Who is a psychotherapist
A psychotherapist is a specialist who restores a person’s mental balance through psychotherapy, that is, through various methods, the main tool of which is conversation.
A person with a higher education in the field of medicine or psychology has the right to engage in psychotherapeutic practice, who, moreover, must undergo special training in the chosen area of psychotherapy. Short-term, monthly courses give reason to think about the qualifications of such a specialist. As a rule, training should last at least a year. In this case, the psychotherapist is required to have a certain number of client hours, that is, he himself undergo psychotherapeutic consultation in his field and a set number of hours of medical practice. It is necessary to have an appropriate license confirming the right to carry out this activity.
All these rules ensure the legality of the work of such a specialist. Each patient has the right to request that he provide such information in documentary form.
Unlike a psychologist, a psychotherapist has the authority to make a diagnosis and prescribe treatment. Like a psychiatrist, he has the right, along with psychotherapy, to provide medication treatment.
Psychologist
As is obvious from the brief preface to the article, the psychologist deals with mentally healthy people. Consultations with a psychologist are also useful for mild disorders listed above. When conducting a consultation with a psychologist, the focus is on your mental mechanisms (beliefs, values, emotions, etc.), which can create all sorts of difficulties.
The difference with a psychiatrist can be seen not only in who applies, but also in how the work happens. In most cases, work with a psychologist is done verbally (dialogue or directed monologue) without the use of medications. The main task, regardless of the method, is to recognize and resolve internal contradictions that lead to difficulties.
Accordingly, a psychologist helps solve his range of problems: improving relationships, strengthening adaptation, the ability to manage oneself, developing various skills, testing (assessing various mental properties using professional techniques), overcoming complexes, personal growth, and the like. We can say that a psychologist helps to understand the issues of everyday life and develop one’s capabilities.
Authority
A specialist in this profile helps in the rehabilitation of patients with severe mental disorders. Of course, the acute period of the disease is controlled by a psychiatrist with the help of medications, but in the future, consultations with a psychotherapist help such people:
- reduce the manifestation of negative and positive symptoms of psychosis;
- increase self-esteem;
- organize the correct attitude towards treatment, convince the patient to take psychotropic drugs;
- improve social skills;
- increase stress resistance;
- reduce anxiety and fear.
As a rule, consultations with a psychotherapist are prescribed by the patient’s attending psychiatrist. A specialist will help you cope with diseases such as schizophrenia and other types of psychoses, bipolar disorder, dementia, etc.
The psychotherapist also treats mild to moderate mental disorders. These, for example, include depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, neurosis, panic attacks, and anxiety disorders. A specialist of this kind helps to get rid of addictions.
You should make an appointment with a psychotherapist in the following cases:
- apathy, lack of desire for activity. I want to sleep all the time, getting out of bed in the morning becomes more and more difficult. Even basic actions are difficult;
- chronic fatigue, decreased performance;
- change of mood background. A person loses interest in things that previously attracted his attention, minimizes communication with others, becomes unsociable, withdrawn;
- a sharp polar change in mood - from decadent to over-excited;
- decreased self-esteem;
- the appearance of new, atypical bodily sensations;
- frequent emotional outbursts, tearfulness, aggressiveness or irritability;
- sleep problems;
- absentmindedness;
- causeless panic attacks that can occur at night;
- overeating or complete lack of appetite;
- self-injury, suicidal thoughts and attempts;
- obsession with certain thoughts and actions.
People also turn to a psychotherapist without a diagnosis, when they are in difficult life circumstances, they have a feeling of a dead end from which there is no way out. A person cannot find peace of mind, and understands that he cannot cope on his own.
But in such cases, you should not think that the doctor will give you specific advice on what to do in a given situation. A psychotherapist is not an adviser. This is a specialist who will help you get to know yourself better, reveal to you what you had no idea about before, and tell you about other models of behavior. And you, relying on new knowledge, will be able to find answers to your questions yourself and make the right decision.
As Ryan Howes, a professor of psychology, says, you go to a therapist not to give him power over you, but to gain power over yourself.
Who should I turn to for help?
