them based on their own values. The consultant, focusing on his value system, also helps the client to better understand the consequences of certain decisions, actions for his own life and the well-being of people close to him.
In Soviet times, psychology was almost an underground science. A person had to solve all problems either independently or with the help of a party meeting or a Komsomol cell. The relative novelty of psychological counseling - widely available and diverse - contributed to the fact that people began to address their internal conflicts to specialists. However, unlike the West, this branch of science and services is still in its infancy.
How can a psychologist help?
What are the pros and cons of psychological counseling, if we look at it through the eyes of the layman? The benefits are obvious only to the inexperienced. It is they who believe that a successful session of psychological counseling will help once and for all solve all the personal problems of a given person, and therefore make him "accommodating" and "positive." However, working with a "master of souls", even with a university education, is a long process. In addition, in most cases - expensive. One session of psychological counseling can cost about a hundred dollars. At the same time, the results - at least from the point of view of everyday life - are very doubtful. For example, we go to a consultation to solve problems in partnerships. But at the same time, a psychologist cannot - simply does not have the right - to give us specific advice.
The only thing he can help with is to make us aware of our needs and desires, our capabilities and potential. Everything else - including vital decisions such as divorce or marriage, the birth of a child or the separation of property - remains outside the scope of psychological counseling. These steps we have to complete only on our own. Likewise, the decision whether to stay in a city or country or emigrate, whether to change jobs or It is only our personal prerogative. No one will make important decisions for us. No psychologist can unequivocally say that this way out will bring certain results. The only thing he can do is show the internal contradiction of every decision or action. The final choice is made by the individual.
What are the other cons and advice? Many of us will find it extremely difficult to "open up". That is, to talk about what torments us, why and what feelings we experience in connection with our situation. After all, these aspects of psychological counseling relate mainly to what we have "inside".
We often push these problems so far away that we ourselves cannot voice them. And what can be said about a person - even a specialist - who sees us for the first or second time in his life. He can only guess about many problems or painful points. The decision itself must come from ourselves. Therefore, it is simply necessary to carry out deep work with oneself.
What types of psychological counseling are available to the average citizen? First of all, individual assistance within the framework of various programs. Consultations in this case last, as a rule, about an hour, and the main task of the psychologist will be to listen to the client and try to understand what problematic aspects of character and life position should be worked on. Group lessons, although they are used in various psychotherapeutic centers, they are not suitable for everyone. Many people resort to distance counseling. In this case, a chat or helpline can be an ideal solution, where you can anonymously discuss your problems with a professional and look for a solution together.