“Unfortunately, if you have problems or a desire to reflect not alone, pay money. and, as a rule, there is no result. I'm tired of it." - these are the words of one person, apparently disillusioned with psychologists. The first question that arose in response to these words: “Has this person turned to a psychologist???” It is very important which psychologist you choose. Unfortunately, in our city there are not many professional psychologists with special psychotherapeutic education who provide long-term counseling or therapy services. Precisely those who have a diploma of education, plus psychotherapist certificates (that is, completed courses, steps that culminated in certification). Because, having a diploma of higher education as a psychologist, a specialist cannot be a full-fledged therapist - and he is unlikely to provide professional help. This is due to the fact that universities provide classical (theoretical) education, and a practicing psychologist must have experience working with clients. It is impossible for a young specialist to immediately graduate from a university with experience. Experience is gained by a novice psychologist during his studies in the psychotherapeutic community, at supervisions, intervisions, conferences, intensive courses, and then client practice begins. But you should also not think that if a person has completed courses in NLP, Gestalt therapy, etc., but does not have a basic higher education, that he is a competent psychologist. Since it is in the university that the foundations of human psychology are laid, that knowledge, without which full-fledged productive therapy is impossible. It is a very common occurrence in our city when a person, having another specialty, but having completed courses, considers himself a psychologist and gives consultations, positions himself as a practicing psychologist. Therefore, choose a psychologist, and not a person retrained in short-term courses in a completely different specialty. Why is psychological help so important? paid? Free psychological help is very UNSAFE, since the client does not take responsibility for himself, but places it on the therapist - expecting him to be a “Wizard”. This is not so, we are not magicians - we can guide you, return your awareness, accompany you in the process of personal development and experiences. If a psychologist gives free consultations, conducts free trainings, then you should think about it, most likely, such a psychologist has a very vague understanding of himself. Any work must be paid; if a person does not know how much his services cost, then this is a violation of boundaries and low self-esteem. Think about whether it is worth going to such a specialist? Petrova Vera.