PROBLEMS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELING AND PSYCHOTHERAPY AS PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSISTANCE

Abstract

The article is devoted to highlighting the problems and difficulties that psychologists encounter when providing psychological assistance to clients. Article’s purpose is to describe modern trends in psychological counseling and psychotherapy as branches of psychological science and practice. The article notes that a pressing problem in psychological counseling and psychotherapy is the client’s negative attitude towards the psychologist at the beginning of the sessions, distrust of him or the direction of his work. All these phenomena in the psychodynamic tradition are defined by one term – “resistance”. Attention is focused on the fact that the source of resistance can also be the psychologist. On the other hand, the reaction of resistance often arises in response to the distorted perception of the client by the consultant. Such distortions lead to the fact that the emphasis shifts from the client’s actual need to the psychologist, which is actualized using the projection mechanism. The article describes various forms of resistance and mechanisms that protect the client from potential losses or harm: client’s silence, topic avoidance, rigidity, action, etc.; the views of various foreign researchers are represented, in particular: Z. Freud, V. Techke, H. Spotnitz, R. Greenson, R. Likha, A. Beck, J. Bujenthal, S. Rogers, E. Johnson, etc. – on the problem of resistance. It is also noted that most psychotherapists and consulting psychologists agree that it is the quality of the psycho consulting and psychotherapeutic alliance that determines the effectiveness and efficiency of assistance. Therefore, in psychological counseling and psychotherapy, interpersonal (communicative, interactive and socio-perceptive) interaction between the psychologist and the client occupies a central place. Of course, the psychologist is primarily responsible for establishing contact. That is why several requirements are imposed on his education and personal characteristics.