Psychologists Are Also People Of Flesh And Blood (we Laugh, We Cry, We Get Angry…)
This article is inspired by the many times that I have been told a somewhat peculiar comment regarding my profession. And not only me, but many of those who read this text and dedicate themselves to psychology must be thinking the same thing.
Debunking some myths about the profession of psychologist
There are many branches of psychology, but not all of them are popularly known. When someone thinks of a psychologist, they automatically associate it with the clinical specialty, that is, the discipline that studies behavioral disorders to subsequently subject the patient to therapy to improve their quality of life. Coincidentally, the profession of clinical psychologist is the most exploited by the Hollywood film industry and is also closely related to the most famous clinical psychologist in history, Sigmund Freud, Psychoanalysis and the enormous world of dreams.
The couch
For this reason, when someone asks you what is your profession and you answer that you are a psychologist, almost instantly they have already imagined you sitting in a chair with a patient on the couch.
“Divan: armchair/bed to lie down and
closely related to psychoanalysis.”
Self-psychology
Once it is assumed that you dedicate yourself to psychology, and although no one knows that yours is not the clinical specialty, one of the phrases that we have heard the most since we began studying the fantastic degree of Psychology usually arises in the minds of the interlocutors.
Leaving aside other well-known recurring questions such as: guess what I think, are you psychoanalyzing me? Or tonight I dreamed of a castle, does that mean something to you? There goes the phrase that they repeat to us until exhaustion!:
“Psychologists study this career because they have a problem and want to cure themselves (vulgarly called “crazy” or “disordered”).”
Let’s reflect on this sentence. As in all careers, there are peculiar, strange, conflictive people and even with serious behavioral problems Just as it happens in psychology, this also happens in all disciplines, as in all jobs and especially in life.
There are people with more or less serious problems in all corners of our society, and also some in the faculty. I attest to it because I have had the “pleasure” of meeting several “peculiarities” who come from the same guild.
But this does not mean that we should make the exception the rule There are also people who start studying this career to better understand why they are the way they are. Although we have all had those thoughts in our heads at some point, simply for the mere fact of being human and thoughtful beings. But my advice to people who are considering studying Psychology with the sole interest of trying to solve their problems, it is preferable to go to consultation and try to solve your possible “problems” or concerns that way. In the end, you will surely save yourself a lot of time and go directly to the goal.
Psychologists have emotions, although it may seem incredible
As the title of the article says, psychologists are people We do not do everything well, nor can we surely “cure” ourselves, as many believe. We have tools to manage some situations more easily, but we don’t do magic.
We make mistakes, we fall, we hurt ourselves and we also suffer We have difficulties, complicated circumstances and less bearable moments, like everyone. We have the right to be bad, like all other people and that doesn’t make us any less professional. We have to keep in mind that our attitudes, emotions and situations affect us subjectively, so we have to discern very well what affects us on a personal or professional level. If what happens to us is really unavoidable, it is necessary to start solving that problem and that situation in order to be able to do our job in the best possible way.
Psychologists who come for consultation
Psychologists often also need to go to consultations to solve certain issues that affect them. Does it sound strange for a psychologist to go to another psychologist? Well it shouldn’t be.
For example, a psychologist may need to go to therapy because he or she cannot develop grieving the death of a family member or loved one It may happen that this person goes to a consultation so that another professional can help them in accompanying this process called grief.
Grief has different phases, and it does not always move quickly from one state to another, but we can stay in one of these phases for a more or less time or even get stuck in one of them. Especially in this society in which we are not taught to grieve normally, it seems that we have very little time to overcome grief and not all of us need the same time to assimilate the loss of that person who is now gone.
Each person deals with bad times in their own way.
Many people even get stuck in a phase for years, which does not allow them to move forward in their lives normally. In other cultures and/or countries, such as Mexico, the loss or death of a person is dealt with in a very different way. Examples such as the Day of the Dead in Mexico when everyone goes out to the streets to remember the deceased with songs and customs with skulls painted on their faces. On the other hand, in the United States a type of catering is carried out at home so that everyone can say goodbye to the deceased and give condolences to the family.
They are different ways of facing the same reality. Psychologists, as human beings, are also different when it comes to going through a moment like this. We are not immunized against sadness nobody is.
In short: a psychologist is neither a robot nor a magician
So then and returning to the thesis of the article, I hope that after reading this text, when you meet a psychologist again, you think differently about what it is like or what it can contribute to you. Don’t forget that we are people, first of all, people With defects and virtues, with fears and illusions.
