What difference does it make, clinical or regular? A psychologist. Or is it not? Then what are the differences? In fact, practice shows that this is a fairly common question. And it is asked not only by clients, but also by students themselves who have chosen this or that specialty. I remember how in my first year one of the teachers (in my opinion, he taught life safety or something like that) sarcastically asked us this question ourselves. And after all the arguments, he stopped them with one succinct, in his opinion, definition: “Clinical - he works in a clinic. This means he can work with patients.” It may be succinct, but it is not at all sufficient for understanding. How to highlight the uniqueness of his work? By and large, one could immerse oneself in the professional standards of specialists. They form the basis of different training programs, determine their specificity and subtle differences. The standards contain the main directions of work, and thanks to them, “just a psychologist” turns into a “psychologist in the social sphere,” whose main profile is working with the population and focusing on comfort of different social groups in general; and “teacher-psychologist” (psychologist in the field of education), and “consulting psychologist”... But this will take a long time. And boring. Although it will be boring as it is. I don’t pretend to be the truth, but I would like to define his field of activity as follows: A clinical psychologist is not someone who is only interested in the phenomena of a person’s “inner world.” This is the one who immerses himself in the mechanisms of the psyche and can determine which factors of the external world and interaction with them can have a positive or negative impact on the changes occurring with a person in the areas of his activity and communication. Psyche - the subject of psychology as a scientific discipline - emphasizes the connection between the physical and spiritual, the ideal and the material. This is what, according to the precepts of A.N. Leontyev, is characteristic of every highly organized living matter - which means that it is important for a clinical psychologist to understand the structure of the human body. He knows how hormonal changes can lead to frequent changes in mood, which will lead to impaired blood circulation in one or another part of the brain, and how serious the consequences of poor nutrition in general can be for the body. The quality of his help in individual requests is higher because it relies on elements of different origins to solve the “what’s wrong with me?” puzzle. But at the same time, the clinical psychologist remains the one who understands what the internal, subjective reality of a person is. He has access to a full range of tools - from standardized questionnaires to warm, attentive conversations - that help build contact with those who have a request and help solve the problem. And he can continue to improve in any of the areas of psychological assistance that interests him. So it turns out that, on the one hand, a clinical psychologist has methods of psychological diagnosis and correction, knows how to “treat with words,” has projective techniques, maybe psychoanalysis and gestalt - and on the other hand, he is always helped by scientific, accurate information, experimental method and clinical thinking .There is a good metaphor. If you imagine that a person is a living plant in the garden, then a psychologist can tell you when to water it, how to tie the stems, what brand of fertilizer to buy. A clinical psychologist can do the same, but he proceeds from an understanding of the internal structure of the flower and root system, species, and how much certain microelements are needed for it to bloom. Agree, sometimes this is more effective. The purpose of this article is in no way to discredit specialists in other fields. Just show the uniqueness and significance of one specific thing) More interesting: Center for Practical Psychology Ryaz State Medical University Sign up for a consultation: Alexandra Baranova - clinical psychologist