We review the most important aspects of psychotherapy.
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Interview with María Marín, from Mariva Psychologists
With the aim of making it more accessible and better understanding how it works, we have talked with Marta Marín, director of Mariva Psicologías , who has revealed to us some of the keys to psychotherapy, resolving some of the doubts and taboos that usually hover over it.
HealthyMortel: What problems or situations indicate that we should go to psychotherapy? How to recognize the difference between normal day-to-day problems and problems that require professional help?
Marta Marín: We should go to therapy when we feel overwhelmed, the important thing is not the magnitude of the problem, but the discomfort it causes us. That is, we may be overwhelmed by little things or we may not even know why, but if we feel suffering or the need to seek help, we should go to therapy without hesitation. For all this, I believe that we should not differentiate between normal problems vs. problems that need professional help, for example, feeling stress at work, having a bad time due to a breakup, etc. They are normal problems that may also need professional help because we do not know manage them or, simply, we want to learn to better cope with these situations.
What is the role of psychologists when offering psychological assistance? Your role is not limited to giving advice, right?
Not at all, in fact, giving advice is not a psychologist’s job. A psychologist is an expert in mental health and in the study of human behavior, so he analyzes behaviors (understanding these as thoughts, actions and physiological responses) to modify those that cause us discomfort. For example, a phobia is a fear response, a learned behavior, the psychologist gives the patient guidelines so that he ends this phobia. It is important to make clear the idea that the psychologist does not advise, cannot tell us what to do and does not have the keys to solve problems, however, he can help you understand your problem and guide you in the search for solutions.
When people go to psychotherapy for the first time, what are usually their concerns about what might happen in these sessions?
The truth is that, unfortunately, they come with very wrong ideas. They think that they only come to talk about their problems, that the psychologist is a counselor, etc. They have doubts about the duration of the therapy, about its effectiveness and many fears that usually dissipate in this first session when everything is explained to them and their doubts are resolved.
Do these possible fears disappear quickly, or are they present during most of the treatment?
As I was telling you, they disappear quickly, the most common thing is that in the first session this fear is already dissipated and the patients leave relieved and with a better concept of the psychologist they came from. I think this is due to all the myths and false beliefs that undermine our profession and that we psychologists strive to refute with our daily work.
And what do psychotherapists do to make patients feel as comfortable as possible and to be able to communicate what is happening to them honestly?
First of all, clarify that everything they tell is confidential, except in a judicial context or very isolated cases, confidentiality is one of the bases of therapy. On the other hand, the patient immediately perceives that he is not judged, it is not the role of the psychologist to judge or give lessons on how things should be done, we are also quite used to hearing thousands of cases, it is difficult for us to be scandalized. It is not usually a problem, in general patients feel comfortable very quickly. It is also important that they know that they are the ones who set the pace of the therapy, they will tell what they want and do the techniques they want, although we emphasize the importance of frankness and trust in what is proposed.
Once the problem has been identified, what do psychologists do to monitor what happens to the patient between sessions?
Whenever the session begins, the patient has the opportunity to comment on the progress and events that have taken place. On the other hand, in many cases, they continue to send us information by email and/or by phone. Of course, this is voluntary as there are those who prefer to update us directly in the session. If they send us emails, we answer them as soon as possible, this allows greater agility and usually has a beneficial effect on therapy. I believe that knowing that they have means of contact at their disposal creates security, in any case, our patients are aware that, if for whatever reason they need to advance the appointment, we try to find a space to be able to work with them if something unexpected has happened. relevance.
- If you want to contact Mariva Psychologists, her email is: [email protected]
To the classic question “what do you do?” I always answer “basically I am a psychologist”. In fact, my academic training has revolved around the psychology of development, education and community, a field of study influenced my volunteer activities, as well as my first work experiences in personal services.