Types of psychology, various branches of a single science. Scientific and everyday psychology
Consultative psychology deals with a systematic description of the process of providing psychological assistance. Providing psychological assistance in one form or another is a consultative practice.
According to the results of psychological research, the word “help” in people’s minds is primarily associated with support, care, compassion, and understanding, which are necessary for every person, regardless of the specifics of the problem being solved. Psychological support in counseling psychology is expressed through a positive attitude, that is, through identifying the positive aspects and resources of a person.
Psychological assistance is providing a person with support, as well as providing a person with information about his mental state and active targeted psychological influence on the individual in order to harmonize his mental life, adapt to the social environment, relieve psychopathological symptoms and reconstruct the personality for the formation of frustration tolerance, stress and neurosis resistance.
The following main ones are distinguished forms of psychological assistance:
1. Psychological consultation.
2. Psychological correction.
3. Psychotherapy.
There is a problem of distinguishing between the main forms of psychological assistance. The criteria are:
· The degree of influence on another person. In psychological counseling, the impact is minimal. Psychotherapy is characterized by maximum impact on the client.
· Contingent with whom the psychologist works. Most researchers believe that:
– psychoconsulting and psychocorrection work with healthy people;
– psychotherapy (especially clinical) corresponds to a contingent that goes beyond the norm and has pathological conditions.
In domestic psychology there are:
Psychotherapy :
1) clinically oriented – the subject is a psychotherapist. The object is the patient. The goal is to eliminate symptoms;
2) person-oriented – the subject is a doctor, psychologist, social worker. The object is a sick or healthy client. The goal is personal or interpersonal change.
3) Non-medical psychotherapy. The subject is a psychologist, the object is a client. The goal is to optimize relationships.
4) Psychological correction. Some believe that the subject should be a doctor, others a psychologist. The object can be both the client and the patient. The goal is to correct certain disorders and normalize mental activity.
Psychocorrection is distinguished:
– short-term;
– medium-term – up to 15 meetings;
– long-term – several years.
5) Psychological consultation. The subject is a counseling psychologist and social worker. Object – client, family, group. The goal is adaptation to life by activating life resources.
Psychotherapy literally translated means “healing the soul.” Originated in medicine. Psychotherapy is a system of medical and psychological means used by a doctor in the treatment of various diseases.
Psychocorrection– a set of psychological techniques used by a psychologist to correct shortcomings in the psychology or behavior of a mentally healthy person. Very often it is carried out either as prevention of mental illness, or as rehabilitation.
Psychological counseling– a set of procedures aimed at helping a person solve problems and make decisions regarding marriage, family, career, personal improvement and interpersonal relationships.
Psychological help- a set of measures aimed at assisting citizens in preventing, resolving psychological problems, overcoming the consequences of crisis situations, including by activating citizens’ own capabilities for independent prevention, resolving emerging psychological problems, overcoming the consequences of crisis situations and creating the necessary conditions for this, to inform citizens about the causes of psychological problems and ways and means of preventing and resolving them, for the development of personality, its self-improvement and self-realization.
Types of psychological assistance
· Psychoprophylaxis (prevention).
· Psychological education (in counseling, in psychoprophylaxis - lectures, seminars) one of the leading experts in this field was Adler.
· Psychodiagnostics (identification of problems and other psychological indicators).
· Psychological counseling (psychological assistance to people who are within the psychological norm in adaptation, development and expansion of personal potential).
· Psychotherapy (aimed at solving deep-seated personal problems and profound transformation of personality), can be clinical and non-clinical.
· Psychiatry (a medical type of care, the use of medications, or humanistic psychiatry, which views a person not as a patient, but as a person with a different worldview, uses medications to a limited extent, and therefore follows the psychotherapeutic path).
· Psychocorrection (restoration of the norm, both in terms of the emotional state and in terms of personality traits).
The types of psychological assistance cannot be strictly separated. There are areas of overlap. The criterion is who provides assistance (difference in education), with whom the specialist works with the client or patient (the criterion of the norm is adaptation), what helps (the use of medications, psychotherapeutic, counseling techniques).
The process of psychological assistance: duration, stages, position of the psychologist.
First meeting
The process of psychological assistance begins with a meeting.
In living the first meeting with a client, there is literally not a single detail that is not important for the successful implementation of the first contact: from facial expression, gaze, intonation and distance to the client (optimal - 1.5 m) to introducing the client into the semantics of advisory and psychotherapeutic work. Of course, all subsequent psychological work cannot be determined by the first meeting, and the experience of psychological assistance as retraining, education or psychotherapy goes through several stages, but in advisory work, in particular, the matter may be limited to one single conversation. This is why initial contact is so important.
What is necessary and desirable for the successful implementation of the first consultative conversation?
