From the author: Faced with the problem of finding various specialists, I thought about how difficult it is to choose your own among the huge number of psychologists :). For those people for whom the problem of finding a specialist in the field of psychology is relevant, this article was written. Its goal is to help you navigate what criteria to focus on when looking for a psychotherapist. When you decide to go to a psychologist or psychotherapist, you are faced with a difficult choice. Where to begin? What criteria should you focus on if you don’t understand anything about psychology, and there are no people in your circle of friends who are ready to provide you with psychological education. You, of course, want to find a professional who will help you1. Quality How can you make sure the quality is guaranteed? When you come to a store and buy a low-quality product, you can later return it and get your money back. What to do if a psychologist is not suitable for you or you think that he is not professional enough? Before you decide to contact a specialist, you should familiarize yourself with the psychologist’s resume, his diplomas, check the institutes in which he received his education, and find out whether he continues to improve as a professional. A psychologist is a specialty that requires constant professional growth. In addition, when you come to a psychologist’s office for the first time, after the consultation time has passed, it will be clear to you whether you got something from the meeting or whether the time was wasted. Of course, the effectiveness of your work depends on you too, and it makes sense at the first meeting to discuss the goals of the work, the criteria for assessing the effectiveness of psychotherapy, and decide how much time you will need the minimum to achieve your goals.2. Fast But! Think for yourself, if you want, for example, to lose weight, then you understand that this is a process that takes time. Also the psyche. There are no such techniques, such advice, such psychologists who will help you immediately, after the first or second visit. It takes time to rebuild something in your own soul. The first few meetings, unfortunately, are necessary for diagnosis, in order to get to know each other, so that the psychologist can orientate himself in your life situation, in your personal characteristics. Agree, you also need time to start trusting. When you come, for example, to a doctor, and know that you will have to tell something about yourself, sometimes you hide and hush up some information, simply because you don’t trust it too much. There are other criteria. When choosing a psychologist, you choose a person to whom you will presumably tell about some unpleasant events, difficult situations, difficult experiences, and it would be good to do this to a person you like) 3. Therefore, I think that it is important that you simply like the psychologist, so that you initially felt sympathy for him as a person). Think about whom it would be easier for you to tell the problem with which you are planning to contact a psychologist, a man or a woman, a peer or an older person, whether religion or any other personal characteristics of a person are important to you.4. And personally, I like it when it’s convenient for me, choose a psychologist who is easy for you to get to and whom you can afford financially. Prices in the near Moscow region are slightly lower than in Moscow; well-known psychologists are more expensive than beginners or “unpromoted” specialists. By turning to a less popular specialist, you have the opportunity to get a quality service for less money. Don’t be afraid to experiment; sometimes you have to search before you find the person with whom you are ready to solve your problems. Trust your own intuition, and your psychologist will definitely meet you on your life path)