A therapist, also known as a psychotherapist, is a licensed mental health professional who provides psychotherapy. While therapists can be psychologists or psychiatrists, it is possible for individuals with different educational backgrounds, such as education, to become psychotherapists. Ongoing training, education, and personal development are essential to practice psychotherapy. Psychotherapists work within specific therapeutic approaches, which vary in their perspectives, methods, and practices.
A psychotherapist can:
Psychotherapy is not a medical specialization, so a psychotherapist cannot prescribe medications, refer people for tests, or issue sick notes. The exception is when the psychotherapist is also a doctor (e.g., a psychiatrist).
Therapists employ diverse methods because they are trained in different psychological orientations. Each offers unique explanations for mental disorders and distinct treatment approaches. They typically choose an orientation that resonates with them and works primarily with its techniques. The four most commonly used types of psychotherapy
today are below.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) helps people recognize deformed, unhelpful thoughts that influence emotions and behaviors. After recalling these habits, individuals may question them and create more adaptive ones.
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a form of CBT that supports individuals in learning to accept their beliefs and emotions and dedicate themselves to plans that are in alliance with their values.
Psychodynamic therapy is a technique concentrated on assisting individuals acquire insight into the origins of their emotional despair. The psychoanalytic approach impacts it, but the difference to traditional psychoanalysis is less systematic and more concentrated on here-and-now confrontations and relationship dynamics. It not only works to alleviate symptoms but also to support individuals in developing their emotional health and abilities.
Humanistic therapy is a technique that examines how the individual's worldview influences their choices, especially those that generate distress. It is based on the idea that the patient is the most suitable person to understand their experiences and needs.
Depending on the problem, the psychotherapist may offer individual, group, or family therapy. The therapist's most important tool will be conversation. The meetings will be spent talking about yourself, answering the therapist's questions, discussing, and sometimes performing the tasks assigned by them in the breaks between visits. You can withdraw from therapy at any time. Both the patient and the psychotherapist can decide to end the therapy. Success is a change that is so permanent that it no longer requires the help of a specialist to maintain it.
Psychotherapy is not a solution only for people with mental disorders (although, in such cases, consultation may even be necessary).
If you experience broadly understood suffering or mental problems, therapy can help you not only look at your problems from a new perspective but also change your life.
Consider seeing a therapist if you are experiencing any of the following problems:
Psychotherapy (in all its varieties) is constantly being tested for effectiveness. Factors that may influence the quality of the assistance provided are also examined.
Although methods and theoretical assumptions are being developed and improved, a meta-analysis of many studies on the effectiveness of psychotherapy shows that:
Telling someone that they should go to therapy or that they need therapy can be stigmatizing. It can be difficult to watch a loved one struggle with the challenges of mental health, but people must decide to seek help themselves – as long as they do not put themselves or anyone else in danger.
Encouraging someone you care about to look into possible therapy options is a better way to show support.
The first step is to answer what we need and what is most important to us. Sometimes, when we are in a psychological crisis, and our lives are very difficult, it is better to ask a psychotherapist for support and to accompany us. Only when we become mentally stronger will we regain a sense of agency and influence on our lives. We will have the resources to focus on past situations we need to work through.
Apart from the level of facts and events, our emotions are another issue worth mentioning. It is also good to tell the therapist if we have any somatic diseases, take medications regularly, experience sleep rhythm disturbances, have difficulties regulating emotions or stress levels, or have somatic disorders that do not have a medical basis.
Once we have identified our needs and the information we want to provide during the first session, I encourage you to look at the emotions accompanying the awareness that we are meeting a psychotherapist. This may be, for example, the fear of being judged – especially if we have the experience of being judged and criticized in life by people important to us, or the fear of opening up to a stranger. This is a normal reaction, especially if we want to work on issues that are difficult, delicate, embarrassing, or threatening to us. During the first session, we are talking about personal matters to a person we do not know at all so that we may feel insecure.
A psychotherapist is a person who, in addition to many years of preparation for their work, also regularly uses supervision. During the session, there will be no assessment of us as human beings or as people in a given social role, although there may be feedback that, for example, our behavior was harmful to someone.
Psychotherapists, like psychologists and psychiatrists, are bound by professional secrecy, so we can be sure that the information we share during the session will be treated as strictly confidential, just like all other medical data. Such certainty can be helpful, especially when we have experienced a loss of trust or have been deceived or betrayed by a loved one.