To understand exactly what the difference is between a psychiatrist, psychologist and psychotherapist, let’s present the competence of these specialists in a table.
| Speciality | When to contact |
| Psychiatrist | For serious mental illnesses, mental disorders due to alcoholism, drug addiction, traumatic brain injury, stroke, poisoning. The patient may also be referred to a doctor after a suicide attempt. |
| Psychologist | For personal problems, dissatisfaction with work and life, for conducting trainings, psychological testing. |
| Psychotherapist | For psychosomatic pathologies - depressive states, stress, neurasthenia, stuttering, enuresis, increased anxiety and obsessive fear, panic attacks, nervous breakdown. |
If you understand how a psychologist differs from a psychiatrist and psychotherapist, you can not only understand the difference between these specialties, but also choose exactly the doctor who is needed at the moment. The main thing is not to delay visiting a specialist, because timely treatment begins significantly increases the chance of recovery.
How to get an appointment with a psychotherapist
In OS
Newly, psychotherapeutic assistance is paid. If you decide to seek such a service at a clinic, you will most likely be referred to a psychiatrist.
Free psychotherapist services are indicated for patients in psychiatric hospitals. In this case, their attending physician, if necessary, prescribes a course of psychotherapy, in which case the patient undergoes it at the hospital.
Another option to get help from a psychotherapist for free is to contact the appropriate institute. Institutions that teach psychotherapy are assigned free programs to provide such assistance. But your meeting with a specialist will not take place in private: students will observe his work, but the confidentiality policy will remain the same.
The state also organizes free psychological support centers for children, adolescents, women and families.
In most cases, if you want to see a psychotherapist on your own, you can get such support from a private specialist. To do this, you should call a psychotherapy clinic and make an appointment.
Highly qualified specialists of this profile are accepted, for example, at the Moscow City Psychoendocrinological Center.
A sufficient number of people postpone their visit to a specialist, even if they need it, because of the cost of the issue. On average, the cost of 1 psychotherapy session is 2,000 rubles, in some cases it reaches 6,000 rubles. Thus, getting rid of various phobias, which lasts about 10 sessions, will cost the client from 20 to 60,000 rubles.
This price is due to several factors. A psychotherapist is a specialist who has undergone lengthy and expensive training. He shares his professionalism, experience and knowledge with clients. In addition, in order to maintain the level of his qualifications, a specialist must systematically attend paid courses, seminars, and conferences. Therefore, the payment for his work is appropriate. She takes the relationship between the client and the therapist to another level, insisting on the determination and seriousness of the intentions of both individuals.
Treatment regimen and how important it is to follow it
Treatment with a psychotherapist can be divided into several stages that complement each other:
- Taking medications;
- Psychotherapy sessions;
- Establishing a proper daily routine;
- Nutrition correction and diet setting.
The key to successful treatment is the presence of a trusting relationship between the patient and the doctor.
The patient also needs to strictly observe and fulfill all the doctor’s prescriptions and instructions. Otherwise, all efforts will be in vain. The joint work of a psychotherapist and a psychologist can increase the chances of success.
At the doctor
For psychotherapy to be successful and bear fruit, it is very important to find the right specialist. That is, one that is right for you. Even if you turn to a highly qualified, first-class, most famous psychotherapist in the city, it is not a fact that he will be able to help you.
For fruitful work, a trusting, special relationship must be established between the psychotherapist and the client. The client must feel respected, understood and accepted for who he is.
In this regard, it is worth understanding that psychotherapy is not a one-way process. Some people believe that when they come to a session, nothing else is required of them, that the therapist will look straight into their soul, tell them everything as it is and heal them forever.
But the fact is that this is not a psychic, and if the client takes a passive position, then it is unlikely that anything will come of it. He must also make an effort and work on himself.
It sounds a little paradoxical: how can you completely trust a person you see for the first time in your life? Therefore, the work begins with an acquaintance between the psychotherapist and the patient. The specialist asks about the life of his ward, his interests, etc. Such an acquaintance can last for 3 sessions.
As already mentioned, it is important that a person feels comfortable working with a particular specialist, can open up to him, and tell his most intimate things. If this does not happen, then the client has the right to change the doctor.
The psychotherapist also has the right to refuse his patient if he understands that he cannot help in this situation. But at the same time he will recommend one of his colleagues.
It’s sad when charlatans come across on a person’s path to a bright future. These can be recognized by certain signs:
- phrases like “this is normal, it happens to everyone”, “time heals”, “it will pass soon”;
- gives specific advice for solving a particular situation;
- promises a quick cure;
- when asked what method he uses, he says that he has his own methodology;
- evaluates your actions and criticizes.
