From the author: A.G. Belyaev, business coach of the consulting group “El-Consul” (Barnaul) (2006) When reprinting, a link to the link is required! Changes in the social system have affected both the values ​​and priorities in people’s lives. Money in the form in which it has appeared over the past two decades is a rather new reality for our country. After the revolution, money played an increasingly smaller role in the life of society and the individual. To obtain material and other benefits and values, money alone was clearly not enough. Moreover, money did not play a decisive role. Sometimes this even applied to essential food products. Some other values ​​came first: the distribution system, services, acquaintances and others. During the Soviet period, money continued to play a rather modest role. In post-Soviet society, their role is constantly increasing. From all sides one hears only about money, about how money decides everything. Undoubtedly, money has become the new measure of post-Soviet society. And many of us have directly experienced the cruel revenge of money. The circulation of money in our country is characterized by its unreliability and instability. Of course, before in our country there were confiscation reforms, during which a person could exchange only a limited amount of money. The rest simply turned into pieces of paper. The crises of recent years also lead to a sharp and unexpected depreciation of money. The unreliability and fickleness of money affects its value and forces the citizens of our country to look for something more reliable and stable. In addition, in our country, any interaction with money can unexpectedly develop further according to the rules of the criminal world. Money can simply be stolen from you on the street, or the state simply will not pay wages, your bank may go bankrupt, and its owners will disappear without a trace, taking your money. And it is absolutely clear that it is no longer possible to imagine our professional and personal lives without discussing money issues. This topic is constantly present today. It sounds either obvious or hidden in the subtexts of relationships. Sometimes conscious, sometimes unconscious. Always present and often controlling us. Residents of our country are deprived of the experience of a rich life. The vast majority have no experience of financial independence. Many of us are deprived of the experience of a simply financially secure life. Moreover, during the Soviet years, we all cultivated the psychology of the poor. And successful indoctrination has made us proud poor people who have a negative attitude towards “upstarts” - people with a creative streak who strive to make changes in the routine of life. The poor use all possible means of pressure to prevent anyone from rising above their level. Instinctive conformism leads to the fact that they strive to meet the standards achievable for their level of wealth, which are also imposed by the media. All this creates a factor of inertia that perpetuates poverty. Even young children look up to those less gifted. At this age, they already have a social norm that prohibits them from “standing out” or being “different.” Conformism is typical for them: “Like everyone else, so am I!” Here are the characteristic beliefs that grow on such soil: a bird in the hand is better than a pie in the sky; look for a reliable and not very difficult job - enough to live on; everyone’s fate is predetermined - it’s better to come to terms with it and not fuss; The less you expect from life, the more satisfied you are with what you get. In addition: modesty adorns a person, and money by itself does not bring happiness, so you should not think about it, learn to earn, save and increase it. It’s hard not to agree that such beliefs about money clearly harmed us. From birth to old age, we lived in a world of fixed, inanimate money. For years, prices for goods with which we come into contact every day have not changed. For years, our own price, expressed in wages, has not changed. “My money” is an important part of our self-image living inus in many ways a separate independent life. It turns out that money contains, if not happiness, then some powerful stimulator of emotions characteristic of a happy state. In a person’s reputation, as it turned out, an important place has always been occupied by how he behaves in financial matters: stingy or generous, generous or prudent... The concept of a “good person” weighed immeasurably more than a “rich person.” People turn to the other side of poverty attention of K. Madanes and K. Madanes (1998) [7]: “Poverty turns into a source of a person’s power over those who care about him. If I have nothing, I not only cannot give anything, but I must always receive.” Poverty leads to passive violence against people around us, to harsh manipulation of them. And poverty is humiliating. This is an indicator of insolvency, a total loss in life. What does money mean for a modern citizen of Russia? You can get different answers to this question, for example: - Money is an opportunity to live without thinking about trifles, it is a means of livelihood, an opportunity to study and teach children. — Money is a powerful source of energy, money is the cause of quarrels and wars. — Money satisfies the need for security, and it is also a powerful source of anxiety. — Money has a powerful stimulating, motivating effect. - Money - power, prestige, privileges, the ability to act, influence others, resist outside influence. — Money is one of the main regulators of life in a free society. They stimulate initiative and communicate its social value. — Money is what is always missing. — Money is the quintessence of male valor. Any outstanding masculine qualities fade when they are not confirmed by money. A poor woman may evoke sympathy, but a poor man may evoke contempt or, at best, a condescending attitude. After all, a woman has significantly fewer opportunities for earning money. Traditionally, a woman’s world is her home, and a man’s home is the whole world. Another important