How to choose a psychologist or psychotherapist. Frequently Asked Questions In need of psychological help, people wonder: who, where and why to turn? What is the difference between a psychologist and a psychotherapist? Can a psychologist practice psychotherapy? Should a therapist prescribe medications? Is it better to go to a clinic, a crisis center, or should you look for a private practitioner? I would like to make a reservation that disputes on this issue do not subside in the professional community, so I would like to express my opinion on this matter. Let's go in order. Psychologist or psychotherapist? What are the differences? If you follow the letter of the law, then psychotherapy in our country is a medical practice, and only a doctor can engage in psychotherapy. A psychologist cannot engage in psychotherapy. This situation has arisen for a number of reasons. Firstly, for decades, psychotherapy in our country developed in a totalitarian society, and connections with the international professional community were lost. Psychotherapy came down to attempts to eliminate symptoms, without understanding their causes, using medication, hypnosis, aversive and emotionally stressful psychotherapy. Efficiency was put at the forefront, but no one thought about such a concept as quality of life. Psychotherapy, as a practice that promotes a person’s deeper understanding of himself, eliminating symptoms by resolving internal conflicts, was not needed in a totalitarian society. Making a diagnosis and prescribing a specific procedure - a dry medical approach - we inherited from the Soviet past, and accordingly, a doctor must engage in psychotherapy. The second reason is rooted in the present. Who is a psychologist and what kind of specialty is this, sometimes even psychologists themselves do not know. The quality of training of specialists currently continues to remain at a very low level, which discredits psychological science and practice in the eyes of society. Let's look at the numbers. A physician's path to psychotherapy includes six years of medical school, an internship or residency in psychiatry (one or two years, respectively), and a residency in psychotherapy (two years). As a result, training a specialist takes 9-10 years, and despite the fact that only the last two years are direct training in psychotherapy, this is sufficient time to weed out the majority of potentially incompetent specialists. Things are much worse with the training of psychologists in Russia: In addition to a five-year full-time education at a university and a six-year evening one, you can become a psychologist by receiving a correspondence education, or by spending 1-2 years on education on the basis of any higher education. The quality of training in the case of correspondence education leaves much to be desired, and rapid progression from, say, a historian or mathematician to a psychologist is generally unthinkable. For obvious reasons, no one wants to allow psychologists in the masses to get involved in any serious matter. Although..., any person who has received a higher psychological education (including of dubious quality) can engage in psychocorrection and psychological counseling, and how does this differ from psychotherapy , it’s unlikely that anyone will give you an intelligible answer. Unfortunately, there is no mandatory certification of psychologists in our country. If we move away from formalism and take steps towards integration into the global psychotherapeutic community, then psychotherapy should be recognized as an independent practice that requires thorough training of specialists. Therefore, the shortcomings of basic psychological or psychotherapeutic education can only be eliminated availability of additional education in the field of psychotherapy. Let us make a reservation that any serious training program for a psychotherapist includes gaining personal psychotherapeutic experience, a didactic course and work with a supervisor (mentor). The duration of the postgraduate training program must be at least three years. Thus, answering the questionquestion: it doesn’t matter whether you turned to a psychologist or psychotherapist. It is important that the specialist has a good basic education, experience in personal psychotherapy, additional education in the field of psychotherapy and regular supervision in a community of colleagues. Does the psychotherapist prescribe medications? Of course, if you have an appointment with a specialist with basic psychological education, prescribing medications is out of the question. A specialist with a medical education can do this, however, if it is necessary to take medications, it is better for another specialist to do this - a psychiatrist. It is better that your psychotherapist and psychiatrist are different people who can help you together, but each in their own way. One day, a colleague of mine, a psychiatrist and psychotherapist from Europe, said: “When a patient comes to me in need of both psychotherapy and drug treatment, we decide whether we will continue psychotherapeutic work with him. If so, I refer him to a psychiatrist who prescribes him medication. If he wants me to prescribe him medication, I do it and refer him to another psychotherapist, and I treat him as a psychiatrist.” This is, of course, an ideal situation, and we try to do just that, making exceptions in only the rarest cases. Crisis center, private psychological and psychotherapeutic center, private practicing psychologist/psychotherapist. Where to go? There are several options: you can go to a medical or psychological center or to a private practitioner. Many psychotherapists see people privately. There are also a lot of privately practicing psychologists. It is important to understand that when you contact the center, you pay not only a specialist, but also a huge number of other center employees - managers, marketers, administrators, founders, etc. So the services of the same specialist in the center will cost slightly more than a specialist receiving privately. However, on the other hand, the institution acts as a guarantor of the quality of the service provided and protects you from frankly incompetent psychologists and psychotherapists. As for the quality of psychotherapy and psychological consultation with a private practitioner, it varies in a very wide range - from those who know absolutely nothing about the profession to real professionals whose experience and knowledge meet the highest standards. An academic degree and a high position, how important are they? An academic degree of a candidate in medical or psychological sciences is an advantage of a specialist and indicates a serious attitude to his work, however, is in no way a guarantee of quality. A doctorate degree often indicates that a specialist pays more attention to his scientific career than to practice. An administrative position, say, chief physician, is more of a disadvantage for a practitioner than an advantage. Everyone must do their own thing: some help patients, some organize and manage. Examples of successful combinations are extremely rare, if found at all. But teaching, supervision and the opportunity to pass on your professionalism to younger colleagues are a good sign. The need and need to share experience helps to maintain your knowledge at a high level. How much does a consultation with a psychologist or psychotherapist cost? Each product has its own cost and psychotherapy is no exception. There is always the opportunity to get help for free. We are talking about crisis centers. The quality of psychological help and psychotherapy in this case is very different, however, when it comes to choosing: to get help or to remain without it, then, of course, it is better to get it. In addition, in these institutions there are very good specialists who are truly dedicated to their work. The range of prices in private psychological and psychotherapeutic centers is quite large: from one to five thousand rubles and more. However, the cost of a service in the center below two thousand is hardly worthy of attention. A private practicing psychologist or psychotherapist will cost you.