From the author: This article is intended for those who would like to see a psychologist, but are lost in the variety of psychological specialties that the modern market of psychological services offers. The article was written from the position of academic psychology, and, accordingly, from the position of schools and directions that are recognized in the world. You can find the original article on my website. Sincerely, Valentin Buganov, consulting psychologist, EATA member. How to choose a psychologist. Basic moments. I decided to write this article after I was asked to help select a psychologist. Without thinking twice, I figured out what and how. It turned out to be quite a detailed article. I hope it will help clients understand which specialist is right for them. When choosing a specialist, we can rely on the type of specialist, his specialty, cost and reviews. So, in order. Psychologist, psychotherapist or coach? I think many people know that in our country the concepts of psychologist and psychotherapist are often confused with psychiatrist. Recently, so-called coaches have become more common. Who are all these people? Well, for starters, a psychiatrist. A psychiatrist is a doctor who deals with psychiatry and serious pathologies such as paranoia, schizophrenia, delirium, and multiple personality syndrome. That is, such disorders and damage to the psyche in which contact with reality is partially or completely lost or there is a threat to the life of the patient or his environment. And they are accepted at the relevant institutions. Often, psychiatry methods have two directions - pathogenetic treatment (destruction and elimination of pathological mechanisms of the disease) and palliative treatment (smoothing, reducing or eliminating symptoms). The latter is used when it is impossible to identify or eliminate the causes of the disease. Psychotherapists and psychologists (consultants) deal with mental disorders such as neuroses and some borderline disorders. With such disorders, a person does not lose touch with reality. Moreover, with neuroses, a person is always aware that something may be wrong with him. They feel the border of “normality”. For borderline patients, this boundary is blurred and may shift in one direction or another, but they may well catch themselves thinking that something is wrong with them. In most cases, psychotherapy is aimed at eliminating the causes of the disease (the so-called etiotropic treatment). Psychologists also provide support in life crises, in post-traumatic situations, in personal and family problems, where there is no need for psychotherapy, but consultation with a specialist makes sense. The main difference between psychologists and psychotherapists in our country is education. For the first it is psychological, for the second it is medical. Psychotherapists, as a rule, are former psychiatrists who have received additional training. education. In most European countries, psychotherapists do not necessarily have a medical background; they can be social service employees who have received psychotherapeutic training. That is, Russian and European standards differ greatly in this regard. I would like to note separately that in our country not all psychologists are trained in psychotherapy, since there are many specializations of psychologists. For example, an educational psychologist (kindergarten psychologist) and a consultant psychologist have different training and focus. In any case, it makes sense to look at information about additional education, which, by the way, determines the direction of work of a particular specialist. For example, I have a basic diploma in the specialty "consulting psychologist", i.e. my diploma confirms that I have the skills of psychological counseling . But during the training process, we did not have a clear division in modalities (psychoanalysis, Gestalt therapy, transactional analysis, etc.) and specific specialization (developmental psychology, family psychology, psychosomatic diseases, etc.). This is due to the fact that training in a specific modality and in a specific direction involves many years of practice, personal therapy andsupervision. Therefore, further education of a practicing psychologist occurs after the diploma, in the process of work and in fact never stops. In my case, this is training within the school of transactional analysis. In general, the same as in medicine, with the only difference that the psychologist provides himself with practice. I would like to make special mention of certification. Psychologist certifications may vary depending on the organization that issues them. For example, one organization can issue them only for the fact of training, in others, obtaining a certificate implies many years of successful practice, general psychological education, highly specialized many years of training in a specific area with corresponding hours of personal psychotherapy and supervision. The latter is typical for serious international organizations and refers to international certificates. Coaches are, as a rule, also psychologists, but their activities are aimed at achieving specific indicators. The concept of “coach” is more of a business term, but recently leaders of personal growth groups have been called coaches (not to be confused with specialists leading group therapy). Accordingly, coaches do not touch the deep layers of the psyche, since their task is teaching. Thus, if you want to improve, say, your communication skills with the opposite sex or learn how to quickly get in touch with your business partners in a relatively short time, a coach is what you need. Specialization As in any profession, in psychology, as experience increases, specialization narrows, and, as a consequence, the range of problems with which the psychologist works. Moreover, work in some areas requires separate specialization, i.e. additional education. Some specializations work well together. For example, a family therapist can successfully work on psychosomatic problems, because while family and psychosomatic problems are externally different, their causes are usually related. At the same time, working with children and working with adults require completely different skills. For example, the same family psychologist can help in solving “children’s” problems, but he will work directly with parents. Psychologists are specialists in addictions. This requires not only a separate specialization, but also work in tandem with a narcologist. Even within the same school, specialists can study differently. For example, I studied in the direction of “transactional analysis in clinical psychology and psychotherapy,” and in parallel there was always a special group “transactional analysis in addiction medicine” for future narcologists and clinical psychologists in addiction. The school of psychologist also influences the specialization. There are schools with a wide profile, the same TA, which is used in clinical psychology, and in family therapy, and even in business consulting. There are highly specialized ones, for example, systemic family psychology or hypnotherapy. I’ll make a reservation that by narrow specialization I mean the number of areas of work, and not specific diseases and problems. In our country you can meet such interesting “psychologists” as tarot readers, Vedic psychologists and even astrologers. They have nothing to do with academic psychology with all the consequences. They are also found among certified psychologists, but only because of the peculiarities of the laws of the Russian Federation in the provision of services and the characteristics of the Russian market of psychological services. Cost of services The cost of services also carries information, since the cost of any service is not taken from the head, but is the sum of several components. In the case of a psychologist, I would highlight the following points: First, the personal contribution of the client. The experience that a person receives in the office should not be devalued. The price of the consultation should be meaningful to the client. And any qualified psychologist knows this. Secondly, to ensure the quality of their work, psychologists and psychotherapists must constantly undergo their own psychotherapy, because the therapist’s own unresolved problems can negatively.