Sergio García (Introspectia): «The therapeutic relationship is fundamental»

The fact of offering psychotherapy services has a micro and a macro dimension; it is not just limited to the here and now of treating the patient directly.

Organizing and establishing a psychology center is a complex process, which often involves coordinating with a more or less broad group of people. It is not easy, and it includes added challenges to knowing how to offer therapy.

To learn more about how a psychotherapy center works based on the work of a diverse team of mental health professionals, we interview Sergio García, from Introspectia Psychology.

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Interview with Sergio García, from Introspectia: how does a psychology clinic work?

Sergio García is a General Health Psychologist and member of Introspectia Psicología, a psychological assistance center with a presence in both Madrid and Guadix and which also offers online therapy. Here he explains to us how the process of creation and consolidation of a psychology center has been.

What are the main objectives that a psychology clinic should set itself to respond to the needs of the population?

As professionals, we must be very aware of being able to transmit to our patients that we have a deep knowledge about the intervention that we are carrying out with them; After all, they are putting their privacy, their trust and their health in us. This deserves great respect.

Therefore, our first objective is continuous training. We are intervening on the processes and problems that we better control, and we continue to train to respond to a broader spectrum of needs each time.

On the other hand, we professionals cannot pretend to be experts in everything. Faced with this, teamwork is a fundamental key. In Introspectia Psychology we are 8 partners. We have tried to create a diverse team, in which we share various aspects of our experience and, at the same time, we have different specializations and We seek to focus on very diverse needs of the population, in order to be able to serve more and more people with different situations and circumstances.

When creating a psychotherapy center, why is it important to be clear about the values ​​on which it will be based?

Having clear values, in any team, and especially, in which we dedicate ourselves to work with people, is fundamental.

In the first place, it is a first step to agree on the path that we establish with the people with whom we decide to start and work. If these values ​​are not clear and are not respected by the whole team, then problems will come: each member will have a different idea of ​​what is the next step to take, or about how to act in the face of a certain problem or situation.

The diversity of opinions is something tremendously good and healthy in any team, but at the same time, there are some basic principles that it is essential that they are clear to everyone; otherwise the deal will be very complicated.

Second, it is essential that the person who puts her privacy in our hands knows what our reason for being there is, and under what frame we are going to be able to help her. To do this, the first to be clear about this, being able to transmit it, are us.

Third, having clear human and professional values ​​is always a guide in the face of the uncertainty of the future, and in the face of day-to-day difficulties. The routine, the schedules, the daily dynamics... They are phenomena that sometimes take us away and prevent us from seeing the direction we are taking.

Therefore, it is essential to have a scale of values ​​against which we can stop to check, with some frequency, how well we are doing; This allows us to take perspective, detect faults and correct our direction.

And how is the working method used in the interventions established? For example, the type of therapies to use.

In this sense, we must take several aspects into account and, above all, the person who stands before us; not all people or all vital moments fit in the same way with the different therapeutic approaches.

To address this issue, in Introspectia we prioritize that the person in charge of making referrals has a good clinical eye and know well the different working methods to know what can best suit the needs of each one; It is not only the approach that must be taken into account, but also the therapist's own style.

Each person is different, and will be able to fit in or better connect with one type of professional or another. It is necessary to do this process as well as possible, since, for us, the therapeutic relationship is essential for the process to be successful.

On the other hand, we do not leave everything to our own discretion. At Introspectia, we believe it is important that the patient can decide as well; thus, the only way to be able to carry out this process honestly is by giving it enough information so that it can decide with criteria.

A call is kept picking up the demand, and he is told about the different work models that we have, so that he can tell us which one he thinks can best fit him. He is invited to enter our website where we have an exhaustive description of our working methods and where each of our professionals is presented in depth.

Is it difficult to find a balance in the type of specialties that the members of a team of psychologists should have, so that they can complement each other well?

It is logical to think that it would be advisable that, in order for the team to be as varied as possible, each member should focus on their work in the approach of a series of pathologies, individually, differing from the intervention of their colleagues and companions.

In this case, it is true that each professional has specific training, a career and their own psychotherapeutic tools.

However, we all also share a common and general formation; This facilitates that, thanks to the communication between us, and the distribution of functions, a balance can be created between our specialties. Thus, for example, we have some minimal aspects in common, such as being, all our interventions, scientifically endorsed.

In your case, how was the process of founding the clinic and starting to operate during the first weeks?

We remember the first weeks with great desire to learn, vertigo to take this great step and great enthusiasm for creating such a beautiful project from scratch with my colleagues.

The first thing we did was establish what were the personal objectives of each one, and what we wanted to achieve as a group, to plan what our goals were going to be throughout the process. We decided that we wanted to create a web platform where we could conduct psychological outreach and promote the therapeutic work of each professional.

To do this, after receiving the corresponding judicial guidance from a lawyer from the College of Psychology and an advisor, we contacted contact with a web designer who, through our preferences, shaped what our page is today introspectiapsicologia.com.

In it, we also specify what our working methods are, making a summary of how each one of them works (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, EMDR and Humanism); what services we offer (face-to-face and online therapy for adults, children, adolescents and couples) and we expose what our rates are.

Second, understanding the importance of information transmission and the role of word of mouth to increase our reach, we created an account on Instagram and a page on Facebook, to which we upload content several times a week, explaining through photos and videos different topics of interest.

During the process of creating our clinic, a high level of communication was necessary between the team to know how we were living what was happening, to share different tasks so that our work was productive, and integrate new ideas that could help us to efficiently, effectively and effectively achieve our objectives.

In what ways do you think psychotherapy centers can harness the potential of the Internet to make their work more accessible and transparent? Many people may not be aware that they need to see a psychologist.

We consider that it is essential to make an adequate disclosure of difficulties related to mental health, in order to normalize the process of asking for help. We all face problems of anxiety, sadness, overwhelm, hopelessness, loss... To a greater or lesser extent, more or less frequently, especially since last year, with the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There are times when we do not identify the problems we are having in our life and others, in which, although we recognize them, we do not know what to do or who to turn to and, However, we all need, at some point, to reach out, listen to us, understand us and support us in order to overcome the obstacles that we face. we find.

Unfortunately, it is common to find the thought “you have to do it by yourself”, “if you ask for help it is because you are weak”. For this reason, it is important to take advantage of the great Internet platform in a correct way to send a message of hope. and closeness, explaining that, of course, you do not have to be able to do it alone, and that, if you ask for help, you are brave: no weak.