Information. In principle, it is desirable (as the practice of consulting work in many countries shows) that before the first meeting, for example, when making an appointment for a consultation, the client provides orienting formal information about himself in approximately the following volume: first and last name, age, profession and education, family status, who referred, whether he has experience communicating with a psychiatrist or psychologist. The presence of such formal information frees up the working time of the psychologist and the client for meaningful work.
Psychodiagnostic examination. In some cases (professional consultation or other situation requiring non-medical psychotherapy), preliminary personal diagnosis is useful. This makes it easier to navigate the client’s personal characteristics and condition. If the examination is carried out before a consultative conversation, it is better that it is conducted not by the consulting psychologist himself, but by his employees or colleagues.
What is undesirable and contraindicated for a successful first meeting?
It is undesirable to burden yourself with information about the client’s personality and life that does not come from him personally. It is undesirable to: argue with the client, refute his statements (this does not mean, of course, that the psychologist is obliged to agree with the client in everything, share his misconceptions or obvious prejudices, but to actively counteract them from the spot is unprofessional); praise the client or give reassurance for no apparent reason; make false promises; interpret his behavior or evaluate his actions and actions; ask the client additional questions about aspects of life or problems to which he is especially sensitive; convince the client of the need to work with you or another psychologist; support the client in his attacks on other persons (parents, children, spouse, other professional, etc.). In addition, trends in the perception of psychologists + consultants should be taken into account. From psychological research, at least the following features of clients’ perception of psychologists + consultants are known:
physically attractive psychologists are perceived more positively than unattractive ones; the same psychologists are perceived differently depending on what problem the client comes with - personal or social (loss of job, professional consultation); people are more inclined to rely on those professionals whose sociocultural values (religious, ideological) do not diverge from their own; people differ in their assessments of the degree to which a psychologist corresponds to social norms of well-being and status accepted in society (marital status, compliance with the “face of the profession,” the degree of visible well-being, etc.). These and many other circumstances, not to mention reputation and authority, play a role in holding the first meeting.
Let us now move on to the description of the actual advisory conversation. . Let's start with a definition. Consultative conversation is one of the main methods of providing psychological assistance. Going back to the sociological survey technique called “in-depth interview”, a consultative conversation is a person-oriented communication in which the client’s personal characteristics and problems are oriented, a partnership style of relationship is established and maintained (on an equal basis), and the required psychological assistance is provided in accordance with needs, issues and nature of advisory work. The advisory conversation, depending on the stage of work, can be initial, procedural, final and supportive. The objectives of the initial advisory conversation include: placing the client at ease and relieving tension; establishing contact; encouraging discussion of issues and identifying (if necessary) temporary and other opportunities for the client to work together; provision of information; establishing working (collaborative, partnership) relationships with the client - what is called “working contact”; encouraging self-understanding, own activity and responsibility; setting realistic expectations for working together. One of the most difficult tasks is to encourage the client to talk about himself and his problems. Even if the client has confidence in the consultant and does not feel any interpersonal barriers, psychological defenses can come into play by activating resistance, especially when the person is concerned about very personal, sometimes intimate problems. If, moreover, the person did not seek help himself, but was referred by another specialist, a teacher, or, most often, acquaintances or parents, resistance often poses a significant difficulty for the consultant. It is clear, among other things, that not a single person, no matter what age he is, will come to another, stranger, without any particular reason, just like that, “heart to heart”, to talk about topics that cannot always be opened not only to a close friend, but also to himself. Speaking out, recognizing the subjective barriers that the client had to overcome, expressing respect and a positive, understanding attitude in this regard is one of the possible keys to reducing resistance. Questions related to the client’s condition and his sense of self in a counseling setting also help relieve tension. The main initial task of a consulting psychologist is to serve as a catalyst, a “facilitator” of the communication process. It is extremely important to feel a person, to grasp his needs and experiences, and to deliberately demonstrate his needs and problems. No wonder Freud said that “a person’s secret oozes through the pores of his skin.” Although the client may not directly say what worries him most (in fact, sometimes he is not aware of his real problems), even the first meeting provides rich material for understanding the personality, probable problems and real, albeit hidden needs of the client.
Completion of the first consultation conversation- is no less important than its beginning. The criteria for the positive completion of the first meeting are so important that in modern literature they are identified as the basis for preference in choosing a psychologist and psychotherapist. Practice shows that it is the last minutes of the first meeting that can cause a feeling of discomfort in both the consultant and the counselee. The main reason for the feeling of disappointment, the feeling of being misunderstood or being treated in the wrong way most often - with all the parameters being equal and professionally impeccable - is the feeling of incompleteness of the situation. In fact, from a doctor the patient receives a referral for analysis or a prescription, from a lawyer - advice and guidance for action, and from a psychologist - disappointed expectations: not only did they not write out a prescription, but did not even give advice... Therefore, a very significant point is precisely verbal, signified completion of a meeting and conversation with the potential incompleteness of a given situation.