question. What does lack of money mean to you? Here is a generalized answer to it: lack of money: weakness, dependence on others, helplessness, a dead end in life, a stupid, absurd situation. And here is the attitude towards money expressed by our Western colleagues, brought up to respect money. So Vogt D.M (1998) [8] writes: “I am free. I am free to be responsible. Free to improve spiritually. Free to be home when my kids get home from school. Free to do my job because I enjoy it. Free to change the lives of millions of people for the better. Free to wear “too long” hair. I am free to be the best I can be because I can afford it for one reason only: I have money!” Let us cite another statement by K. Madanes, K. Madanes (1998) [7]: “Today money is the main reflection of the material world, that “low” world, the roots of which go back to the physical needs of our body, to lusts and fears. In this world there is a system of rewards and punishments for certain types of behavior. The reward can be money, power, love or recognition. At school, children receive recognition, power and love, but not money. Children become familiar with the role of money and how to get it in the family. The source of parental power in the family is money - parents can give it or not give it. Parents create needs in their children. Every time a parent gives a child a gift, he is thereby trying to create another need. The stable financial situation of the family often entails boredom... “The husband becomes like an old, worn-out shoe: all his conversations and actions are completely predictable, nothing in him is interesting, nothing causes acute feelings” - this is what researchers of man-to-man relationships say. money.”[7]How to make money? At your workplace or some other way? For a doctor, this is not an idle question. A lot of people, usuallycivil servants who receive the minimum wage, but now earn money in completely different ways, sometimes even in a completely different place, or even profession. In psychotherapy, money has a special meaning. After all, only by paying for treatment, the patient - according to Freud's belief - acquires the mood necessary for psychoanalysis. Therefore, money itself is often a necessary component of psychotherapy. Moreover, sometimes in psychotherapy money is used as a psychotherapy technique. In a therapeutic relationship, it is important for both patient and therapist to be aware of their fees. The very level of payment for treatment, its cost attracts some clients and patients and discourages others. For some it is expensive. For others, cheap treatment means low quality. Psychotherapeutic treatment must be paid for. Let the payment be low and even symbolic. Even if it is indirect, only our patient should always know about the availability of payment for the psychotherapeutic process. To do this, it is necessary to exclude the concept of “free assistance”, and to inform each time at the expense of what funds and resources such assistance is provided. Either at the expense of the hospital, city, region, federal budget or the psychotherapist himself. Nothing is free. Someone always pays (“if it’s free, then the devil pays”). It is important that the agreement between the patient and the doctor states the payment for psychotherapy and its source. Of course, this is not always liked by patients who are accustomed to “publicly available and free care.” And we are not used to thinking about the source of this freeness. It is quite difficult to work with such “convinced” people, but clarification is extremely necessary, because people must develop a responsible attitude towards their own health. And also the realization that a person himself must actively participate in the process of treatment, prevention and accept the condition of today “health is also an economic category.” The topic of money is a favorite and most frequent topic of conversation. And yet, most of us remember and understand that money is a purely social phenomenon. They are necessary only in society. Far away in the Siberian taiga or in the mountains, where you will not meet a person, money is not only useless, but is simply an extra burden, which is only suitable for lighting a fire. In addition, the value of money has a pronounced conventional character. When people agree on their value. In the stable, Western world, the value of money changes little. Whereas in Russia and other eastern countries their value is constantly changing, sometimes sharply increasing, sometimes falling. Today, it is important for each of us to determine our attitude towards money. There are different options here. Some will choose to continue to ignore the importance of money to them. For others, you just need to make ends meet, otherwise money is not needed and even interferes with a full life. Many people strive for a prosperous life, as this is understood in our country. Although our criteria for a prosperous life are quite low. There are people striving for financial independence. When the level of their financial wealth provides them with freedom and does not tie them to one or another job, one or another form of activity. And very few people say that they want and plan to become rich. To understand one’s attitude towards money, deep introspection is important for residents of our country. How to find the “golden mean” in assessing the importance of money, so that in pursuit of profits, a person remembers why he is doing it. Money cannot be the only goal. They are more of an auxiliary means of achieving goals. The commandment “Love your neighbor as yourself” can truly be realized only when a person knows how to love himself and take care of himself. Including earning money and spending it. Spirituality is an expression of our best qualities, the ability to compassionate others, the “higher” world, the search for the meaning of life, the fullest realization of ourselves, our individuality and at the same time the desire for unity and community. And improving living conditions in the material world are essential conditions for the spiritual.