Psychological counseling. What is it in psychology, basics, types

Psychological counseling - effective psychological processdesigned to help a person with a difficult life situation.

For the first time arising in ancient times and effectively used in religious confession, the option of mental help has long been a part of psychiatry and was not subject to consultation, but to drug treatment only in the middle of the 20th century, turning into a full-fledged sphere of psychology, helping a person in difficulties to expose their feelings and problems to a specialist, and then try to learn with them effectively cope.

Various definitions and links to psychiatry

Psychological counseling in psychology is not a form of pathology, but a variant of interaction between a specialist and the client in order to help in overcoming a difficult life situation, finding the best solution or the right one paths.

The psychological process itself, built in a dialogue form is considered one of the parts of the "practical" psychology aimed at solving individual or interpersonal problems through trust conversations.

The variety of psychological currents and schools, as well as the methods of psychotherapy, has become the reason for the absence by this time of one, common concept for psychological counseling. This is largely due to the problem of differentiating between psychotherapy and counseling, understood primarily as interpersonal interaction, what happens to people with a stable psyche, a good level of self-awareness and responsibility, and its study in the concept of medical and non-medical approaches.

In the concept of some scientists, psychiatric influence and counseling are completely divorced, as diametrically different concepts, while others are of the opinion that the above practices are somewhat similar.

This is how Russian scientists traditionally distinguish between counseling conversations and psychiatry, calling the first the method of "selling advice", and the second referring to the method of treatment, which is impossible without specialized medical education.

Western experts in their definitions, on the contrary, emphasize the similarity of concepts, citing as of sufficient weighty reason; significant legal and ethical aspects of the provision of psychological help.

So in the Western concept, psychotherapy is usually defined as a system of therapeutic effects on the psyche or the process of corrective action on a mentally ill person, and counseling is determined as:

• type of specific interpersonal influence, in the process of which the patient (client) has a special professional psychological assistance necessary to solve the difficult life that has arisen in front of him situations;
• a tool practicing verbal techniques and interpersonal relationships to assist an individual in transforming relationships and his behavior, in order to correct his intellectual, social or emotional aspects that interfere with personal growth;
• long-term interaction between individuals (a group of individuals), one of whom is considered a specialist in the correction and development of humans and human relationships.

In "medical" definitions, psychiatry is also commonly understood as a form of influence on the psyche or through the psyche, while this approach focuses not on the object or subject, but on the technique impact.

Unlike psychiatry, and its inherent psychological correction, aimed at full, most often, drug recovery and rehabilitation of the patient, counseling does not have the form of violent intervention and is carried out more gentle, benevolent methods aimed not at transforming the psyche, but at finding ways with the already existing psychological healthy person problems.

The real forms and elements of counseling are much older than "psychiatry" and were widely practiced in antiquity, taking the form of predictions of shamans, fortune-tellers and healers, who gave their assessment and suggested certain ways of solving the arising problems. Confession of a repentant sinner is also considered an option for counseling.

In this form, counseling existed until the 20th century, and with the development of psychotherapy, psychoanalysis and psychological schools, it was gradually withdrawn from the "medical wing". becoming a purely psychological method and having by the 50s of the last century turned into counseling psychology - an industry designed to develop methods of helping a client who does not need treatment.

Unlike psychiatry, counseling psychology was supposed to activate the applicant has additional abilities to search for possible solutions to overcome their crisis situation. The main form of influence of this technique was a consultative conversation in the form of a dialogue, during which one individual (consultant) assists another (client) in activating the internal processes necessary for further transformation in a positive key.

Domestic psychology, in contrast to the Western one, offers its own term "psychological counseling." So, according to Obozov N.N., during the work, the psychologist should not give the client a ready-made version of the way out of their situation, but only clarifies the causes and consequences of the client's actions. At the same time, the main task of a specialist is to be able to show the patient the situation from the outside, change the client's attitudes, allow a broader view of the situation and change his attitude towards what is happening.

Doctor Kopyeva A.F. considers the “dialogical breakthrough” as the highest, culminating point of the conversation, during which the client realizes the problem and outlines the ways to overcome it. The consultation itself, according to the specialist, should be built in such a way as to directly or indirectly bring the client to dialogue, both revealing the painful sides of the situation that has arisen, and looking for reserve forces for its correct solutions.

