From the author: from my blog, based on materials from the books of I. Mlodik A contract is about obligations, about responsibility, about boundaries and frameworks. Sharing responsibility." Gestalt proposed dividing responsibility equally: 50% to 50%. I am responsible for the process, for being here with the client with all the baggage of my knowledge, professional skills and human attention. You, as a client, are responsible for being here, being open to the process (...) and changes." And also for the willingness to formulate your request. The presence of responsibility presupposes that the psychologist cannot say “listen, I’m tired of raking over your problems - I have my mouth full too.” As a last resort, the psychologist can transfer the client to his colleague. Query You need to answer the question: what do I want from counseling? What results? You need to keep track of your request to avoid being disappointed. You need to ask questions, directions. Of course, if you do become disappointed, this can be a reason for discussion: how often in life do you do the same thing, what do you do in order to get disappointed? Time Time is what sets the framework for any counseling. There is a set time: an hour in a personal meeting or several days during online counseling. This time is given to the client, his life, his story. Time that he can manage. But it is defined, not unlimited. And the presence of a quick finality of the meeting pushes the client to use this time as efficiently as possible. Money Money actualizes the responsibility of both. In addition, they are a simple way to measure and reimburse the psychologist’s costs for this process. This frees the client from obligation; he does not feel obligated to somehow compensate the psychologist for his time and troubles. On the other hand, money is a kind of exchange of energy. I invest my mind, knowledge, strength and it is important for me that You give something important to You. Because after a person gives something, space is freed up for him to receive. Perhaps this is why energy begins to flow, circulate, and not stagnate in one place - with the client. Otherwise, there is a risk of de-energizing the psychologist and infantilizing the client. Result A result is something that a psychologist cannot guarantee. It is influenced by many different factors: a person’s internal subjectivity, his characteristics, motivation, relationships within the family system, the macrosystem of his external relationships, frequency of visits to a psychologist, etc. Therefore, the result (disappearance of a symptom, for example) is not a presumable given, depending only on the skills of the psychologist. The process depends on the psychologist to a much greater extent. And responsibility for the process is divided in half.* *Based on the books by I. Mlodik “Non-Guide to Child Psychotherapy” and “Where You Are Not Yet.” http://ekaterina-pushkareva.com