Psychological consultation is one of the branches of psychotherapy that has appeared in practice relatively recently. It is carried out in the form of a conversation. The demand for this type of therapy initially appeared among people who do not have psychological disorders, but who want to consult with a competent psychologist to solve personal problems.
The areas in which the average person needs help affect all aspects of our lives. These are relationships with the opposite sex, child-parent relationships, working with the inner self, establishing life guidelines, helping to communicate with strangers, resolving conflicts within the family and many, many different areas. There are no boundaries or clear definitions of topics in this area yet. What are the goals, objectives and approaches in psychological counseling?
Definition
The foundations of psychological counseling originated in Ancient Greece. Even then, there were unique consultants and reception centers. Only they were called differently, often they were astrologers or ministers of cults. Psychotherapy as a method of treatment officially appeared at the end of the 17th century. Doctors for the first time began to try to treat with psychological methods. Already in the 19th century, hypnosis was tested on humans. True, this method had a different name - treatment with magnetic fluids. Since 1955, professional psychological counseling has developed.
Its purpose was to solve personal and interpersonal problems. Both individuals and groups of individuals can take part in it. Often a married couple or an entire family needs help. The essence of therapy comes down to solving personality problems, its development and the formation of interests that do not contradict it and the environment. Difficulties in everyday life and the inability to cope with oneself have given rise to the need to create a separate type of psychological help. This is how the concept of psychological counseling appeared. The purpose of counseling is determined depending on the needs of the applicant.
Who is it for?
Professional psychologists engage in dialogues with their clients with the intention of creating change in their condition. The subject, purpose and objectives of psychological counseling are aimed at helping people who do not value themselves and live according to unconstructive destructive principles. By talking with a psychologist, the client gets rid of negative attitudes. Every counseling professional has a different approach to their work. The clients of a psychotherapist are often confused people, those who are unlucky in life, who have experienced losses and grievances. Theoretically, every person can use the services of a psychotherapist-consultant. After all, each of us has some resource areas - those that do not bring satisfaction, but have an impact on the quality of life.
Is it possible to counsel friends and family?
Personal counseling by a specialist in the field of psychology of your friends, family and friends is not considered correct for a number of reasons:
- Worrying about the state of people you know prevents the psychologist from perceiving the situation objectively; emotions are a bad adviser.
- If the problem worsens, it is possible that the person who recklessly gave recommendations will be considered to blame for the outcome of the case. Moreover, this can happen regardless of whether the person being counseled followed the advice or not.
- It is possible that the specialist will make a mistake. It will be difficult for him to accept the consequences professionally - to draw conclusions and continue to work.
The material issue cannot be ignored. A large amount of time will be spent on providing assistance, a considerable amount of information will be processed, but not everyone is able to demand payment from a loved one. In addition, people are not inclined to treat properly what they got for free.
Target
Psychological counseling is designed to help clients comprehend the reality around them. An individual, with the help of a specialist, deals with internal problems, sets life guidelines and goals to achieve. In the process, problems of an emotional nature and in relationships with others are solved. Psychological consultation provides an opportunity for an individual to draw his own conclusions about what is happening in his life. The desire to act at one's own discretion is stimulated. The consultant offers the client models of behavior, and he chooses the one that is acceptable to himself. The practice of personal inferences promotes development and self-improvement. The individual is immersed in an atmosphere of his own responsibility for development, and the consultant creates conditions so that the client willingly takes on work on himself. At the same time, personal interaction and full support of the client are provided at all stages of therapy.
The goals of counseling and psychological assistance are as follows:
- Elimination of the unstable emotional state of the individual.
- Expanding consciousness, understanding the role of the individual in his own life.
- Teaching clients the ability to independently resolve their own problems.
- Make him feel that he can help other people realize their own capabilities based on the knowledge he received from the psychotherapist.
- Develop the ability to resist life's troubles.
- Give instructions in case of subsequent manifestations of the problem.
Principles of psychological counseling
The therapist initially accepts the person seeking help as an individual person with his own needs. Everyone who comes for the support of a psychologist has the right to be treated with dignity and has the value of individuality. Any person is able to take responsibility for their own life. Everyone has the right to choose decisions and goals, to follow their own understanding of life. Any pressure and decisions for the client are prohibited; they prevent the individual from solving his problems in the most favorable way for him.
Tasks
A psychologist-consultant faces many important tasks, the main one of which is to guide the client to independently resolve his own problem.