Based on different points of view, the definition of psychological counseling should include:

• helping the client in realizing his role in the problem that has arisen;
• joint search for a solution to the current situation;
• emphasis on the individual's independent ability to make the right decisions in the future;
• teaching the client new behavior for him.

Historical development, schools and theories

Psychological counseling is a type of professional activity in psychology that arose in response to the desire of people to receive psychological help and has its roots since the time of Hippocrates. It was he who first expressed his opinion about the creation of a trusting relationship with the patient, allowing a more complete assessment of the specificity of the disease.

The next, the main stage for counseling was 1879, associated with the appearance of the first psychological laboratory of V. Wundt.

The end of the 19th century was marked by works that were sensational for psychology 3. Freud and J. Breuer, who defined the essence of hysteria. At the same time, the basic foundations for medical consulting were first defined, and with the beginning of the 20th century and the development of scientific and technological progress, there was a need for specialized consultants aimed at training specialized workers and employees.

Along with this, medical consulting, based on the diagnosis of pathologies, has also developed. Here, people who sought psychological help were treated with medications, and the doctors did not conduct conversations, a full examination in order to detect neuropsychiatric abnormalities.

This attitude continued until 1942, having changed only with the treatise of K. Rogers "Counseling and Psychotherapy". The main essence of this work was the beginning of the separation of consulting services from psychiatry, based on the conclusions about the need to conduct with healthy individuals, faced with difficulty in communication, interpersonal interaction or emotional problems not medication, but a certain specialized support.

In the 50-60s of the last century, this concept became the basis of most educational programs for the training of counseling psychologists, and simultaneously with it, the biocheveristic concept, the rational-emotional theory of A Ellis and the gestalt therapy direction F. Perls.

After analyzing the listed theories of R. Carcouffe has developed a general (systemic) approach, identifying the basic skills and methods required for effective counseling.

Goals, objectives, methods

Psychological counseling in psychology is a set of measures that help improve the general psychological state of an individual, harmonizing his collective and family relationships.

Communicating with a specialist, the client modifies the form of his behavior, attitude towards himself and others, learn to look at the current situation from a different angle and look for new, previously inaccessible, ways solutions.

The task of the psychologist during the conversation:

• teaching the client new behavioral skills;
• stimulating the individual to make the right decisions;
• the development of a person who has encountered difficulties and the expansion of her horizons.

Particular emphasis in the counseling process is placed on the client's independence, his ability to independently manage their actions, modify their essence and look for new ways to overcome crisis.

Focusing on the psychological school, the goals of the consultation dialogue are also established, which include:

• transformation of the individual's behavior (biocheveistic approach);
• clarification, pushing back and the concept of life itself (existential direction).

Under the main goal of psychological counseling, when combining concepts, one can indicate the desire to help a person in overcoming a crisis situation, awareness and change inherent in him, but not an effective model of behavior, for the ability to continue to make correct and conscious solutions.

The goals of psychological counseling, depending on the focus, are divided into:

• corrective (related to correction);
• aimed at ensuring growth and development.

The process of setting the goal of the consultation conversation (its superior result) is concluded in the communicating action as a specialist psychology, and his patient, but the ways, methods of achieving it can vary significantly, rebuilding in the process dialogue.

YU. Aleshina defined the purpose of counseling as an option to provide psychological assistance, which, according to A. Sharova is not at all a simple matter, depending on the value orientation chosen by the specialist. So, under the goal of counseling, regardless of the methodology, there is always a desire to listen and understand the patient, which invariably leads to positive results.

Stages

In psychology, several criteria are distinguished that determine the effectiveness of the procedure, which consist in:

1. Patient satisfaction;
2. Acceptance of responsibility by a person for the situations that happen to her.
3. Despite the difference in goals and methods, the entire consultation process takes several stages:
4. Establishing confidential contact with the patient and identifying the problem that has arisen.
5. Exploring a disturbing situation from the cognitive and emotional realms.
6. Search for alternative (possible) solutions.
7. Planning or step-by-step preparation of an action plan for each selected solution.
8. Implementation of the plan.
9. Customer evaluation of the work done.

In practice, the counseling process does not have specific stages and may differ from the intended plan. There are also cases when the client remains dissatisfied with the chosen solution and the result obtained, and then the dialogue process must be started from the beginning.