Here are some key closing remarks:
Unfortunately, our time is up for today. Our next meeting, as we said, could take place on Tuesday at 14:00. If you make a final decision about our joint work in the scope that we have outlined, please
call me the day before.
Well, today we managed, if not completely, then at least in part, to see what is happening to you. I hope our future work will deepen the process. So, until Tuesday?
Today we talked about so much... And, you know, it seems to me that even more remains unspoken. If you really decide to deal with this situation and yourself, I will wait for your call until the end of the week in order to more accurately determine the date and schedule of our work.
The first meeting, the first advisory conversation introduces the client into the context of psychological assistance as specific in content and goals of psychosocial practice. Of course, it is far from exhaustive and cannot even partially cover the entire complex repertoire of psychotechniques that a psychologist uses, depending on the client’s problems, the intensity and nature of psychological assistance and one’s own preferences. The techniques of advisory and psychotherapeutic work will be discussed in detail in the following sections, which provide a detailed analysis of the psychological paradigms used in the practice of psychological assistance. Now, according to the logic of the presentation, we will characterize the basic communication techniques, the mastery of which is required during any, especially the first, advisory conversation, and we will explain some working and procedural aspects related to the situation of psychological assistance itself.
COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES
IN ADVISORY CONVERSATION AND ETIQUETTE
It is well known that the less experienced the consultant, the more important communication techniques are for him. This is understandable: techniques and techniques allow you to avoid feelings of uncertainty, “step away” from the client behind technical techniques sanctioned by the authority of science and practice, and resort to them in situations where the course of things is not entirely clear or when adherence to the chosen paradigm instills the idea that “ everything is going as it should”, about the controllability of the process, etc. At the same time, as they delve deeper into the practice of psychological assistance, a psychologist, consultant or psychotherapist, for whom the well-being of the client, the content and assessment of the results of activities, and their own experience begin to acquire greater importance than the initially chosen method of work or the preferred paradigm, may discover that despite , for example, in response to the requirement of an unconditionally positive attitude towards the client in the Rogerian tradition, to which they have always been faithful, this particular client does not in any way evoke positive feelings, but even vice versa. Or a psychologist who prefers transpersonal psychology, in particular psychosynthesis, discovers that in a particular case the concept of “subpersonalities” does not work, because emotional trauma captures the whole person, his entire personality, and not individual aspects. In such cases, the resulting cognitive dissonance leads to the fact that the individual style and experience of the professional ultimately wins out. And most often - a certain generalized invariant containing communicative techniques and techniques of a universal nature. Let's name the most common and most often provoked communication techniques in a situation of a first meeting.
Silence . Although silence, more or less long pauses, sometimes painful for an inexperienced specialist, seem at first to be an almost insurmountable obstacle, in fact it is one of the most important techniques in the process of providing psychological assistance. You need to be able to comprehend it, you need to master it. The meaning of silence can be different: a sign of resistance, a sign of introspection, an expression of despair and hopelessness, or, conversely, the eve of insight. To recognize the psychological and symbolic face of silence, and to use it more effectively, is a great art. The most common methods of responding in a situation of silence: nodding, repeating the last words (one's own or the client's), rephrasing the last statement (one's own or the client's); if the client continues to remain silent, help him express his state: “It’s difficult for you to speak now”; “You may not know how to react to this” or “This may have upset you.” As a last resort, if the silence continues, the consultant is obliged to respect the client's behavior and accept it as a given.
Epic Listening . The consultant listens carefully to the client, non-verbally or verbally expressing his adherence to the client’s thoughts and feelings, at times almost imperceptibly with a look, word, verbalization, encouraging the client to a deeper expression of himself and to self-disclosure. The basic rule of empathic listening (i.e., the receiver telling that the listener is experiencing the same feelings as the speaker) is not to sympathize, but to empathize, creating an emotional resonance with the client’s experiences.
Clarification . The technique is aimed at revealing the meaning (motivational, target, operational) for both the consultant and the client of his own actions. Helps to track the ambivalence of feelings and relationships, the characteristics of the defense mechanisms used, thinking, etc.
Client. I feel bad. It's just bad, that's all.
Psychologist. Perhaps some sensation makes you focus especially strongly on this particular wording?
Client. Don't know.
Psychologist. Now, when you say “I don’t know,” are you really just “don’t know,” or are there other feelings present?
Client: You see, it’s so hard to talk about this... When my soul hurts, when I understand that no one can help... (cries).
