" N I need a psychologist" Is a phrase you have often been able to say when you feel that you have emotional problems. When we have many problems or notice that we are complicated to manage our emotional state it is important to go to a psychology professional to help us.
However, often finding a good psychologist is not at all easy and, at the time of choice, there may arise doubts or uncertainty about which psychologist to turn to.
In this article we will explain 10 basic aspects that must be taken into account when choosing a psychologist and that can greatly facilitate the process of choice.
Why is it important to choose well?
As with most things, choosing is one of the fundamental aspects when it comes to a psychologist.
A person who offers himself as a psychologist is, a priori, a person who has University degree in psychology .
However, this factor does not ensure that you are good at doing your job or that you can guarantee the best treatment for your particular case.
Each psychologist, like all human beings and like all professionals, has certain characteristics, which you have to evaluate before choosing to go to your therapies.
The characteristics of psychologists or activities carried out in psychotherapies are concepts that are not widespread in society, so there are many people who do not know exactly what they are looking for when choosing a psychologist.
This fact can be highly detrimental since an individual may end up going to a psychologist with whom he performs psychotherapy that is not effective or adequate for him, but to think that he is or that all psychological therapies will be the same.
Likewise, the fact of negatively choosing a psychologist can lead to the false belief that psychologists can not help me or psychotherapies are not effective for me.
All these factors, moreover, may be accompanied by a psychological state or an unfavorable or emotionally unstable personal moment, so that the difficulty of choosing well may increase even more.
Given all this, it is very important to have a number of aspects in mind when choosing a psychotherapist.
In my opinion, the 10 main keys to finding a good psychologist are the following.
1- Make sure you are a psychologist / psychologist
It may seem absurd but the main thing to keep in mind when choosing a psychologist is that the person you are contacting is really a psychologist.
This means that you have to make sure that the professional you choose has completed a university degree in psychology.
In addition, you may have other studies, other degrees or even other university degrees, but the field of psychology must be present yes or yes.
This fact is especially important since the growth that psychology is experiencing and the greater use of its services that the society is making during the last years has given rise to the appearance of other professionals who are not psychologists but they are sold as such.
Normally they are known like"coaches"and offer services similar to those that the psychologists realize but they have a different formation or not regulated, and they are not psychologists.
With this I do not want to say that the services offered by this type of professionals should be completely avoided, but if what you are looking for is a psychologist you will ensure that the professional you attend has the relevant training.
2- Make sure you are collegiate
The next step that you have to take into account is that the psychologist in question is collegiate and belongs to the college of psychologists.
In fact, being a collegiate is a basic requirement to be able to practice as a psychotherapist so the psychologist you go to must have this accreditation.
Membership is a mechanism that makes it possible to screen which psychologists are trained to practice their profession and which are not, so it is important that the psychologist to whom you comply meets these requirements.
The reasons why a psychologist is not part of the college of psychologists may be multiple, since it has not been wanted to join until the license has been withdrawn due to professional negligence.
Regardless of the reasons, which you will not have access to, it is important that the psychologist accredit you with your appropriate collegiate number.
This is a practice that is done infrequently since patients do not usually dare to ask for certifications.
However, it is an act that should always be performed since if you are going to put yourself in the hands of a psychologist you have every right to know if you meet the requirements to practice your profession.
3- Check that you have the specialization you are looking for
So far we have ensured that the person you have chosen to be your psychologist meets the requirements to be.
This fact ensures that the psychologist has the skills necessary to perform his professional activity but does not indicate that he will be the most appropriate for your case.
Psychology has multiple specialties, so it is important that the psychologist you are looking for has specialized in the treatment of the aspects that you are looking for.
If you go to a psychologist to treat you A depression And this one is specialized in educational psychology, very probably not the professional with greater knowledge and abilities to intervene in your case.
Similarly, if you are looking for a psychologist to treat psychological problems related to your sport, you probably require a professional who is specialized in these aspects and not others.
For these reasons, it is important that you notice what are the specialties of the psychologist in question before choosing it.
There are therapists who specialize in anxiety disorders Or depression, which will suit you very well if you have a problem of this type but worse if you have other needs.
4- Learn about the type of therapy you do
In psychology there are many different types of therapies. Some are especially suitable for some cases and others for other types of alterations.
Each psychologist will have a specific training and, a priori, whatever therapies you perform may be appropriate for you.
However, it is critical that the therapist therapist perform the tangan scientific validation.
In fact, applying treatments or interventions that do not have scientific validity is a violation of one of the requirements of the code of ethics of psychologists, so if one of them uses techniques not validated will not be doing their job well.
