Requirements To Be A Good Psychotherapist

A positive relationship between therapist and client It is, in addition to a requirement to be a good psychotherapist, a predictor of therapy success. The more positive the relationship, the more open the client will be to exploring their problems and actively collaborating in the change process. Both must experience a feeling of team creating a positive emotional bond and agreement towards achieving therapeutic objectives.

It is important to have an asymmetric relationship, the center is the client and their needs, a symmetrical relationship is the one we have with friends or co-workers. It is also necessary to establish formal rules of operation, space, frequency and duration of sessions, active collaboration…

You want to know how to be a good psychologist ? Below, we offer you a list of the social skills and requirements to be a good psychotherapist:

1. Sincere interest

A good psychotherapist has a sincere interest in people and their psychological well-being.

2. Authenticity and respect

Have personal coherence, avoid defensive responses, be there for the client, have attention and empathetic responses. It is important to pay attention to the client’s resources and qualities. At some point you can make a self-disclosure by giving information about yourself, although it has to be infrequent so as not to steal time or attention from the client. The purpose is to increase collaboration and trust.

3. Empathy

Understand people from their point of view. Not only understand your feelings, thoughts and attitudes but also perceive How does all this affect your life?.

4. Mental openness

A psychotherapist will meet many people and all types of experiences and decision making. A good psychotherapist understands that the meaning of things is different for each person and must be respected.

5. Active listening and observation

Listening makes it easier for the client to open up to talk about themselves and their concerns. With active listening you will increase the probability of better understand what you are experiencing and, furthermore, it will generate a more satisfactory relationship. It is important to observe both verbal and non-verbal behavior.

6. Unconditional acceptance

It is important to accept the client as they are without passing judgment. However, just because the therapist accepts it does not mean that he or she thinks it is the right thing to do or is more adaptive. We have to leave our values ​​a little on the back burner.

7. Trust

Transmit confidence to your clients that you will do everything possible to help them, that you are there and that you will not harm them in any way.

8. Communication skills

It is necessary for the therapist to have communicative resources that help the client to have a good understanding.

9. Creativity and flexibility

The therapist must adapt to the problems and characteristics of each client and must be able to acquire new skills.

10. Emotional intelligence and self-regulation

The therapist has to manage your emotions so that they do not affect the therapeutic process and know how to maintain the necessary therapeutic distance. Emotional intelligence is a necessary skill to be a good psychotherapist.

11. Decentering

As we have commented before, what is important is the client and their way of constructing themselves and their world. Not your way of building.

12. Compliance with ethical and professional requirements

Such as confidentiality, referring to another professional when the client’s problems cannot be treated for some reason and avoiding the development of another type of relationship with the client other than the professional one. Following the code of ethics is more than a skill, it is an obligation of the psychologist.

Helping your patients face their problems and suffering will depend on you being able to master these therapeutic skills as well as the specific techniques of each intervention.

A good psychotherapist must also have a very complete and specific training and be aware that in your profession one should never stop training. It must also be kept in mind that therapy has a large part of art since it is necessary to decide what attitudes to take and at what time for the therapeutic process to be carried out successfully.

A psychotherapist in training has the challenge of choose a theoretical model Faced with the great variety of offerings, configure your therapeutic style and overcome the fear of the experience.

We must keep in mind that there are many ways to act in therapy!

The common key is in develop flexibility and creativity to be able to adapt to each therapeutic process and reinvent oneself in new situations. When you are already a new therapist you have the challenge of acquiring experience and confidence to enjoy your work, always accepting your own limitations. It is normal that there is a fear for one’s own competition and future success, but little by little one will integrate their own style that will allow them to feel comfortable and, as a consequence, get good results with your clients or patients.

This article is merely informative, at PsychologyFor we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

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