Reflexive verbalization . Refers to varieties of verbalizations, the purpose of which is to enhance the emotional and semantic resonance of the client’s statements. It is not of an intellectual nature, as in methodology, but rather of an emotional nature, which distinguishes a reflexive paraphrase from an interpretation. The content of reflexive verbalization reflects not the motivational-causal, but the emotional-modal layer of statements. There are different levels of reflexive verbalizations - from “echo-verbalizations” to “verbalizations-generalizations”.
Interpretation. A technique of explaining to the client the hidden meaning of his statements. An interpretation can be expressed in an affirmative, propositional or interrogative form. One of the most difficult and controversial techniques to evaluate, interpretation has extremely powerful therapeutic potential, helping, when used correctly, to cope with anxiety, gain awareness or mitigate psychological defenses. The most productive way to use interpretations is to give the client the opportunity to interpret their statements or behavior themselves. Sometimes interpretation can look like “reading between the lines.”
Example. When asked about family life, the client spent a long time talking about what a wonderful wife he had.
Client. She is an amazing woman... Simply amazing...
Psychologist. In that case, she must not be easy to live with?
Client. Yes, damn it! Not that word...
Interpretation itself requires a special presentation technique. It is advisable to soften the interpretation with the words “possibly”, “probably”, “maybe”, “one gets the impression”; categoricalness can transform interpretation from a therapeutic communication technique into a means of exacerbating inappropriate defenses and resistance.
Self-disclosure . The functions of this communication technique are interpreted differently and used in different concepts of counseling and psychotherapy. In the humanistic paradigm, the psychologist’s self-disclosure is interpreted as one of the fundamental techniques in establishing working relationships and facilitating the client’s self-disclosure. In behavioral concepts, self-disclosure is understood as a type of behavioral modeling by a psychologist, the meaning of which is to reinforce the desired course of action on the part of the client. Be that as it may, the essential point in self-disclosure is the following: the technique should not be applied according to the principle “But I, too, I remember, it was...”, but in line with the flow of the client’s experiences, responding to his feelings and confirming that he experiences are understood and shared.
Confrontation . The technique is designed to responsibly expose contradictions, games, and unrealistic defenses that complicate the client’s self-understanding and lead the counseling conversation to a dead end. Complex and requiring great skill in application (for example, in the Rogerian direction it is not used at all), the technique creates a certain tension in the conversation and therefore must be used with special skill. Since it can cause a feeling of pressure, excessive categoricalness, accusatory tone, and evaluative judgments should be avoided. On the contrary, gentleness, neutrality, even some emotional detachment contribute to the more effective impact of this technique.
Client. You know, I’m already consulting with you for the third time, and the impression is the same: or what am I doing?<то не понимаю, или меня не хотят понять.
Psychologist (after a pause). Don't you think that one way to escape the stress of trying to understand is to visit psychologists? The benefits are multiple. The feeling of self-importance increases: after all, I am a mystery. Responsibility is removed from oneself - “let them think”, decision-making is postponed, isn’t it?
Summarizing. This technique is one of the most preferred when completing the first meeting. The specificity of its application lies in the fact that it can be used as a real generalization and tying together sometimes confusing, fragmentary statements of the client and, conversely, by demonstrating the refusal to use final generalizations in order to emphasize the significance, complexity of the issues discussed and the reluctance of the consulting psychologist to simplify them. The current summing up, in contrast to the final one, helps to structure the process of the consultative conversation and set some semantic milestones. In addition to the purely professional, technical aspects of psychological assistance in the process of establishing relationships, during the first meeting many seemingly insignificant, spoken and unspoken issues arise, which, nevertheless, should be foreseen and taken into account. These questions together characterize the professional etiquette of the behavior of the consulting psychologist and the general atmosphere of the situation.
Let's look at the simplest of these questions.
Smoking. Sometimes nervous clients ask if they can smoke. Forbidding a client to smoke is tactless. This may be perceived as pressure or an unwanted restriction of freedom. Encouraging smoking is unhygienic and harmful to health. One acceptable course of action is to separate the smoking process from the counseling conversation. Tactfulness and appropriateness of motivation, a partnering tone of address will help relieve the tension that encourages the client to smoke.
Record keeping. Any method of recording information (tape recordings, notes, etc.) must certainly be discussed with the client and unconditionally rejected at the slightest objection. However, after the meeting is completed, the psychologist has the right to record in his work diary significant moments of the client’s communication, behavior or experiences in order to comprehend them and prepare more thoroughly for the next meeting.
Frequently late. If a client—most often, of course, a woman—is regularly late to a pre-agreed time, the possible reasons for the delay should be worked out: resistance, demonstration, decreased motivation, etc. A psychologist’s lateness to a meeting, if it is not caused by an unfavorable combination of circumstances, also requires, in addition to an apology, special elaboration.
