The world of psychology in general, and the profession of psychotherapists in particularare very likely to be the basis of many myths that circulate in popular culture and that turn out to be totally false. Myths about the role of therapists, about mental disorders and about the possibilities of healing, among other things, which make the vision we have about this area of work very biased and full of mistakes.
In short, these myths about psychotherapy They do not simply make people know less about the work of psychologists, but also, because of them, prejudices and false expectations are created that are detrimental to the fit between these services and the people who need them.
Therefore, reviewing these different myths about psychotherapists and their work one by one is beneficial to be clear about the usefulness and potential of this important resource. Let’s see what are these erroneous beliefs.
1. Therapy is only for people with disorders
People with diagnosed mental disorders or serious illnesses may have many reasons for seeing a psychotherapist, but it is also perfectly normal. than people without any of these problems decide to rely on the services of one of these professionals.
For example, someone who wants to improve their cognitive performance may decide to use working memory training, or learn ways to manage everyday problems.
2. The psychotherapist “cures”
In psychology it is not possible to reverse situations, to make the person return to a stage prior to when a crisis or the first manifestations of a disorder appeared. The brain is a set of organs that is always changing, it never goes through the same state, and the same goes for mental states. When diagnosed disorders appear, can mitigate your symptomsbut not make them disappear completely.
3. The patient maintains a passive role
Nothing could be further from the truth. Psychotherapists contribute their experience and tools, but Patients don’t just walk through the office door and let yourself be done. They must do their part to progress.
4. Pay for someone to listen to us
The effectiveness of psychotherapy is not based simply on letting patients talk and vent, much less so. This myth may be based on a simplistic image of traditional psychoanalysis sessions, but neither current psychotherapy is based on the theories of Sigmund Freud nor does the service offered consist of giving the possibility for someone to listen to us.
In fact, psychotherapists They will only collect relevant information to guide the process of diagnosis, prognosis and intervention, which means that in addition to collecting data about patients, they use scientifically tested tools for which they have been trained and which, applied to patients, help their quality of life improve. For example, you can see this by reviewing some cognitive-behavioral techniques.
This is another of the most widespread myths about psychotherapy, but it is completely false. In psychology there are hardly any “golden rules” by which to guide our lives.but there are tools to apply in specific cases to improve people’s quality of life. Patients should not wait for the therapist to tell them how to organize their life. On the most specific topics.
6. In psychotherapy anything goes as long as you believe in it
This is completely false. Not all therapeutic proposals are valid, only those that are They have scientifically proven effectiveness for a given type of problem or objective. Believing that a method can work is not enough to make it actually useful.
7. Therapists impose their point of view
In treatments with scientifically proven efficacy, therapists They do not try to impose their own schemesbut rather they collect information and, based on what they know at that moment, they see which intervention is most effective in each case.
8. Optimism is taught in the sessions
Therapy services They are not limited to simply spreading optimism. In fact, in many cases this is not even necessary, since people show a predisposition to interpret things optimistically.
9. Reading self-help is like going to therapy
Reading self-help books has not been shown to have therapeutic efficacyamong other things because it does not allow interaction between patient and expert and, on the other hand, it cannot offer personalized treatment. Its usefulness is, rather, to offer content from which to reflect.
The progress that occurs through therapy sessions It usually arrives graduallynot from one day to the next. Additionally, this usually indicates that its effects will be persistent.
