Here is a question for psychologists and non-psychologists: “Should a practicing psychologist be the standard of psychological well-being and personal maturity?” Answer options: “Yes! He should. For what can he give a client if he could not help himself? He should have a life a prosperous person - family, children, etc. “No! A psychologist is also a person, and nothing human is alien to him, he has his own childhood traumas, his own personal characteristics and his own “cockroaches.” But psychologists cannot be. “healthy”, they initially entered the profession because of their own problems. ___________From a conversation with a client when signing up for a consultation: “No, I won’t go to psychologist N, I heard that he recently divorced, he’s unlikely to be able to help me save my family.” Even more frequent: “No, this psychologist doesn’t have her own children, how can she help me deal with hers?”___________The proposed answers are, of course, polar :) And it is clear that there are many nuances. But I look at them and understand, that in general, I would lean (of course, not so radically formulated, but still) towards the first idea. I would say this: a good psychologist has already done a lot and continues to do in his movement towards personal maturity and psychological well-being. I cannot agree that this is necessarily measured by years/five years of personal therapy (just as years of therapy do not guarantee us a “healthy” psychologist). There are different paths to maturity and self-understanding. And it seems to me that what can be called “competence in oneself” is very important here. Knowing yourself, understanding your own “movements of the soul”, appropriating new experiences in your life, your growth... And also, it seems to me, it is essential that a person (who is a psychologist) LIVE his life, and not “work” constantly as a psychologist. And the way he lives his life - how rich and joyful it is, perhaps, is significant for me... but this is not a very clear topic. What do you think, colleagues and non-colleagues??