It is worth realizing that when starting therapy, the psychotherapist also does not know us and knows as much about us as we tell them, so it usually takes at least two or three meetings to determine the main direction of psychotherapy and the area it will cover. It also often happens that during the psychotherapeutic process, new threads and issues to work on emerge.
If you have a problem you cannot solve on your own and have decided to seek professional help, you may be concerned about whether you will find the right specialist. It's natural. After all, you have to trust a stranger to whom you entrust the care of your mental health and very intimate information. It is worth knowing whether we have found a good psychologist.
A good psychologist follows professional ethics and starts by interviewing to diagnose and clarify doubts. They should inform you if they cannot help with a particular issue and maintain professional secrecy. Setting achievable goals and a clear timeframe is essential, and the psychologist should end the contract once the goals are achieved. Additionally, they should continuously develop professionally to adapt to the latest standards and consult with other specialists.
When choosing a specialist, it's crucial to observe how they treat you and if they answer your questions about diagnosis and treatment. It's essential that they respect your feelings and values and can handle critical opinions about their work. If your behavior violates their boundaries, they have the right to refuse further cooperation, but they should always redirect you to another specialist.
The relationship with a psychologist is special. When you come for help, you are in a crisis; you are more vulnerable. It is crucial that you feel safe and can trust a person you do not know. A specialist should never turn their relationship with you into a private one – even after the office meetings; you remain their patient forever. It is also unacceptable to suggest meetings outside the office, talk about your matters, or try to enter into an intimate relationship. Similarly, a psychologist should not give or accept gifts of high value.
Other signs that the specialist is crossing the boundaries of the relationship include imposing what you should do or what value system you should follow. Critiquing your choices or beliefs (e.g., religious, political) is unacceptable. During psychological help, however, there is an opportunity to see whether your beliefs are related to the problems you want to work on. However, it is up to you to decide whether you want to change them.
One of the most significant skills in a psychologist and psychotherapist profession is building a warm, supportive relationship. It is based on empathy, i.e., the ability to understand what you are going through and resonate with it during your meetings, but keeping a distance not to be overwhelmed by emotions. A psychologist can understand your despair without falling into it, thanks to which they will understand you better and not get overwhelmed. It is what professional psychological help is all about.
Empathy, openness, patience, and the desire to understand another person promote the creation of closeness and facilitate the establishment of a warm relationship in which you will feel at ease over time. You will have space to talk about your problems and symptoms, even if they are embarrassing. Suppose you can honestly talk about your difficulties. In that case, it will be easier for the specialist to understand you, link this information with a broader understanding of your problems, and adapt the helping model. It is easy to guess that this will make the help more effective, which is why a good psychologist should have the features described above.
Communication skills are another resource of a good psychologist. They must be able to listen (be engaged and interested in what you say), summarize, select the most essential information from your statements, and make a diagnosis on this basis. It also serves to better understand your problems and what influenced their occurrence from the perspective of psychological theories. Additionally, they know what to ask to expand their understanding of your situation and help you extract resources and solve problems.
It is also essential that your psychologist asks the right questions. When they explain something, do they use the language you understand? Not everyone needs to understand complicated psychological terms, so the specialist should use simple language and check whether you understand what they are talking about.
Another significant skill that a professional should have is meeting management. Why is this important? It will help you make the most of your session time to focus on the most important issues. It also involves choosing moments when to be silent, giving you space for reflection, and when to start an intervention. It also shortens the assistance time and often reduces costs.
Another important aspect of professional ethics is the specialist's care for their mental state. It's about checking how it is influenced by external events and what is happening in contact with you. Additionally, it is significant whether the specialist has breaks during the working day and whether the number of working hours is not too long. Regardless of their competencies, a psychologist, like every person, has limited resources. Fatigue is the enemy of mindfulness; it reduces work effectiveness in the office and negatively affects concentration and memory.
Due to the high stress associated with a psychologist's work, it is also crucial for them to take care of having a life outside of work. It's about satisfying relationships with loved ones, support from other specialists, developing passions, and taking appropriately frequent holidays. Taking care of this prevents burnout.
Table of Contents
A psychologist studies mental processes and behavior by observing and interpreting how people interact with their environment and each other. read more »
Psychotherapy, is a treatment method used to help individuals with a wide range of mental health conditions and emotional challenges. read more »
A psychiatrist is a medical doctor specializing in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental illnesses. read more »
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