Opinions about psychotherapy are sometimes controversial, especially regarding the degree of personality change that can be achieved in the process of psychotherapeutic work. However, in general, people most often agree that psychotherapy “helps” with certain complaints. In this post I would like to discuss how exactly psychotherapy helps. In my opinion, there are several aspects of assistance, or rather several levels of assistance, which, with the most successful course of psychotherapy, develop in parallel, mutually reinforcing the healing effect. However, there are also objective limitations to psychotherapeutic work, which I will now focus on at the very beginning of the article: First, it is worth mentioning that, by analogy with the physical state of the body, the mental state may impose restrictions on the possibility of its improvement. That is, if a person has lost a limb, then his condition can be significantly improved, especially compared to the condition in the first hours and days, but he is unlikely to be able to grow a new leg. This comparison can be applied to the course of mental processes. You can help as much as help is possible in this case. The good news is that it is usually possible to some extent. Firstly, most often the violations are not fatal and irreversible and can be corrected. In the case of severe pathology, figuratively speaking, even with the loss of a limb, a high-quality prosthesis can be made. Secondly, help can be short-term and long-term (sustainable, up to a permanent effect after completion of psychotherapy). In both cases, psychotherapy helps, however, the long-term effect of working with a psychotherapist is still considered higher than the short-term effect. This point is also important because people who have received short-term relief may decide that the result has been achieved and end their visits to the psychologist. The resulting return of symptoms, in turn, may lead them to conclude that help is not as effective as they expected (and as they initially felt and believed). Thus, those who applied may form the opinion that psychotherapy is ineffective. This opinion may arise as a result of insufficient psychotherapeutic work and unskilled implementation (including incorrect assessment of a). the degree of personality disorders, b).possibilities of therapy in relation to the timing of implementation) or a combination of several reasons. Next, I propose to consider a list of “healing” factors that can characterize psychotherapeutic work. That is, in fact, why psychotherapy can be effective and efficient. Emotional response - a person splashes out his emotions and experiences, as a result of which relief occurs, usually temporary. (By the way, I recently read an article by a specialist, where he essentially explained the whole essence of the work of psychotherapy through reaction). This factor helps many people, mainly in the first stages of working with a psychologist, but its effect is not sustainable. Support. A figure appears, the very presence of which has a supportive effect, because you can come to her as an authority, listen to a competent opinion, and receive a response. It's like knowing that you have money, even when you don't use it - your state changes from the very fact. Here we can point out some healing value of the example of a psychotherapist’s lifestyle (we assume that it is characterized by stability). Sometimes even psychotherapists themselves consider support to be the crown of psychotherapeutic efforts, which, however, does not prevent them from moving forward, albeit without thinking about the essence of further therapeutic processes, but still, at the same time, building them. Relationships that do not develop according to the usual scenarios for the person who applied. As a rule, a client in psychotherapy unconsciously reproduces in his relationship with a psychotherapist the same relational roles that he plays in everyday life. Task.