Good afternoon! In the professional environment of fellow psychologists, I come across 2 points of view. Some argue that in professional activities a psychologist should adhere to one particular school of psychotherapy. The argument is usually that each school of psychotherapy is a whole complex that includes a certain theory about how the human psyche works, how psychological problems arise, in other words, a set of ideas, as well as a set of techniques and tools for solving problems. And the method must be used comprehensively, and it is not correct to use techniques taken out of the general concept, much less it is correct to use a mixture of techniques from different schools, this will not give the desired effect. Others argue that it is not the idea that is important in the first place, but the person himself. Therefore, diagnostic tools and techniques from different schools of psychotherapy are selected for each individual person. But using only one approach in modern psychotherapeutic activity is not enough. And both of these approaches have the right to exist. Just as, for example, in physics there is no unified field theory that would describe all processes with one equation or one system of equations, so in psychology there is no unified theory of personality and no unified theory of the emergence of psychological problems. Just like in other branches of science: Euclid’s geometry and Lobachevsky’s geometry, Beitz’s theory and Helmholtz’s theory in ophthalmology, Moscow and St. Petersburg schools of psychiatry, etc. It is not correct to say that Gestalt is better or worse than CBT. A. Beck, A. Ellis and F. Perls were psychoanalysts before they created their theories. And then each method underwent its own metamorphoses and has millions of followers, like all other methods. Each method is good for solving its own problems. In my opinion, the shortcomings of individual methods are a consequence of the lack of a unified theory of personality and a unified theory of the psyche. And the absence of this theory is a consequence of insufficient knowledge of the human brain at the time of the emergence of the corresponding approach in psychotherapy. There are certain ranges of problems for which there are good models that describe these problems and are well solved by the techniques of the corresponding method, but poorly solved by other methods. And personally, I don’t see anything wrong with following the standard set of CBT techniques and organically incorporating Gestalt or other methods at the right moments. Separately, I would like to talk about our domestic St. Petersburg school of psychotherapy, which today is called person-oriented (reconstructive) psychotherapy. It was founded by V.N. Myasishchev, relies on Myasishchev’s theory of relationships as a model of personality. It was created for a specific task: correction of neurotic disorders. It was developed under the leadership of B.D. Karvasarsky. The main idea is a therapeutic relationship in which the therapist enters as a healthy part of the patient's personality and is the support on which the personality is reconstructed. This is the basis on which techniques that help change in three areas are perfectly laid: emotional, cognitive and behavioral. In this case, it is a corrective emotional experience, confrontation as a way of changing thinking, as well as changing behavior to the point of being non-neurotic. And this is a good example of how the above-described shortcomings are solved. The general theory harmoniously combines various techniques to solve a specific problem. Modern science has stepped far forward, the brain today has been studied much better than several decades ago, and in the future a unified theory of the human psyche will be discovered and appropriate methods of assistance and correction will be developed. In the meantime, in my opinion, the solution lies in narrowing the range of problems that a specialist solves. My consultations and arrangements: sign up My channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjPBVpDDd4-xXB9avgm6pWA/featured?view_as=subscriber My book "Neuroses. Express course" hereInternet course