From the author: From time to time I come across the fact that people who have never been to psychological training have a negative attitude towards training in advance. I think that such bias is primarily due to a lack of information about what training is. Why go to training? Every year more and more different psychological trainings are held in the city. Among people who are far from psychology, there are various myths about trainings: “psychological trainings are some kind of sect”, “why do I need psychological training - I’m not crazy”, “trainings are very expensive”, “all the same, these trainings are not help, “trainings are quackery.” In this article I would like to talk in detail about psychological trainings in order to dispel the halo of myths hovering around them. Let’s start with the simplest thing, with a definition. What is training? Training (from the English train - to train, train) is one of the forms of group psychotherapy, which is a set of psychological methods aimed at developing the skills of self-knowledge, improving individual aspects of personality, self-regulation of emotional states, interpersonal and intergroup interaction. Language training is an exercise during which one gets to know oneself and discover new personal facets in oneself. While performing the exercises, an understanding of the true reasons for your behavior or the behavior of loved ones and acquaintances may arise. This understanding looks like a sudden insight and is called insight in psychological language. Exercises also contribute to the development of new behavioral patterns. After all, it often happens that the behavioral strategies that a person uses do not bring him the desired result, and he does not know how to behave differently in situations of interpersonal communication. During the training, participants also identify attitudes that prevent them from achieving their goals (negative attitudes or simply outdated ones), and change them into productive attitudes that help to achieve the desired life result. The training also contains theory in the form of psychological knowledge. It is presented, as a rule, in a small volume, but it is interesting and important information for the participants. A very important point is that not one person, but a group, participates in the trainings. After all, a person is a social being, he lives and works in a group, but at the same time he is often not aware of how exactly he manifests himself in these groups, how other people perceive him. A simple example: a woman complains that she cannot find a common language with her colleagues, constantly quarrels with her mother, and she cannot manage to last several months in a relationship. She calls herself friendly and patient. What we see at the training is that during the training she interrupts the participants and the trainer, speaks in an edifying tone, hangs labels, and gives advice. This woman was incredibly surprised when she received feedback from the group. “We don’t feel comfortable communicating like this,” the participants said. This woman really wanted to be liked by other people, but she showed this desire in such a way that, on the contrary, she pushed people away from her. During the training, this woman was able to realize what was wrong in her behavior. Discussions arise in the group, new views are opened on a particular situation, on the application of skills acquired during the training. Each participant works with different people in different exercises, which helps him gain invaluable psychological experience, which he can then transfer to other areas life. The phenomenon of group interaction is the synergistic effect. This effect is expressed in the fact that the overall result of the group’s work is always greater and better than the sum of the results of the work of all its participants. That is, when working in a group, a person receives disproportionately more than if he did the same training exercises alone. During the training, it is also possible to treat psychological trauma, get rid of negative emotions in the form of resentment, guilt, shame, anger, etc. with certainlife situations from the past. The same thing often happens, the situation was in the past, but negative feelings are still in the present, stretching like a crocodile’s tail. It is not always possible to get rid of this “tail” on your own. Sometimes a person does not even realize the length of this “tail of negative emotions” or even its very presence. Now I would like to touch on the myths about trainings that exist in society. Myth one: psychological trainings are sectarian gatherings. Such a myth stems not only from ignorance of what training is, but also from ignorance of what a sect is. Any sect is an unconventional religious movement, headed by a leader who claims to be a spiritual shepherd. A leader may be considered a great prophet, a brilliant thinker, a messenger, or even a living embodiment of God. The leader of the sect presents his followers with a certain truth and guarantees salvation to everyone who believes in it, provided they follow certain instructions. Possession of saving knowledge makes the adherents of the sect “saints,” the unrecognized, but “true elite” of the world. Sectarians have always been distinguished and are distinguished today by a tendency towards fanaticism and hatred or contempt for those of other faiths. All of them are in opposition to official religions. In sects, psychological manipulation techniques and some semblance of psychotherapy can indeed be used in relation to their followers, but sectarian psychological influence is aimed at introducing and strengthening religious ideas in the minds. The trainings are non-denominational. Religious beliefs of both the trainer and the participants are a personal matter and are not discussed during the training. Myth two: psychological trainings are quackery. Yes, indeed, trainings are periodically held in the city, the presenters of which do not have the appropriate education. Therefore, it is important to remember that psychological training is conducted by a psychologist (sexological training by a