From the author: The purpose of this article is to shed some light for “newbies” in psychotherapy, especially newbie clients. The things described are simple, but you need to remember them. Sincerely, Valentin Buganov. A short preface. I wrote this article for my website because I often come across the fact that people simply do not know the difference between a psychiatrist, psychotherapist and psychologist and confuse them. And of course, one cannot do without “kitchen psychology” and labels of quackery. Below I will try to explain the differences between psychologists and psychiatrists and dispel some prejudices and clichés. To begin with, I’ll give you one quote that you can see on the pages of many of my colleagues: “A psychologist is like your own dentist. It’s painful, uncomfortable and fraught with complications...” First of all, I’ll note that a psychologist does not solve your problems FOR YOU , but helps you by providing you with comprehensive support, paying attention to things that are difficult and sometimes impossible to notice on your own. A consultation with a psychologist is a kind of journey into oneself, a new acquaintance with oneself and a search for resources for a high-quality and happy life. We psychologists are not magicians, but professionals. We do not have a magic wand that can solve all the problems in the world with a wave of it. But many of us believe that all people are OK, that they themselves are capable of making their lives brighter and more joyful. It's just that sometimes people get confused in their own thoughts and feelings, and they need someone to help untangle this tangle. And then there may be a need to turn to a specialist. Usually, when a person thinks about the possibility of visiting a psychologist to solve his problems, he may have the following thoughts: - I can handle it myself. - I’ll talk to my family/friends and everything will be resolved. - I not crazy. - All psychologists are charlatans. Let's look at each of these points. "I can handle it myself." Yes, of course, you can find a way out of the situation yourself, or better yet, let’s call it a solution to the problem. Moreover, when you see a psychologist, you will look for this solution. Sami. As I wrote above, a psychologist will be your assistant, companion and guide in exploring yourself. By nature, a person is not always aware of his behavior, motivation and goals, and the role of a psychologist is to help realize all this and help make a decision on what to do with this new knowledge, and responsibility for this decision. “I’ll talk to my family/friends and everything will be decided.” This will undoubtedly have an effect. After all, talking about a problem allows you to better understand it, but there are pitfalls here. For example, it often happens that a symptom simply goes away, and after a week, a month, a year we again find ourselves in a similar situation with the same feelings and emotions. Also, relatives and friends cannot always understand the situation from all sides, since they will subconsciously divide the sides into good and bad. Psychological games may be included as a consequence of some of their own internal conflicts. By the way, this is why a qualified psychologist must undergo his own psychotherapy and have a supervisor. And that is why psychologists are not recommended, and in some schools it is strictly forbidden, to take relatives and friends for therapy. "I'm not crazy." Everything is simple here. People simply confuse psychologists, psychotherapists and psychiatrists. The main difference between the first and the last two is that psychologists, as a rule, work more with healthy people. I would equate the work of a psychologist, in a sense, to the work of a dentist who helps keep teeth in order, treating caries when necessary and teaching the client to monitor their health. Moreover, if a person comes to a psychologist, for example, with a delusional state, i.e. when a person is not able to adequately perceive reality, the psychologist is obliged to refer him to a psychiatrist or even call an ambulance (in cases where the person is dangerous to himself or others). "All psychologists are charlatans." This belief is quite common throughout Russia. This is primarily due to the fact that for a long time there were no.