Payment issues. In cases where a psychologist provides consultations in private practice, the cost of services and the payment procedure (hourly, based on results) should be specifically agreed upon in advance on a mutually acceptable basis. Due to the specifics of psychological assistance, charging for a psychologist’s services may not depend on the successful or otherwise outcome of the psychologist’s actions.
Client orientation in time. Practice shows that explaining to the client the time frame of work, including a general orientation on the possible timing of advisory work as a whole and the duration of each individual meeting, is an important point both procedurally and behaviorally. The psychologist should feel free to inform the client about the end of the meeting time, analyzing the client’s relationship with time, since the corresponding behavior may hide very important reasons for psychological elaboration.
Clothes and image of a consultant. The clothing, appearance and demeanor of a psychologist (male or female) must comply with generally accepted standards in society. Excessive makeup, too flashy, expensive or, conversely, overly democratized clothing, an overly official or deliberately careless style of behavior - all this can signal obvious or implicit personal problems of the specialist himself, undermining trust in him even before the start of collaboration. Facial expression, eyes, manners, clothing - everything should indicate a healthy lifestyle of the consulting psychologist, the balance of his (her) personality and instill confidence in the client that they can help him.
PROCESS STEPS
AND FORECAST OF PROSPECTS
Psychological assistance in all its varieties (from counseling to non-medical psychotherapy), if not limited to a one-time situational consultation, regardless of the form of implementation, individual or group, as a rule, goes through several stages.
Module 1. Competence: the ability to distinguish between professional and everyday forms of psychological assistance.
1. The concept of “psychological assistance”. Household and professional psychological assistance.
2. Situations of seeking professional help from a psychologist.
3. Types of psychological assistance: psychotherapy, psychological correction, counseling.
4. Preventive psychological assistance.
Question 1. In terms of the practical application of psychological knowledge, the profession of a psychologist belongs to the class of so-called “helping” professions. Helping professions include all those activities and occupations that require special training, the theory and practice of which is focused on helping people, identifying and resolving their problems, as well as expanding knowledge about people's abilities to overcome problematic conditions in the future. The concept of “help” means assistance in something, support, relief, exerting influence in order to bring it to the desired state. Accordingly, psychological assistance involves various forms of assistance to people facing various kinds of difficulties arising in their inner world, in interpersonal relationships, in behavior and when performing various types of activities. We say that we provide help to someone only in those situations where assisting another person does not imply any sacrifice (real or potential) on our part. Providing assistance is not altruistic behavior, in which helping another person in difficult times involves some risk or personal hardship, a willingness to sacrifice one’s own interests to harm oneself. Altruistic behavior (as opposed to helping) is aimed at satisfying the interests or improving the lives of others while putting oneself at risk. For an altruist, the well-being of another person is of greater importance than his own, while the helper maintains the priority of his own well-being and safety.
The meaning of professional help is not limited to temporary relief, but implies helping a person in his own assessment of life circumstances and in independently choosing a strategy for solving his problems, in expanding his psychological capabilities in solving these problems. A professional psychologist can determine the possible causes of problems (if the client wants this and is ready for this), confirm the client’s suspicions that the methods he is using to resolve the problem are inadequate, and find more suitable methods in experience, see the hidden sides of his personality or the inconsistency of his ideas about oneself to real practices of interaction with others (which causes problems). Professional psychological assistance is aimed at more effective use of internal psychological resources.
The specificity of professional psychological assistance lies in its voluntary nature, in the active desire of a person to change something in himself. This work is always based on on a contract basis– on creating a working alliance between the psychologist and the client. In addition, professional psychological assistance involves presenting certain requirements to the practical psychologist regarding his personality and the conditions of his work.
Question 2. The need for professional psychological help becomes actualized during crisis periods of life, when, in connection with the achievement of a certain normative age of development, demands begin to be made on the individual to change social status, behavior, and personal manifestations. Crises can also be caused by changes in social values. During critical periods, new experiences and a new socio-psychological appearance of a person destroy the previous social situation of development and previous ideas about oneself.
Professional psychological help is sought when self-help and help from people in one’s immediate environment is no longer enough or is impossible to obtain. Situations in which it is advisable to seek professional help that involves a change in a person’s personality:
Feeling of acute discomfort (painful experiences), anxiety, uncertainty, doubt, melancholy, despondency, resentment, guilt, uniqueness of the situation;
Low self-esteem;
An actual conflict that occupies all thoughts and interferes with normal life;
Lack of confidential communication;
Lack of acceptance from loved ones;
A conscious need for personal growth, to change oneself, to understand and accept significant people;
Severe and long-lasting grief.
Test questions for the lecture.
