Psychological counseling is an organized conversation on a topic during which the client and professional psychologist together understand the problem and find the best ways to solve it. In order for the consultation to go smoothly, it is very important to properly organize it.
Instruction manual
one
Provide all necessary conditions for comfortable communication. Psychological consultation requires a certain sincerity and readiness from the client to let the psychologist into the personal areas of his life. Therefore, it is very important that the client is in a comfortable environment. Avoid rooms with bright lights or, conversely, overly darkened. The consultation room should be well insulated from external sounds so that the client is not distracted by extraneous noise, and, on the other hand, is not afraid of being heard by someone else.
2
Get ready to meet a specific client. If possible, study his personal file before the meeting takes place directly. Find out about his family, work, consultations with other doctors, if they were before. Invite the client to fill out a test at home and bring it to you the day before the appointment. Then you will have time to analyze the material and develop the best communication strategy.
3
Listen carefully to the client. Find a talkative storyteller is much easier than a good listener, so people are constantly lacking attention. Turning to a psychologist, a person expects at least to be heard. The ability to speak out, by itself, is part of any therapy: the connection between speech and thinking is much stronger than it often seems. By verbally formalizing his thought, a person begins to look at the problem in a different way, which often helps him solve it.
4
Do not impose your opinion on the client. The task of a professional psychologist is not to solve his problem for a person, but to help him independently understand the difficulties that have arisen. It is very important that the client himself comes to a certain decision and is ready to be responsible for the choice made.
5
Build your communication on the principle of dialogue. Its essence is not in the alternate exchange of remarks, but in the internal understanding and recognition of the right of each of the participants in the conversation to have personal freedom and self-determination. Communication should be two-way and based on mutual respect, otherwise the consultation will lose its meaning. The psychologist should not only expect openness from the client, but also be prepared to open himself psychologically, not allowing himself to be pressured, but also not putting pressure on himself. Only if the psychologist and the client make an equal contribution to solving the problem, the conversation will be effective.
Useful advice
Determine the optimal duration of the consultation. It can go from an hour to two, depending on the specific case. Do not take breaks during the conversation, disconnect your mobile phone and invite the client to do the same. If not one meeting is planned, but several, then the duration of consultations may gradually increase.