- The first task of the specialist is to instill in the client the idea of his own responsibility for the result of his life path. Different people have opportunities in life for development and a full-fledged existence. But how a person uses them, depending on his own experience and subconscious, is an individual decision.
- Convey to the client the importance of a conscious approach to his own life, give him an incentive to achieve his goals.
- Help to reveal negative experiences in consultation and let go of grievances and life disappointments. They hinder development.
- Find a way to solve his problems together with the client. The most favorable and acceptable for him personally.
- Develop flexibility using a situational approach, showing alternatives in possible behavior.
The main task of a psychological consultant is to teach the client to independently cope with complex problems, which resonates with the definition of the purpose of psychological counseling.
What will you learn at an appointment with a psychologist?
During the counseling process, you learn to identify the sources of your illnesses and manage them. Depending on what is relevant to you personally - be it trauma, anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties or something else - a counselor will help you in different ways, depending on the type of psychological services and counseling. You must be honest with your psychologist and with yourself in order to get the most benefit from your consultation. Silence, reticence, embellishment of the problem mean that both you and the psychotherapist will waste your time. Of course, at the first appointment it may be difficult to tell everything that worries you: it takes some time to establish trust. And this is the task of the psychotherapist - to convince you that it is safe here and that you can trust him. If time passes and you still don’t feel at least partially ready to open up, this specialist may not be right for you. Consultations in which you don’t speak honestly will be of no use.
Subject of consultation
What the psychologist and the client work on together during a consultation is the fulcrum that is used during a period of personal crisis. Its potential, growth area. Those positive personality qualities that need to be developed, build on them and use them in the process of getting rid of negativity in life. The main problem of people who need psychological consultation is hidden individuality. They are afraid to be who they really are. The overwhelming majority of clients of psychologist-therapists believe that there is no order in their minds, they are “wrong”, not like other people. What is the purpose of psychological counseling? It is for a person to understand his uniqueness, his individual and exclusive role in society.
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Social work / Consulting in social work / 1.1. Goals and objectives of psychological counseling
Psychological counseling is a special area of practical psychology associated with the provision by a specialist psychologist of direct psychological assistance to people who need it, in the form of advice and recommendations. They are given by a psychologist to a client based on a personal conversation and a preliminary study of the problem that the client has encountered in his life. Most often, psychological counseling is carried out at predetermined hours, in a room specially equipped for this purpose, usually isolated from strangers, and in a confidential environment.
One session of psychological counseling takes place in the form of a personal conversation between a psychologist and a client, lasting on average from several tens of minutes to one and a half, two or more hours. During this conversation, the client tells the psychologist about himself and his problem. The psychologist, in turn, listens carefully to the client, trying to understand the essence of his problem, understand it, and clarify it both for himself and for the client himself. During the consultation, the client’s personality is assessed, and taking into account his individual characteristics, the client is given scientifically based, reasoned recommendations on how best to practically solve his problem.
The advice and recommendations offered to the client by the consulting psychologist are, in most cases, designed so that, by using them independently, the client will be able to fully cope with his problem without help from the consulting psychologist. Psychological counseling is an established practice of providing effective psychological assistance to people, based on the belief that every physically and mentally healthy person is able to cope with almost all psychological problems that arise in his life. The client, however, does not always definitely and accurately know in advance what the essence of his problem is and how best to solve it, relying on his own strengths and capabilities. A professionally trained psychologist-consultant should help him with this. This is the main task of psychological counseling.
During a consultation, a psychologist usually uses special techniques and methods of working with a client and influencing him, designed to find and accurately formulate a practical solution to the client’s problem in a relatively short period of time (during the consultation), and to do this in such a way that the solution was clear and easy for the client to implement.
The number of meetings between a psychologist-consultant and a client is most often not limited to one or two. In most cases, longer consultation is required, including three or more meetings with the client. The need for such prolonged counseling arises in the following typical cases:
The client's problem is so complex that it is almost impossible to understand it in one or two sessions.
The client has not one, but several different problems, the solution to each of which requires a separate consultation.
The proposed solution to the problem cannot be immediately and completely independently implemented by the client and requires additional support from the consultant.
The consulting psychologist does not have sufficient confidence that the client, due, for example, to his individual characteristics, will immediately and without additional help cope with his problem. This happens if the client is not confident enough in himself, cannot control his own emotions and behavior, if the level of his intellectual development is insufficient to make an independent, reasonable, informed decision in difficult situations.
