An expert dispelled misconceptions about psychotherapy

Some people have misconceptions about psychotherapy. Ekaterina Artemenko, a practicing psychologist, supervisor, Gestalt therapist, and community director of the online psychotherapy service Yasno, told Izvestia on February 2 about the myths that prevent people from starting to work on their mental health.

The first misconception is that a person believes they can become addicted to therapy.

"[It] carries several illusions at its core - for example, that one can be completely self-sufficient and independent of anything in this world and that this is the benchmark of a "normal/healthy person." Or the idea that if I rely on something, I can never give it up again. So, a normal person is someone who can find supports, use them, who knows their limitations and recognizes their need for anything," the specialist explained.

According to her, the idea of complete autonomy is utopian and unrealistic. At the same time, therapy helps to find supports not only outside, but also inside and use these resources.

In addition, sometimes a person thinks that if he or she goes to therapy, it means he or she is sick.

"This misconception is based on the fact that the concept of psychotherapy is associated with psychiatry and therefore associated with special closed institutions that house people who need close and constant supervision and support. It's good that this association is getting weaker and we already allow ourselves much easier to go to the dialog help of a psychologist and, if necessary, consultation and medication help of a psychiatrist," Artemenko specified.

Sometimes people are sure that if they need help, they are weak. According to the Gestalt therapist, this is similar to the fear of becoming dependent on therapy because it also carries the idea of omnipotence as the norm. She countered this with two theses.

"We really can't handle everything on our own, like not being able to see the back of our head without a mirror - that doesn't make us blind, does it? And so it is here - there are such "back of our heads" in our psyche, which we can consider only in a specially organized process. From experience we can say that it is the most courageous people who come to therapy. Those who have the strength to admit to themselves and others that they are at a dead end and that the old schemes do not work, and new ones have not yet been discovered. We can say that psychologists' clients are the vanguard of evolution," the expert said.

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The psychologist drew attention to the fact that many people think that psychotherapy is just a heart-to-heart talk. However, this is not the case. As Artemenko explained, in the process of training, therapists learn the skill of paying attention to a lot of nuances in the client's material, while analyzing several aspects at once. They use the assessment of their own state as a diagnostic tool, analyze the phenomena demonstrated by the client, information about his or her previous experiences and the context of the relationship unfolding in the session itself.

"This is an hour in which the professional commits himself and his psyche to another person. It is unlikely that even our most devoted friends would be able to arrange such sessions for us on a regular basis. And it's even more unlikely that they will get us results," the therapist emphasized.

She also said that different topics are discussed at the session and the changes that a person comes to the psychologist's office for can be achieved in different ways - it is not always about working with childhood memories.

Sometimes people think that it is easier to just drink antidepressants, but the therapeutic and pharmacological effects are different both in purpose and in essence, the expert said.

"Antidepressants can provide serious relief and symptom relief. A person will get relatively quick relief, he will have free energy for life, stabilize the emotional background. However, the drugs only alleviate the symptoms, but to find the right support and warm contact, to find and work through the causes of the condition - this is possible with a psychologist. Even with depressive symptoms, it is not so much antidepressants as mood, environment, surroundings and lifestyle that can influence the improvement of the condition," Artemenko explained.

According to her, creating an environment that will both treat and prevent the disease is a task for therapy. At the same time, the specialist emphasized that therapeutic relationships are not like any other. In them, a person, without fear of rejection and without shame, can freely express feelings, lives and "closes" traumatic experiences, receives thoughtful attention from another - and learns to treat himself with the same care.

Earlier, on January 13, neurologist Ekaterina Demyanovskaya told Izvestia about factors contributing to the development of depression. In particular, genetic predisposition, chronic stress, poor nutrition, lack of sunlight and organic lesions of the brain contribute to the development of depression.