psychologist-sexologist), and not just a good person and using psychological, and not esoteric and mystical concepts and categories. At psychological training they will not tell you about chakras or the reincarnation of your soul. But there is a difference between psychologist and psychologist. How to choose a quality coach? Based on the ethical professional code of psychologists, psychological trainings have the right to be conducted by those specialists who have personal experience in individual and group therapy as a client, and who regularly contact a supervisor. Of course, you won’t be able to check whether this is true or not, but you can ask to see documents confirming the right to conduct psychological trainings (in addition to a diploma of higher psychological education, there must be a certificate confirming the completion of “training for trainers” training courses). It is also useful to read reviews of people who have already contacted this specialist. Myth three: psychological trainings are intended for psychos. Here the word “crazy” apparently means mentally unhealthy people. The fact is that people with psychiatric diseases, for example, schizophrenia or manic-depressive psychosis, are treated by psychiatrists, people with neuroses and addictions (alcohol, drugs, gaming) are treated by psychotherapists, but psychologists work with mental health healthy people with psychological problems. At the same time, the psychologist is able to determine the mental status of the client and, if medical assistance is necessary, refuse the person to undergo training. Therefore, psychological trainings are intended only for healthy people. Myth four: psychological trainings are expensive. In fact, the price range for psychological trainings is no different from the price range for any other services (medical, educational, catering services, beauty salon services, etc.) and goods. If the minimum price for training seems too high to you, then this rather indicates a lack of skill to spend money onpsychological health (it’s no secret that many people spare money on physical health), but if you count how much money and time is spent on reinforcing psychological problems, it turns out that the price for the training is not so high. Some people eat away their problems and unsuccessfully struggle with excess weight, others try to solve their problems with the help of endless shopping, others have been in unsatisfying relationships for years or work in disgusting jobs, others try to drown out psychological discomfort with alcohol, others, like crazy, spend money on white and black magicians, astrologers, numerologists, fortune tellers, psychics, but things are still there. By the way, the too low cost of the training casts doubt on the quality of its implementation. Myth five (echoes the second and fourth): psychological trainings do not help anyone, they are about extracting money from people. Well, it all depends on where this attitude comes from. If your friend told you about the uselessness of the training, then you are relying on someone else’s subjective opinion. Everyone knows how often people like to talk about their medical treatment in the context of the fact that they were not helped or harmed, but these stories do not stop anyone from seeking medical help (most likely you simply will not contact that specialist about whom you heard negative response). And it is somewhat strange to deny or condemn trainings without having attended any of them. But if the conclusion about the uselessness of the training came to your head after completing the training, then it is advisable to analyze the reasons. Of course, you could have encountered low-quality training, but low quality of service does not equate to the concept of lack of benefit from psychological training. With the same degree of probability, you can run into low-quality service in any social sphere. In what cases do trainings not help? It is important to understand your own purpose for attending the training. Ask yourself: why am I going to this training? What do I want to get from the training? It often happens that a person comes to training without any specific goal. Indeed, recently it is considered fashionable and prestigious to participate in trainings. It turns out that in this case the goal is the desire to be in the training atmosphere. It is not right. Of course, a person will receive a lot of interesting and useful things during the training, but without a willingness to perceive information about himself and on the topic stated in the training, as well as without the intention of putting the acquired skills into practice, attending the training will bring little benefit. And that’s when reviews arise - “I was, but nothing has changed in my life,” “I was, but it didn’t help me.” When else does this notorious “didn’t help” work? For example, in cases where a person has high expectations from the training. Many people view psychological training as a kind of panacea for all their problems. For example, a woman whose husband is cheating on her goes to training in the hope that after completing it, she will change so that her husband will immediately stop cheating on her. This is a misconception. As a result of participating in the training, a woman can identify her erroneous behavioral strategies, understand why they are erroneous and find out in which direction she should move now. That is, during the training, the primary building blocks for further growth are laid, but growth itself is the further responsibility of the one who grows. How else is training useful? Completing psychological training expands a person’s psychological capabilities. Often it is training that is the “magic kick” that helps a person “move from a dead point” and get out of the usual comfort zone. High-quality psychological training inspires people; they leave the training motivated to make personal changes, to implement the new things they learned during the training. The training also helps to make new friends. Sometimes it happens that a training acquaintance between two participants develops into friendship or an exchange of professional.