Counseling as the main type of psychological practice has the following goals:
1. Providing prompt assistance to the client in solving his problems.
People often have problems that require urgent intervention, an urgent solution - problems that the client does not have the opportunity to spend a lot of time, effort and money on. Such problems are usually called operational, and a similar name is assigned to the corresponding solutions. Receiving urgent psychological help in the form of oral consultation when solving operational problems becomes indispensable. For example, a child’s parent may experience serious complications in their relationship with the child, the persistence of which is fraught with very adverse consequences for the child’s physical and mental health. An employee of an institution may also have a serious problem that requires an urgent solution, which he, for example, will have to resolve in communication with his immediate superiors during a short meeting scheduled for one of the coming days. Third example: in a family, a husband or wife’s relationship with their spouse or one of his relatives may suddenly become more complicated. Because of this, a difficult situation may develop in this family, fraught with serious adverse consequences.
2. Providing assistance to the client in solving those issues that he could easily cope with on his own without outside interference, without the direct and constant participation of a psychologist in his affairs, i.e. where special professional psychological knowledge, as a rule, is not needed and only general, everyday advice based on common sense is needed. For example, such a problem may be the determination by the client of the optimal work and rest regime for himself, the rational distribution of time between different types of activities.
3. Providing temporary assistance to a client who actually needs long-term, more or less constant psychotherapeutic influence, but for one reason or another is not able to count on it at a given time. In this case, psychological counseling is used as a means of providing ongoing, prompt assistance to the client, restraining the progressive development of negative processes, preventing further complications of the problem faced by the client.
This, for example, may be the very unexpected appearance of a state of depression in a client.
4. When the client already has a correct understanding of his problem and he, in principle, is ready to begin solving it himself, but still doubts something, is not entirely sure that he is right. Then, in the process of psychological counseling, the client, communicating with the consulting psychologist, receives the necessary professional and moral support from him, and this gives him self-confidence.
5. Providing assistance to the client in cases where he has no other option other than receiving advice. In this case, when conducting psychological counseling, the psychologist must make it clear to the client that he actually needs to receive more thorough, fairly long-term psychocorrectional or psychotherapeutic help.
6. When psychological counseling is used not instead of other methods of providing psychological assistance to the client, but together with them, in addition to them, with the expectation that not only the psychologist, but also the client himself will deal with the problem that has arisen.
7. In cases where the psychologist-consultant does not have a ready-made solution, since the situation is beyond his competence, he must provide the client with at least some kind of assistance, even if it is minimal and not effective enough.
In all these and other similar cases, psychological counseling solves the following main tasks:
1. Clarification (clarification) of the problem faced by the client.
2. Informing the client about the essence of the problem he has encountered, about the real degree of its seriousness. (Problematic information to the client.)
3. Study by a psychologist-consultant of the client’s personality in order to find out whether the client can independently cope with the problem that has arisen.
4. Clearly formulating advice and recommendations to the client on how to best solve his problem.
5. Providing ongoing assistance to the client in the form of additional practical advice offered at a time when he has already begun to solve his problem.
6. Teaching the client how best to prevent the occurrence of similar problems in the future (the task of psychoprophylaxis).
7. Transfer by a psychologist-consultant to the client of elementary, vital psychological knowledge and skills, the development and correct use of which is possible by the client himself without special psychological training. (Psychological and educational information for the client.)
Let's consider each of these tasks in more detail.
The clarification of the problem is that, after carefully listening to the client and observing him for some time, the consulting psychologist comes to a certain conclusion regarding what the client’s problem actually is. Sometimes his conclusion generally coincides with the client’s opinion, and sometimes he disagrees with it. In the latter case, the consulting psychologist explains to the client why he, the consultant, came to this particular conclusion, which differs from what the client himself initially thought.
The problem of informing the client lies precisely in this. By conducting such information, the consulting psychologist not only explains to the client what his problem is, but also explains why this problem arose and how, in principle, it can be practically solved.
The next, logically necessary and usually performed in parallel with the previous step is a psychological study of the client’s personality. Without such a study, it is difficult, firstly, to count on the client’s complete, deep understanding of his problem, and secondly, on the client’s active personal participation in solving it. Having taken this necessary step in counseling, the psychologist has the opportunity to explain to the client his problem, taking into account the client’s individuality as much as possible.
