The main thing in psychotherapy is not self-improvement, but understanding yourself in order to find more effective ways to deal with your own needs. Nancy McWilliams Comment from the author: here we will talk about exclusively non-medical psychotherapy, without the use of medications during interaction with the client. Therefore, cases of mental disorders and other clinical issues are not considered here. Please pay attention to this. There has been debate about the effectiveness of psychotherapy for more than half a century. Both between potential consumers of psychological services, and between psychologists, psychotherapists and psychiatrists themselves. There are studies that say that it is effective, there are studies that say that it is not. Here I will approach the answer to the question not from the point of view of scientific validity the usefulness of therapy, and from the point of view of a practicing psychologist, from the point of view of a certain experience of both mine and my colleagues. Psychotherapy is useful to those who: Are ready to work in the process. In my opinion, this is the most important condition. Without the desire to work in psychotherapy, nothing will happen. There must be a desire, there must be at least some impulse that provides the foundation for the success of therapy. If you don't want to work seriously, you don't have to come to a psychotherapist. He (if he is competent) obviously will not convince you that you need it. And he won’t persuade either. It’s tough, but it’s about reality. I’m ready to face the pain. What is meant here is not the absence of fear of the appearance of severe psychological pain and not the fact that it should be joyfully awaited. Meeting with the sick, difficult person inside is an important thing for working in long-term psychotherapy. Without it, again, nothing may work out, because here we work with the deepest thing that is in a person. Therefore, if you plan to leave as soon as it becomes difficult, it is better not to start, and not to waste money. Apparently, your time has not come yet. I am ready to reduce my resistance under certain circumstances. If during psychotherapy we are not flexible in some moments, we will hold on to our past, to some person, etc., etc. with all our hands. It is unlikely that any changes will occur in this case. After all, changes happen when we are seriously ready to change. We are ready to learn unexpected information about ourselves and the world. If you are not ready and want to stay in what is around you. Then psychotherapy is not for you. Psychotherapy, indeed, is not useful for everyone. This process requires awareness and requires a certain level of development. That is why it is better to know about these conditions in advance so as not to waste your precious time.© Maria Zalesskaya. All rights reserved