In addition, there are a number of treatments that are indicated for each specific psychological alteration, so knowing that the psychologist makes the appropriate therapies for your problem can be effective to choose appropriately.
To carry out this election process, you can consult the Guide to psychological treatments of UCM .
5- Research your curriculum
Parallel to the previous point, you can Résumé of the person That you choose as a psychologist.
If you are going to put your psychological state in your hands and trust your treatments, you have every right to know the professional aspects of the person.
Today we have many tools that allow us to carry out this type of actions since in the internet you can find facialmente the professional curriculum of many psychologists.
In case you do not find it, you can ask him directly, in an open and unobtrusive way.
A good professional will know that you have every right to know their job characteristics, so you will have no problem explaining what you want to know before choosing as a therapist.
6-Ask for references
Another element that is very beneficial when choosing a good psychologist is to ask for references.
Normally when a patient speaks well of his psychologist it is because the therapy has been effective and has undergone a clinical recovery and an improvement of his remarkable psychological state.
Therefore, knowing the opinion of people who have already been in the hands of the psychologist you are going to choose may be a good indicator.
In addition, today there are many methods for obtaining information about patients' opinions.
If you do not know anyone who has visited the psychologist or who has visited with one who deals with aspects that may be beneficial to your case, you also have at your disposal portals and directories in which people express and comment their opinions on each therapist .
7-Evaluate the therapeutic relationship
One thing to keep in mind when you go to a psychologist is that much of the effectiveness of the therapy and the progress that is made will be explained by the factor known as the therapeutic alliance.
The therapeutic alliance refers to the relationship that is established between the patient and the professional.
If this is not characterized by trust, empathy, reciprocity and comfort, it is very difficult to experience significant changes through therapy, regardless of the techniques used.
In other words, if during the first sessions you notice that you do not trust the therapist or see aspects of your work that do not seem right, you'd better find another psychologist.
This fact does not mean that you have to go to the psychologist trying to make a good impression or establish an optimal relationship.
This is done by the therapist, using the techniques to build a good therapeutic alliance.
But if it fails, it can be predicted with some certainty that the therapeutic process will be complicated and possibly unsatisfactory.
8- Make sure you have an evaluation or diagnosis
It is another of the aspects that the patient has to take into account during the first sessions to decide whether the psychologist is suitable or not.
And it is not only the therapist has the right to evaluate or dictate the effectiveness of the therapeutic process, but also the patient can do it.
As surely you are not an expert in psychology and go to therapy precisely to explain what happens to you or help you in recovery, this evaluation should be done only with indications and subjective sensations.
The most effective indicative is to see if the therapist performs an evaluation and gives you a clear diagnosis or an assessment of what happens to you.
This fact is especially important in deciding the rest of the therapy because a psychologist can hardly help you if you do not know what's wrong with you, just as a doctor will not test your leg if you do not know it is broken.
Sometimes therapists may have doubts about the diagnosis, but a good psychologist will always be able to explain what he / she sees in you in a clear and understandable way.
9- Analyze your own therapeutic plan
Later, you can also analyze the therapeutic plan proposed by the psychologist.
The therapist will know the techniques and interventions he / she performs better than you do, but you should make sure that he / she offers you a therapy in a convinced way, and, above all, in a justified way.
Psychologists are not superior beings and may often have difficulty making a diagnosis or proposing an irrefutable therapeutic plan.
However, a good psychologist is characterized by working in an organized and standardized way, where everything has a reason, and each activity or technique that works will pretend to meet specific objectives.
10- Evaluate the effects of therapy
Finally, the last aspect that should be taken into account when choosing a good psychologist resides in the very effects that occur during therapy.
Any treatment is intended to cause effects that are beneficial to the patient and improve their psychological state.
So, to assess whether therapy is being effective or not, you should analyze if you really notice that it is making you feel good.
Keep in mind that changes and improvements do not occur from one day to another, so you should not expect the effects in the first session.
However, after the first sessions you have to assess whether the work done by the psychologist is making you feel good or not.
And what do you think it takes to choose a good psychologist?
References
- Boyatzis, R. E. (1982). The competent manager: A model for effective perfonnance. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
- Official College of Psychologists of Spain (1998) Professional Psychologist Profiles . Madrid: Official College of Psychologists of Spain.
- General Council of Official Associations of Psychologists - EUROPSY (2007) Competencies of psychologists.
- Lévy-Leboyer, C. (997). Management of competences. Barcelona: Management 2000.
- McClelland, D.C. (973). Testing for competence cachee (than for intelligence. American Psychologút, 28, 1-14.