7 popular myths about psychotherapy

1. Psychotherapist is a “fake” profession

Many people think that you can get a diploma of a psychotherapist in six months and immediately practice. How does psychotherapy actually work? No specialist, having received a bachelor’s or specialist’s education, can be called a psychotherapist. He receives a diploma in medicine or psychology. If a specialist with a degree in psychology is sitting in front of you, he is not yet a psychotherapist. To do this, you need to go through the second stage — to get a special psychotherapeutic education. And that’s two years or more.

During training, he undergoes personal psychotherapy — more than two hundred hours. This is necessary in order to realize and work out your own problems. Then for some time he should practice under supervision — that is, under the supervision of an experienced specialist. And only after that they give the right of access to customers. But even after that, he continues to go to his own therapy and undergo supervision. Good therapists never stop learning. On average, professional psychotherapeutic education takes about 10 years.

Another thing is that in Russia there is no licensing system for therapists. The safety of clients, alas, most often falls on the shoulders of the client himself. Therefore, if you decide to contact a therapist, take an interest in his education. If he has gone all the way, he can be trusted.

2. People with mental disorders turn to a psychotherapist

There is a fear that if we turn to a psychotherapist, a label is put on us — “crazy”, we need help. This is one hundred percent misleading. Psychotherapy is not the practice of treatment. In this it differs from psychiatry, where they are treated with pills, where the patient is the object of influence. Psychotherapy is a practice that allows a person to master the tools of working with himself.

You can draw an analogy with sports: a person can go to the gym and get advice from a coach. The psychotherapist is the same trainer who owns special communication tools. You can spontaneously discover them for yourself, but it is psychologists and psychotherapists who systematically master them.

3. We can help ourselves by reading «smart» books on psychology.

It’s not about knowing. In general, psychotherapy does not aim to increase our knowledge of ourselves. Psychotherapy is not a science. This is a special practice, as a result of which a person receives not knowledge about himself, but the ability to deal with himself. The ability to understand your needs, build relationships, find meaning.

These skills are not acquired by reading books. They can only be born in communication with another person. From infancy, we cannot develop if there is no other person nearby. Psychotherapy is working with a reality that we alone cannot master.

4. The best psychotherapy is a pill

The belief that drugs can replace therapy comes from fear and distrust. The fear of psychotherapy is the fear of exposure. We are afraid that some person will get into our head and dig there. Much more trust in doctors. At least more than psychologists. Besides, it seems easier to find pills for depression and live happily ever after.

Of course, there are conditions where medication is indispensable. A good psychotherapist will always see them. But in most cases, he deals with conditions for which there are no pills. There is no pill that will help you find the meaning of life or learn how to build relationships with people. There is no potion for resentment or irritability. Psychotherapy does just that.

Studies show that for bulimia, anorexia, depression, sexual disorders, psychotherapy shows no less and even higher efficiency than drug therapy. Why? When these disorders are stopped by pills, the symptoms are removed. But one does not learn to communicate differently. He remains the same as he was.

5. Therapist is a Human Scanner

Often there is a fear that the psychologist «reads» you like an open book. Some believe that it is because of this that a psychologist cannot be a normal interlocutor: in a conversation with you, he immediately analyzes your words and makes diagnoses. Of course, like any specialist, a psychologist develops a certain way of perceiving reality. But these professional skills are used by therapists when therapy begins.

Therapists are specifically taught to separate personal communication and work. If a person is constantly in the “I am a therapist” mode, he will burn out. It’s hard work, it’s emotionally draining.

6. Psychotherapy takes many years.

There is such a professional anecdote. An old psychoanalyst dies and says to his sons: “I leave the house to you, the bank account to you, and to you, my beloved son, I leave the most valuable thing — my client.” Indeed, clients go to psychoanalysis for years and even decades.

But now in the course of short-term methods, where the effect is achieved within three to six months. After six months, a significant improvement is usually noted. If, according to your feelings, there is no improvement, you should think about finding another specialist.

7. Everyone Needs Psychotherapy Because Everyone Has Trauma

According to this idea, every person has a childhood trauma that dramatically determines his future life and creates problems. This misconception has its roots in psychoanalysis. But since then psychotherapy has gone ahead. New methods have emerged that have proven to be effective.

Psychoanalysts practically did not take part in studies of the effectiveness of therapy. They are not very interested in it, because the therapy is very long and it is difficult to track changes in it.

Another point: if you go to a psychoanalyst, he will definitely find something in your childhood that you need to work with. There are no perfect families. We all have dramatic childhood stories. But it happens that people find something in their past that was not there.

In the United States in the 70s there were many lawsuits related to the fact that psychoanalysts dug up false memories from clients — about rape, about harassment. Our memory is generally not very reliable and has the ability to configure memories. So you have to be careful with this.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy lends itself best to measuring effectiveness. It works with our attitudes, beliefs. Teaches you to regulate your state, your emotions by working with thoughts. This is one of the most popular methods right now. There is absolutely no work with the past. But if you are tormented by recurring memories, in this case it is still worth contacting a psychoanalyst.