1. What does psychological help consist of?
2. How does helping differ from altruistic behavior?
3. What is the purpose of psychological assistance at the everyday level?
4. What is the purpose of professional psychological assistance?
5. What is the basis for providing professional psychological assistance?
6. In what cases is professional psychological help needed?
Bibliography.
1. Abramova G.S. Practical psychology. – M.: Academic project, 2001.
2. Kociunas R. Fundamentals of psychological counseling. – M.: Academic project, 1999.
3. Khukhlaeva O. V. Fundamentals of psychological counseling and psychological correction. – M.: Publishing Center “Academy”, 2001.
4. Tashcheva A.I. Encyclopedia of psychological assistance. – Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 2000.
Has undergone many metamorphoses and changes. Each era, each new century, each decade brought something of its own to psychology, thanks to which today there is not just psychology as an independent and self-sufficient discipline, but a psychology that has all sorts of branches and directions. In this article we will talk about the ten most popular psychological trends in our time. These include:
Below is a brief description of each of these areas.
NLP
It is one of the areas in practical psychology and psychotherapy, based on special techniques for modeling the verbal and nonverbal behavior of a person who is successful in any area, as well as a set of special connections between memory, eye movements and forms of speech.
NLP appeared in the 60s and 70s of the last century thanks to the work of a group of scientists: Richard Bandler, John Grinder and Frank Pucelik, who worked under the patronage of the famous anthropologist Gregory Bateson. NLP is not recognized by the academic scientific community, and many techniques, according to the conclusions of opponents of this method, cannot be scientifically substantiated. However, nowadays NLP is very popular, has a huge number of supporters and is practiced by many organizations during psychological training, as well as by various training and consulting companies.
Psychoanalysis
It is a psychological theory developed by the Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Psychoanalysis is also considered the most effective method of treating mental disorders based on this theory. Thanks to the activities of such scientists as K.G. Jung, A. Adler, G.S. Sullivan, K. Horney, J. Lacan and E. Fromm, this direction received strong development. Among the main provisions of psychoanalysis, one can highlight the fact that human behavior, experience and cognition are determined mainly by internal irrational unconscious drives; personality structure and its development are determined by events that occurred in early childhood; the confrontation between the conscious and unconscious can lead to mental disorders, etc.
In modern interpretation, psychoanalysis consists of more than twenty different concepts of human development, and approaches to treating mental illnesses through psychoanalysis are as varied as the theories themselves.
Gestalt psychology
The school was founded at the beginning of the 20th century by the Czech psychologist and philosopher Max Wertheimer. The harbingers of its appearance were studies of perception, and the focus is on the desire of the psyche to organize the experience a person receives into an understandable unit. According to the ideas of Gestalt psychology, the basic psychological data are gestalts - integral structures that are not distinguished from the total number of components that form them. They have their own laws and characteristics.
Recently, Gestalt psychology has changed its position in relation to human consciousness and argues that the analysis of this consciousness should primarily be aimed not at individual elements, but at holistic mental images. Together with psychoanalysis and phenomenology, Gestalt psychology became the basis of Gestalt therapy, where the main ideas were transferred from perception processes to a general understanding of the world.
Hellinger arrangement
Systemic family constellations are a phenomenological method of systemic family therapy, the main important discoveries in which were made by the German philosopher, psychotherapist and theologian Bert Hellinger. The method itself is intended to correct systemic family traumas, called system dynamics, and eliminate their consequences.
Therapists working with this technique have determined that many people's problems are related to past family traumas, such as murder, suicide, early death, rape, moving, family breakdowns, etc. Hellinger constellations differ from other similar methods in that they are short-term and are used only once. In his books, Hellinger classifies this technique not so much as a psychotherapeutic area, but rather as a spiritual practice.
Hypnosis
Hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness that is characterized by both signs of wakefulness and sleep, during which dreams can occur. Thanks to hypnosis, two states of consciousness can coexist at the same time, which in ordinary life are mutually exclusive. The first information about hypnosis dates back to the third millennium BC - hypnosis was practiced in Ancient India, Egypt, Tibet, Rome, Greece and other countries.
The idea of hypnosis is based on the dual nature of the psyche, in which there is conscious and unconscious. And it happens that the unconscious has more influence on the psyche than the mind. Therefore, nowadays, with the help of hypnosis, experienced specialists resolve all sorts of problems of people that cannot be eliminated by more traditional methods.
Positive psychotherapy
The method of positive psychotherapy is one of the main ones in its field. It was founded by the German neurologist and psychiatrist Nossrat Pezeshkian in 1968, but was recognized by the European Association of Psychotherapy in 1996, and by the World Council of Psychotherapy only in 2008.
This psychotherapeutic technique belongs to the category of transcultural, psychodynamic psychotherapeutic techniques with a humanistic position. According to it, the most important given of human nature is abilities (both innate and acquired). And the methodology itself is structured in such a way that it includes a rational and purely scientific Western approach, as well as Eastern wisdom and philosophy. In 2009, the founder of positive psychotherapy was nominated for the Nobel Prize for his services to physiology and medicine.
