From the author: It is very difficult for a person who does not have a psychological education to navigate the ocean of psychological services. Trainings, consultations, therapy, analysis... Psychologists' websites are full of mysterious names of the methods they use. What to choose? So, I’ll try to sort out the differences in forms of psychological assistance. 1. Consulting. This is a type of psychological assistance in which the client is unclear about some life situation. A consultation with a psychologist helps to clarify the situation, identify those aspects of it that were not visible to the client, and, ultimately, form a more holistic vision of the problem, thanks to which it becomes possible to outline ways to solve it. The counseling format usually involves from 1 to 15 meetings. Consulting can be handled by a specialist qualified as a psychologist.2. Psychotherapy. Literally from Greek, psychotherapy is translated as “care for the soul.” This type of work is aimed at healing the soul, working through internal conflicts, difficult experiences, and traumas. This does not mean that psychotherapy is indicated only for mentally ill people. It is impossible to exist without trauma, and we all experience trauma in our lives. If there are sufficient resources, a person copes with trauma on his own. But if there are not enough resources and the trauma is not processed, it is built into character and life in such a way that it creates interference in adaptation, relationships with oneself, others, and the world. This usually happens if a person is still too small and his own capabilities are not enough, and the environment has failed to help him. And then psychotherapy can help. This is a long-term type of work. Although there are forms of short-term psychotherapy. But if the psyche has been using certain defenses for years, and they are suddenly hacked, it will do everything to get them back. Therefore, the result of short-term therapy is short-term. If you follow the internal pace and “dismantle” the defenses gently, gradually in an atmosphere of security and trust (which cannot be formed in 2-3 meetings), then the changes that occur turn out to be quite stable. There are different directions psychotherapies: psychoanalytic, analytical (Jungian) therapy, Gestalt, existential-humanistic, family, body-oriented - these are some of them. The question is often asked: which therapy to choose? I believe that you should choose not a therapy, but a therapist. We don't choose a hairdresser based on scissors. We are not even usually interested in what brand of scissors he uses. Because any scissors can work in the hands of a master. So it is here. The personality of the therapist works, and the method is a tool. Psychotherapy can be either individual or group. The duration of psychotherapeutic work is from six months to several years, depending on the nature of the injury and the level of organization of the client’s personality (neurotic, borderline, psychotic). Psychotherapy can carried out by a psychotherapist or psychologist who has additional retraining in one of the areas of psychotherapy, including mandatory personal therapy and supervision.3. Analysis. Classic Freudian or Jungian. Analysis is a separate type of psychological work. The most ambiguously perceived due to the incorrect interpretation of its purpose. It is often criticized for its duration, saying that the same results can be achieved in a shorter time. What a psychoanalyst has been treating for years can be removed in a few sessions. But, firstly, I wrote above about short-term work. And, secondly, the tasks of analysis are broader than the tasks of psychotherapy. This is a thorough study of yourself, your own motives that drive you through life. In addition to the psychotherapeutic task, it performs the task of self-knowledge, a qualitative change in life in general, and not the elimination of a specific symptom. If we spend 5 years at a university studying our specialty, why should we be surprised that we need to spend no less time studying ourselves? There are also psychoanalytic and.