It's no secret that in the West, visiting a personal psychologist (psychotherapist) is the norm. Psychologists have become an integral part of the healthcare system, since scientific research has confirmed that mental problems affect a person’s physical health. But in Russia they more often resort to the “help” of “everyday psychologists” - girlfriends, friends, relatives, etc., without realizing that such methods in reality interfere with coping with difficulties. Why is this so? In Russia there are a lot of stereotypes and myths associated with psychologists. For example, that psychologists themselves are all losers or “crazy”, or, on the contrary, the opinion that “I’m not crazy, why do I need a psychologist”, some confuse psychologists and psychics. I often hear from acquaintances and friends the phrase “Well, what can I do?” can a psychologist help? What will he advise me that I myself don’t know?” In fact, every client knows the reason for his difficulties better than any psychologist. Therefore, a psychologist will never give you advice. It will help you find the key to the question “What to do?” Professional tasks of a psychologist: To provide the opportunity for proper emotional release. To teach you to understand and correctly express your feelings. To diagnose the cause of your problems (sometimes, even if it seems that there are a huge number of problems, and they are all so different, they are based on one single psychological problem, preventing you from living a full life). Share the necessary knowledge to understand the cause of this problem. Formulate new rules of behavior with you and work them out in consultations. It should be remembered: a good specialist psychologist is normal, adequate, works only with mentally healthy people (if he does not have additional specialization in the field of pathopsychology), does not have top-secret abilities, always acts within the framework of his competence and DOES NOT GIVE ADVICE! But he can give recommendations. Why doesn't a psychologist give advice? How does a recommendation differ from advice? Advice comes from an individual, the person himself, based on his life experience (including his stereotypes and complexes) Always has an emotional overtones! Recommendation is given on the basis of scientific knowledge, confirmed by research, and does not depend on the personal experience of a specialist. It should be remembered: the responsibility for solving your problem is distributed between you and the psychologist 70% to 30%. Yours is 70% of the responsibility. And 30% is the responsibility of the psychologist. If you feel the need for change, it is difficult for you to live the way you want, seek help from a professional psychologist.