Client-centered therapy
Client-centered therapy as a psychotherapeutic method was proposed by American psychologist Carl Rogers as an alternative to behaviorism and psychoanalysis. Initially, the author presented a hypothesis according to which a person is able to change himself independently, and the psychotherapist only plays the role of an observer controlling the process. However, later there was an emphasis on improving methods that would help the specialist better understand the client’s condition and changes in it during therapy. It is thanks to the main idea of the method (to come to an understanding of a person’s self-perception) that the method got its name. There is another important point: in client-centered therapy, the most important role is given to building the relationship between the patient and the therapist as the key to achieving success in treatment.
Art therapy
Art therapy is a special type of psychological correction and psychotherapy, which is based on creativity and art. In a narrower sense, art therapy can be called treatment through visual creativity, the purpose of which is to influence the psycho-emotional state of a person.
The term “art therapy” was coined in 1938 by British artist and therapist Adrian Hill while describing his work in medical settings with tuberculosis patients. Then the method was applied in the USA in working with children who were taken from Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War. Over time, art therapy gained more and more adherents, and in 1960 the American Art Therapy Association was founded in the United States.
Body-oriented therapy
Body-oriented psychotherapy is a therapeutic practice that allows you to work with neuroses and problems of people through bodily contact. The founder of this direction is considered to be the student of Sigmund Freud, the American and Austrian psychologist Wilhelm Reich, who at one time moved away from psychoanalysis and focused on the body.
This therapy is based on the concept of “muscular (characterological) armor”, according to which muscle clamps are formed as a defense against anxieties that arise in children based on sexual desires and are accompanied by the fear of being punished. Over time, the suppression of this fear becomes chronic, resulting in the formation of specific character traits that form this shell.
Reich's ideas were later continued by Ida Rolff, Gerda Boyesen, Marion Rosen and Alexander Lowen. In Russia, this area of psychotherapy often includes the Feldenkrais method.
Coaching
Coaching is a relatively recently developed method of training and consulting, which differs from traditional ones in that it lacks strict recommendations and advice, but involves a joint search for solutions to problems with the client. Coaching is also distinguished by a pronounced motivation to achieve certain goals and results in activities and everyday life.
The founders of coaching are considered to be the American coach and creator of the concept of the inner game Timothy Gallwey, the British racing driver and business coach John Whitmore and the founder of the University of Coaches and other coaching organizations Thomas J. Leonard.
The main idea of coaching is to move a person from the area of a problem to the area of its effective solution, to allow him to see new ways and means of maximizing his potential, and also to help improve things in various areas of his life.
Of course, the descriptions presented cannot contain the fullness of these psychological trends, just as they cannot reveal all their features. But our task was only to introduce you to them by presenting a very brief description. And in which direction you should develop is a matter of your personal choice.
We will be glad if you take part in our small poll. Please answer the question: which of the described areas seemed most interesting to you?
Traditionally, there are four main types of psychological assistance:
1) psychoprophylaxis;
2) psychocorrection;
3) consulting;
4) psychotherapy.
Psychoprophylaxis is a field of medical psychology, the main task of which is to provide “specialized assistance to practically healthy people to prevent neuropsychic and psychosomatic diseases, as well as to alleviate acute psychotraumatic reactions.”
Psychological correction is “the activity of correcting (correcting) those features of mental development that, according to the accepted system of criteria, do not correspond to the “optimal” model” 2.
Psychological counseling is “a form of providing practical psychological assistance in the form of advice and recommendations based on a preliminary study of the problems that concern clients, as well as studying the clients themselves and their relationships with people around them.”
Psychotherapy is “a complex therapeutic verbal and non-verbal effect on a person’s emotions, judgments, and self-awareness in many mental, nervous and psychosomatic diseases” 4. (This type of psychological assistance is not studied within the framework of this textbook).
The differences between each type of assistance are clearly visible when comparing them according to the following parameters: the purpose of the psychological impact, the methods used, the quality of the result (see Table 1).
