How to choose a psychologist? Friends often ask me to recommend a psychologist. And I always get confused. There are many great psychologists with different approaches, but I don’t know how to advise someone. Because a psychologist is not about techniques and approaches, it is, first of all, about relationships! I think it’s no secret to anyone that all the problems come from childhood, and many simply did not see a good relationship. What is it like when you are not criticized, but supported? They don't punish you, but they talk to you? They don’t abandon you, but they help? This is one of the main tasks of a psychologist - to show a model of healthy relationships! When choosing a specialist, it is important to trust your inner feelings. What feelings does the psychologist's appearance evoke? What does it say about a person? If there is a video, pay attention to facial expressions, voice, speech. How do you feel? Internal response is one of the most sincere criteria for selecting a psychologist. What else should you pay attention to? Professionalism. Where did the psychologist study, did he undergo advanced training, specialization. Read what requests the psychologist works with, what he writes about, what he talks about himself and others. If you don’t find your request in those listed, you can ask a question in private messages. Personal therapy and supervision (mentoring of more experienced colleagues) are a separate item. This is a huge part of professionalism. It is not enough to know how to help clients; a psychologist must first solve his own problems and not bring them into work. There are no exactly identical problems, just as there are no identical people. Therefore, the support of more experienced colleagues helps to find (create) ways to solve customer problems. Estimate the cost of the consultation. How do you like this price? How different from expected? Keep in mind that you will need to pay this amount weekly for several months, because most often therapy is not a quick process. And one more thing: you can choose a psychologist until you feel that you have found the one you were looking for. After the first meeting, answer yourself the question: do I want to meet with this person again? If you don’t want it, then continue your search, you will definitely find it! Good luck in your search and great success!