A qualified psychotherapist does not give advice, does not push for any decision, or evaluates actions. It helps a person understand his problems, analyze them and find a way out of the current situation.
At the first meeting, a kind of contract is concluded between the client and the doctor - an oral agreement on the nuances of therapy. The number of sessions is discussed (at least ten), how many times a week meetings will take place (usually they occur twice a week, and there is no point in meeting less frequently so as not to disrupt the process). More frequent consultations are established in case of urgent need.
How does a psychotherapist work?
The methods of work of a psychotherapist depend on which school he represents.
- Psychoanalysis. A psychoanalyst works with a person's unconscious. He helps him understand his unconscious attitudes that interfere with his life. The specialist carries out this process using special techniques, for example, free associations. The patient speaks out all the thoughts that are swarming in his head, and the specialist analyzes them and tries to find pitfalls.
- Analytical psychology. The psychotherapist works with the client through symbols, images, and associations.
- Psychodrama. The doctor and the client play out the situation, during which the person gets the opportunity to take actions that he cannot do in real life, experience emotions, and confront personal conflicts.
- Gestalt therapy. The doctor helps a person realize his own “I” and live in harmony with himself.
- Existential therapy. During the conversation, the client comes to understand his position in life, he learns to be in harmony with life, despite all the troubles.
- Neurolinguistic programming. The patient is taught certain behavioral strategies, during which he analyzes past actions and learns to develop new rules of behavior.
There are many more areas in which a psychotherapist works:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy;
- transactional analysis;
- Ericksonian hypnosis;
- client-centered therapy;
- body-oriented therapy, etc.
Each of these areas involves the use of a certain method of influencing the client.
The main tool of a psychotherapist is conversation. It performs several functions at once.
With its help, the psychotherapist establishes contact with his ward, collects information and conducts diagnostics. Often people turn to a specialist with their own clearly formulated understanding of the problem. The doctor’s task is to find out them and explain to the person the real state of affairs during a conversation and history taking.
A psychotherapeutic conversation allows you to evaluate the success of therapy and summarize its results.
All of these are general aspects that make it possible to carry out a conversation in any type of psychotherapy. But in a number of areas it is the main method of psychotherapeutic influence. These include, for example, psychoanalysis and client-centered therapy.
Hypnosis is another method of influence of a psychotherapist, which suppresses the client’s will and increases the degree of his suggestibility. With its help, you can rid a person of a phobia, improve sleep, and relieve anxiety. But, in most cases, it eliminates the symptoms, not the cause, which is why its scope is quite limited.
Coding is also a method of suggestion that allows a psychotherapist to rid a person of all kinds of addictions.
Other ways a doctor influences a patient’s personality include NLP, role-playing games, dance, art therapy, etc.
A psychotherapist can work with different categories of clients. Thus, there is an individual therapist who works with one client, as well as a group and family therapist.
A group psychotherapist, as you might guess, works with a whole group of clients. At the same time, during sessions he can act in different roles. The most common of them are:
- leader, when the therapist dominates the participants in the process. Guides them, evaluates their actions, expresses support or criticizes;
- analyst – passive position. At first glance, the therapist stands aside and allows the group to behave and say what they want. During the process, he analyzes everything each participant said and then explains to them their subconscious motives. In subsequent sessions, participants themselves become involved in such analysis. Determine what is worth discussing and what is not;
- the expert directs the group in the right direction, from time to time suggests what needs to be done, and turns the conversation in the right direction. He offers to play out a situation and pushes passive participants to action.
It is believed that those specialists who, one way or another, intervene in the life of the group are more effective for psychotherapeutic practice.
A family therapist provides support to couples who live in a registered or civil marriage, and also corrects the relationship between parents and children.
Ethical aspect
There are generally established and legalized rules that a psychotherapist must support in his work.
The main one is, of course, confidentiality. The therapist has no right to take anything said by the client outside the office. The exceptions are cases of confession of committing murder or the existence of a threat to someone's life. If confidentiality was violated without reason, the client has the right to go to court.
By the way: an experienced specialist, if you meet him in a public place, will never greet you first. And your appearance will not show in any way that you know each other. He will only respond to you if you contact him first.
Other rules of conduct for a psychotherapist include respect for the person of the ward and his rights, and an unbiased attitude to the process. Here are the principles of competence, that is, increasing your professionalism and using exclusively scientifically based methods, honesty and responsibility in your work.