Next, the consulting psychologist, taking into account his own understanding of the essence of the problem and the client’s individuality, formulates recommendations to the client on the optimal solution to the problem. Such recommendations should be short, simple and understandable to the client, as well as practically feasible in the client's real life conditions with due conscious control on his part.
It is not always possible for a client to immediately and with an expectation of success begin to implement the advice and recommendations received from a consulting psychologist. Often, due to his own inexperience or inability, he makes mistakes and needs to receive prompt ongoing assistance from a consulting psychologist. The same, in turn, should not think that he has fully fulfilled his professional duty if he listened to the client, clarified for himself and for him the essence of the problem and offered recommendations for its correct solution. The task of the consulting psychologist is also to ensure that, as far as possible, the client implements the advice and recommendations he receives as accurately as possible. It is not excluded, however, that the client will not want to follow the recommendations received from the psychologist-consultant, and then the psychologist is not responsible for the final practical result of psychological counseling (if, of course, the client was given the correct recommendations).
Many psychological problems that people face in life are such that they can arise again, and their one-step solution is not always a complete guarantee that they will not arise again in the future. Therefore, when conducting consulting work with a client, it is important to ensure that the recurrence of a similar problem in the future is minimized. This, in particular, is one of the tasks of psychoprophylaxis. By solving it, the consulting psychologist ensures that the client himself, through his own actions, can prevent and avoid the recurrence of a similar problem in his life in the future.
In order for the client to be able to independently solve the psychoprophylactic problem, and also to ensure that he is able to provide himself with the necessary help, the consultant psychologist sometimes voluntarily takes upon himself a task that is not professionally obligatory for him: to convey to the client elementary psychological benefits that are useful to him. knowledge. /4/
Consultation procedure
In the client’s state, only his feelings matter to the psychologist; actions are not discussed. The goals and objectives of psychological counseling are reduced to stabilizing the internal state of the individual. How should a professional psychotherapist conduct a consultation?
- Identify the client's problem. What did he ask for, what worries him, what causes negative emotions.
- Find out the atmosphere in which the client is located. To what extent the situation around you contributes to your health or, conversely, aggravates the problem and will interfere with the process of psychological assistance.
- Recognize the client's characteristics. His ability to obtain a positive result, his willingness to change his views and relationships with the outside world. How capable is he of receiving help from psychological counseling?
- Providing the consultant with all professional opportunities to alleviate the individual’s condition. Work of a professional with the personal characteristics of the client.
Main stages
Regardless of the school of psychological counseling, doctors adhere to a single scheme, which consists of several main stages. Each of them has its own characteristics and requirements, which are best studied in advance.
Main stages and process of psychological counseling:
During consultations, the patient’s trust is established; thanks to close contact, the problem and the degree of mental disorder are determined. A specific mental problem is determined, and it is studied in two planes
The main attention is paid to emotions and the cognitive sphere. Alternatives are identified, individual ways to solve the main problem are selected (mental state, age, health status are taken into account). Auxiliary ways to eliminate the problem are being developed, each point of the mental impact plan is being carefully studied. The implementation of the established scheme is being developed. The work done is evaluated and the results are determined. The stages of psychological counseling do not always develop in this order
Everything depends on the client’s psyche - there may be a refusal to make contact with a psychologist or difficulties may arise in determining a plan for mental influence. In this case, the doctor is forced to return to the previous stage of psychological counseling and work through it again, making changes, auxiliary points
The stages of psychological counseling do not always develop in this order. Everything depends on the client’s psyche - there may be a refusal to make contact with a psychologist or difficulties may arise in determining a plan for mental influence. In this case, the doctor is forced to return to the previous stage of psychological counseling and work through it again, making changes and auxiliary points.
It happens that at the last stage of counseling in psychology, unsatisfactory results are noted. Treatment begins again - the doctor has to return to the first points of the pre-planned scheme. Psychological counseling in practice is much more complicated than in the developed plan; much depends on the client’s condition, the severity of the problem situation, the person’s readiness to come into contact with a psychologist, and the desire to work on the problem.
Where is psychological counseling used?
The widespread use of this method implies many uses. When working with children, psychological counseling is used most often. Its effectiveness in working with teenagers has been proven repeatedly. It has been noticed that when working with children, the goals and objectives of developmental psychological counseling are revealed most fully and expediently. The work is carried out not only with the child, but also, without fail, with his parents. The method is also used when working with student groups. Persons undergoing psychological counseling in this age group are stimulated to develop and undergo adaptation in groups. Studying student behavior and motivation has a positive impact on curriculum design. From an economic point of view, the result of the introduction of psychological counseling in this group helps to solve problems associated with disinterest and detachment of students.