The training of specialists is carried out in higher educational institutions and includes theoretical and practical components. The main theoretical components of the professional training of a psychologist include: knowledge of the general patterns of mental development; an idea of the main theories of personality; knowledge of personality types, stages of its development, the specifics of crisis situations corresponding to each of these stages and the features of psychological assistance at each of them. Practical professional skills are developed during workshops, supervision, master classes, as well as when future specialists attend training courses on their own initiative in addition to the main program. Useful and necessary
Table 1-Types of psychological assistance
Type of psychological assistance | The purpose of psychological influence | Methods | Result | ||||||
1. | Psychoprophylaxis | Prevention or leveling of possible mental disorders in the development and/or functioning of the individual | Informing the population. | Mass population surveys. | |||||
2, | Psychological support | . Absence or leveling of mental disorders in personal development | Psychocorrection | It is associated with the concept of “norm” and is defined as “returning” or “pulling up” the client to the proper level, based on his age and individual characteristics, as well as medical, social and cultural requirements | |||||
3. | The choice of method depends on the psychotherapeutic direction to which the specialist belongs. | Correction of mental characteristics: developments that do not correspond to the norm | Psychological counseling | The client’s awareness of the essence of the problem and how to resolve it | |||||
4. | Specially organized conversation | The client's awareness of the true cause of the problem and the best ways to resolve it" | |||||||
Psychotherapy: | Harmonization of the client’s relationship with himself and society | clinical | |||||||
Hypnosis, auto-training, suggestion, self-hypnosis, rational therapy; | Mitigation or elimination of existing symptoms | personality-oriented | |||||||
also, for future successful activities, undergoing “purgatory” in the form of individual psychotherapy and group trainings for personal growth in order to solve one’s own psychological problems, that is, a specialist must have theoretical knowledge, practical skills and psychological health. As a result of the synthesis of these areas, he must decide on the choice of psychological direction within which he will further specialize. Professional development will certainly be facilitated by membership in any professional community, for example, in the Professional Psychotherapeutic League (PPL).
In addition to being a specialist, a specialist must be a person. Freud also wrote that, in his opinion, any educated person can be a psychotherapist. The very word “any” certainly evokes contradictory associations, but in its basic idea this idea is interesting. And if you now take a break from reading for a while and plunge into waves of memories, then perhaps you will remember some moments from your life or the life of your loved ones, when a kind word, a look, and sometimes just the silent participation of a significant person helped or saved you in a difficult situation.
Personal qualities. Researchers in. The field of psychology at different times has identified personal qualities that, in their opinion, are necessary for a specialist to successfully provide psychological assistance to clients. The result was the following list: empathy, emotional warmth, positive attitude (Carl Rogers), sincerity (Rogers, Troyes), sense of humor, sense of the tragedy of life (Miguel de Unamuno), concreteness, self-awareness and reflection. Let's take a closer look at each of them.
Empathy. Defined as “comprehension of an emotional state, penetration - feeling into the experiences of another person.” However, it should be understood that we can never fully feel into the world of another person. But what we can and should do is to leave aside our opinions, views, experiences and enter the world of another person without bringing our own world into it. Such a non-judgmental attitude, mandatory when providing psychological assistance, will make communication at any level (personal, family, business) more pleasant and useful.
Emotional warmth. This quality implies a true interest in other people. Close to sincerity, but not identical. Emotional warmth can be viewed rather from the perspective of the direction and quality of attitude towards people. However, there is always a risk of meeting someone who will perceive this as a sign of weakness.
Positive attitude. Equivalent to the term that Carl Rogers coined, “unconditional positive regard.” From his point of view, this quality is one of the necessary conditions for therapeutic changes. The main emphasis here is on the unconditional (unconditional) acceptance of the client by the psychologist.
Sincerity. This is a quality that cannot be faked. Even without special psychological skills, people almost always accurately distinguish sincerity from falsehood, since sincerity is, first of all, purity of intention.
Sense of humor. In “The Art of Love* Ovid, listing the qualities that a man should possess, among others, names a sense of humor, adding that it is not necessary, but its presence makes a person almost perfect. And this is quite fair. Remember how this quality more than once, by weakening the tension of the moment, saved you in dangerous, difficult, hopeless situations: “Laughter is one of the most powerful weapons against everything that has become obsolete” (A. Herzen).
Specificity. By concreteness, in a psychotherapeutic sense, we mean the ability not just to listen, but to hear the words of another person) without interpreting what is said, but by clarifying it.
Self-awareness and reflection. Self-awareness is “the experience of the unity and specificity of the Self as a being” endowed with thoughts, feelings, desires, opposite to the awareness of the external world (object).” Reflection is “the process of a person making sense of something through study and comparison.” In a narrow sense, it is a “new turn” of the spirit after the completion of a cognitive act towards the Self (as the center of the act) and its microcosm, thanks to which the appropriation of what is known becomes possible.” It is through the combination of these abilities that the development of personal and professional qualities is achieved. One does not always imply the other, but technicality not sanctified by spirituality is nothing, since the main therapeutic instrument is you yourself, and your therapeutic style is the uniqueness of you as an individual.
Based on the above, we can state: the presence of professional competence of a specialist is an issue that is not discussed. The specialist must be a professional. However, any competence will lose its meaning if he is not, in essence, a Person whose name sounds proudly.
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