Views

Psychological counseling is aimed at providing real help to a person with the adoption and search for solutions the situation that has arisen and requires painstaking, result-oriented work of both the client and the professional psychology.

Depending on the problem situations that have arisen, the degree of training of the specialist, age, marital status and religion of the individual, the consultative dialogues can be divided into:

Individual	The most common type, which is a variant of a personal dialogue between a client and a consultant. It is used for personal growth, getting rid of fears and increasing your success.
Group	Assumes the presence of several clients, united by one problem, for example, consulting the team members of one enterprise.
Family	It is conducted with members of the same family and should help resolve interpersonal conflicts or prepare for an exciting event.
Psychological and pedagogical counseling	It is aimed at teaching people to interact with children and adolescents and is aimed at disclosing the principles of training programs, applying methods and educational innovations.
Business	It is carried out within the framework of one enterprise and may have the goal of both team building and improving work efficiency.

Separately, we can highlight the counseling of children, aimed at education on mental development in different age periods. Parents at such consultations are given recommendations regarding the mental development of children, upbringing and education. Such conversations are also held in children's groups, but in this case they are designed to interact with classmates, teachers and parents, as well as learning problems.

Technique

Psychological counseling is carried out strictly according to certain techniques and without fail goes through several successive stages.

The first stage is a meeting and greeting of the client, during which the specialist:	1. Acquaintance with the client. 2. Offer to take the place reserved for him. 3. Establishing a positive attitude of the consultation by a specialist, through a benevolent facial expression, neat appearance, adherence to etiquette. Active techniques are also used in the form of words of encouragement. 4. Overcoming the psychological barrier with free conversation and relaxing music.
The second stage is collecting information about the client and the problem facing him	1. Diagnostics of the client's personality, formed through passive observation, conversation and interview, conducted with the help of questions that force the client to speak out about his problem. 2. Clarification of the essence of the problem. At this stage, the psychologist leads the client to a conversation about the painful one, and then takes the position of a listener asking clarifying questions.
The third stage is drawing up a strategy to overcome difficulties	1. Determination of possible ways out of the situation, through advice, information, persuasion and explanation. 2. Coordination of the action plan. During which the client, together with the psychologist, develops ways to implement the previously discussed ways out of a difficult situation.

Principles

Psychological counseling is a clearly structured communication process in psychology, carried out in accordance with strict adherence to ethical principles, which include:

1. In a benevolent and non-judgmental attitude towards the client, consisting of a complex of professional behavior aimed at creating patient in a calm and comfortable state and overexposing the position of an active listener, allowing the individual to talk about the problems that have arisen with him problems.
2. In the orientation of the psychologist to the norms and values ​​of the client. The specialist must unconditionally accept the personal value system and become its full ally, expressing maximum support and respect for the client.
3. It is forbidden to give advice, because otherwise the specialist assumes responsibility for the subsequent actions of the client, and he, in turn, takes not an active, but a passive position.
4. In anonymity, prohibiting the disclosure of any information received from the client to unauthorized persons. An exception is made only for illegal actions established by the norms of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation or the legislation of another country.
5. In the differentiation of personal and professional relations, since the former can have a significant impact on the implementation of the latter.

Result evaluation

Psychological counseling will have a positive result only if:

1. Client orientation towards positive changes in his life. All the main, motivating work is undoubtedly carried out by a specialist, but the actions to overcome difficult life situations are performed by the personality itself.
2. Individual selection of methods and stages of psychological counseling, with the obligatory consideration of personality characteristics and the psychological situation requiring a solution.
3. Regular psychological sessions to help teach the client to cope with difficulties and change their behavior.
4. The emergence of a trusting relationship between the client and the psychiatrist, helping the latter to fully understand the current difficult situation.
5. Focusing not on a temporary, but on a permanent effect. Since, having come out of one problem, a person may after a while face new difficulties and only the full-fledged work of a psychologist to modify the situation will help him to resist new problems.

Psychological counseling is a long-term process that requires a lot of dedication from a specialist and is aimed at helping the client to overcome difficult life situations. Leading from psychiatry, the consulting conversation with the development of theories of psychoanalysis acquired independence and individuality, becoming a part of psychology, not only as a science, but also as an effective way to solve not only the search for a way out of life's difficulties, but also a person's knowledge of himself myself.

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