Psychological assistance services have been created for older people. Often classes are held in groups or with married couples. Social services offer help to those in need in the form of free psychological consultation. In most cases, this help is provided to people who have suffered from their own problems with adaptation to the world around them. This method of psychotherapy is also used in production. Nowadays, the management of large companies prefers to have their own psychologist on staff. Conversations with him are designed to change the psychological attitudes among company employees that prevent them from applying their knowledge in the most favorable way. Research has shown that it is not the organization of production, but social life in a team that plays a dominant role for the individual.
The goals and objectives of psychological counseling in production boil down to improving the morale of employees and harmony within the team. The military used this method very little, given the certain conservatism of this area. An individual approach in military activities, as a rule, is not used. Although, it is obvious that psychological counseling would help improve the adaptation of recruits and resolve problems in establishing a moral climate within a military group. Often, individuals serving in troops included in the category of special danger (pilots, parachutists, etc.) experience extreme stress and panic attacks. This condition contributes to dropping out of the educational process. The same applies to those demobilized, who have to get used to normal civilian life again, return to loved ones and build social ties.
Features of counseling children with a psychologist
The tasks and goals of counseling adults and children are similar, but due to the immaturity and lack of independence of the younger generation, the methods need to be transformed.
Differences when working with children:
Deviations in development, which serve as the reason for contacting a psychologist, are noticed by teachers or parents, and not by the children themselves.
The initiative to seek help, accordingly, also does not come from them. The child's psyche changes quickly, so it is important that the corrective effect has a quick effect. Delay can lead to the accumulation of negative consequences. Responsibility for the results cannot be placed on the subject, since his self-awareness and mental activity are not fully formed, and his immediate environment has a great influence.
Psychological methods for influencing children are behavioral in nature and based on gaming techniques. The consultant receives a large amount of information from the child’s parents, most often the mother.
Effective methods
In modern psychotherapy, these methods are used in combination and make it possible to cope with the client’s problem in the fastest and most favorable way:
- Catharsis. Or confession. An open conversation with a counselor gives the individual the opportunity to open up about problems. At this moment, the psychologist is required to participate and understand. Catharsis reveals the client’s hidden problems to the specialist. In the process of applying this method, role-playing games and drawing are used.
- Conviction and recommendations. This method places a huge responsibility on the consultant. After all, it is impossible to determine what advice will help an individual cope with his problem in one consultation. A seemingly obvious solution to a crisis situation may later turn out to be incorrect, since the consultant did not fully listen to the client and did not understand his internal motives. The disadvantage of this method is the bias of some experts.
- Integrated interpretation. This method allows you to get to the core of the client's problem. The consultant, from the client’s perspective, analyzes the current situation in his life. For example, a client talked about his problem, in response the consultant begins a phrase with the words: “And you felt…”. That is, he gets used to the role of the client and explains his emotions from the position of psychoanalysis.
Modern approach to psychological counseling
The goal and objectives of the modern method is for a person, with the help of a psychologist, to grow morally to a state where he can independently cope with problems, both existing and subsequent ones. Therapy is as follows:
- The psychologist does not work for the client and does not manipulate his consciousness. He works together with the client. The specialist’s task is to free him from personal problems so that he can develop independently and successfully navigate his life path.
- The new approach pays more attention to emotions. Knowledge about the problem does not provide results in solving it. The emotions that an individual experiences during a crisis are important; they determine his behavior.
- Work is carried out with the present, and not with the past of the individual. The past is important from the point of view of building the chain that led to the development of the problem. An interesting fact is that if the client’s past is not considered in therapy, then personality development occurs faster and more effectively.
- The process of psychological consultation already carries with it an experience for the client. Experience of responsibility for one's own actions and their results in one's life.
The main reasons for contacting a psychologist
Clients of psychological counseling often turn to a specialist with the following problems:
- Help me understand myself.
- Teach you to look at life positively.
- Help cope with stress.
- How to get out of a state of chronic fatigue.
- Help get rid of anxiety.
- How can I change my lifestyle.
- Help improve family relationships.
- I have no one to talk to.
- How to improve relationships with work colleagues.
- Problems with a child - help me figure it out.
- How to cope with the loss of a loved one.
- How to accept your illness, etc. and so on.
Many people who decide to seek help from a psychologist prefer that psychological consultation be conducted online.
