Enter

Psychological counseling is a relatively new field in the professional

activity of a psychologist, and in the development of science in our
country, scientific research on psychology has recently emerged as an
independent field of activity, along with traditional practical forms of
teaching psychology, psychological correction, and psychodiagnostics.
Undoubtedly, this activity requires special, deep knowledge and
professional training from a specialist. It is not possible to simply
organize this preparation, to replace it with the above-mentioned areas of
knowledge and skills, but all these knowledge are very necessary for a
psychologist-counselor. Knowledge in the field of psychological
counseling is mandatory not only for those who want to become
practical psychologists, but also for social service workers and
defectologists (specialists in the field of psychology). Currently, the
science of psychological counseling is included in the training of
specialists in all higher educational institution programs, and there is
every reason to believe that in the near future, our republic will be equal
to the developed countries of the world in terms of the number of
practicing psychologists. Training of such specialists in higher
educational institutions began as psychologist-consultants. 1. In recent
years, the majority of psychologists who have received higher
psychological education in higher educational institutions of the country
feel the need to improve their knowledge in the field of psychological
counseling, but this need has not been fully met until now. In our
opinion, one of the main reasons for this state of affairs is the fact that
not a single training manual on psychological counseling has been
created in the country. First of all, the textbook can be used only by
those who want to become practical psychologists, social service
workers or special psychologists (defectologists) and undergraduates
who have to study psychological counseling as one of the compulsory
subjects. Secondly, this book can be useful for self- study for those who
are just interested in applied psychology as a system of knowledge and
skills useful to a person in everyday life.
CHAPTER I. WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELING?

Psychological counseling refers to a special field of applied psychology

related to the provision of psychological assistance directly provided by
a specialist psychologist as advice and recommendations to those in
need. They are given by the psychologist on the basis of an initial study
of the problem faced by the client in his life and a personal interview.
Often, psychological counseling is conducted at a predetermined hour,
in a room specially equipped for this purpose, usually free of strangers
and one-on- one, face-to-face. Psychological consultation is conducted
in the form of a personal interview of a psychologist with a client, which
lasts from one to three hours. During this conversation, the client talks
about his problems and himself. The psychologist, in turn, listens
carefully trying to understand the nature of the problem, trying to clarify
this problem both for himself and for the client. scientific, reasonable
recommendations are given. The advice and suggestions given to the
client by the psychologist- consultant in most cases are aimed at the
client being able to fully solve his problem without the help of the
psychologist-consultant. Psychological counseling is a practice created
to provide practical psychological help to people based on the belief that
they can solve all psychological problems that arise in human life. But
the client always knows what the essence of his problem is that it
consists of and relying on its strength and capabilities, it does not clearly
know and does not understand how to solve it. A professionally trained
psychologist-counselor should help him in this regard. This is the main
task of psychological counseling. During counseling, the psychologist
usually uses special work methods and methods of influencing the
client's problem aimed at finding a practical solution to the client's
problem in a short period of time. That's it while this solution is
implemented in away that is understandable and possible for the
customer to implement.
 The meeting of a psychologist-consultant with a client is often not
limited to one or two meetings. In most cases, it is necessary to consult
with the client three times or more over a long period of time. The need
for such long-term counseling arises in the following typical cases: The
client's problem is so complex that it is almost impossible to understand
it in one or two hours. The client has not one, but several problems, the
solution of each of which requires a separate consultation; The solution
of the proposed problem cannot be implemented immediately and fully
independently by the client and requires additional assistance from the
consultant. Due to the individual characteristics of the client, the
psychologist-consultant does not fully believe that he will be able to
solve his problem immediately and without additional help. Such cases
occur if the client does not have enough self-confidence, cannot control
his emotions and behavior, if his level of intellectual development is not
sufficient to independently accept a reasonable, correct solution in
difficult situations. Who, when and why consult a psychologist-
counselor? People who are in the high risk zone in terms of their
physical and health status, often referred to as the middle class of the
population, turn to a psychologist-consultant. The high risk zone refers
to people who are prone to nervous, mental and physical illnesses and
situations where they can actually get sick. Other, physically and
mentally strong, much healthier people get out of such situations only by
feeling tired or uncomfortable. Those who seek psychological
counseling are usually people who have not adjusted well enough to life
and are not very busy with their work, because it takes time to get a full,
detailed consultation of a psychologist.
There are many unlucky people among those who turn to a psychologist-
consultant for help in life and more than anyone else, and it is precisely
these people who think that they are physically unhealthy that bad luck
forces them to wait for help from a psychologist. Among those who turn
to a psychologist- counselor, there are people with one or another
emotional withdrawal, which, in turn, is the result of many depressions
and despair. When do these people start actively seeking help from a
psychologist? This usually does not happen immediately when they have
a problem, but they turn to it when the most difficult times in their lives
begin. When a person does not know what to do, or when he has no
options to solve his problem on his own, he comes to a psychologist-
consultant for help. A person may turn to a psychologist for help when
he is in a bad state of mind, when he thinks that something scary is
happening to him or to people close to him, that may lead to bad
consequences. What do people expect from a counseling psychologist?
Why do they turn to him? These questions can be answered as follows:
1. Some clients know how to solve their problems in general and seek
only psychological help from a psychologist-consultant. 2. Others do not
know how to solve the problem and go for advice. 3. Those who do not
fully believe in themselves or do not know which of the available
options to solve their problems. It is necessary to convince them and
direct their activities in the right direction. 4. These are often lonely
people who just need someone to talk to, they usually don't have serious
psychological problems, but occasionally they desperately need
someone who listens carefully and is kind. Among the clients of
psychological counseling, there are also those who bring to the
psychologist-consultant just out of curiosity or just a desire to argue with
him. Some really want to know what a psychologist- counselor is and
what he does.