Find a professional
The biggest danger when looking for a therapist is to end up in the hands of an incompetent professional or a fraudster. The legislation of our country very weakly regulates the scope of psychotherapeutic services. There are no requirements for a professional level, a clear code of ethics, a unified certification procedure, and a state register of specialists. To get started, ask a potential therapist for a diploma in education or psychological counseling, and also use the recommendations of friends who have received therapy.
Determine goals
The ideal alignment is when the patient knows exactly why he came to a psychotherapist, and together with him solves a specific task. But it is not always possible to formulate it, especially if a person is entangled in his own emotions and thoughts. A professional therapist should help set goals, if not immediately, then at least some time after the start of the consultation. If you understand that this did not happen and the meetings are held in the format of discussing everything at once, most likely you are in front of a non-professional who does not know the correct approach to therapy or is trying to make money on you.
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Don't hurt yourself
One of the important aspects in psychotherapy is that working together should not cause psychological trauma. During the consultations, there will be periods of difficult emotional states and experiences, but the specialist's task is not only to reveal the patient's pain points, but also to neutralize the negative effect that may arise during psychoanalysis. In addition, while maintaining impartiality in communication, the therapist should still provide support in those times when you are especially hard to experience something. If you feel constant depression, a feeling of hopelessness and inability to overcome problems, then therapy is harmful to you.
Do not violate the boundaries of communication
There should be a distance between the patient and the specialist, but if you feel that you are not understood or heard, and in communication with a person you do not have a confidential and comfortable communication, continue to search for your therapist. It should always be remembered that consultations should not turn into friendly gatherings. The specialist must always monitor the observance of certain communication rules so as not to blur the boundaries in communication. It is especially easy to get into heart-to-heart conversations when therapy is long. In this case, you should assess the situation and understand how effectively the consultations are being held and whether the tasks are being solved.
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Don't think that everything will be decided for you
Most people think that a therapist can solve their problems. But the task of a specialist is to help find a solution, and not think for the client as to what is the best for him to do. If a specialist, instead of working together, gives instructions and instructions and ready-made answers to questions, it may seem that this is exactly what is needed, but in fact you are dealing with an incompetent psychotherapist. For any situation, a specialist has a guide: on dealing with acute stress conditions, LGBT clients, chronic depression, and many other cases. A competent psychotherapist follows appropriate regulations and ethical principles, rather than giving advice.>