No, psychologists do not give free therapy

Yeah, psychologists dedicated to mental health intervention They are one of those groups of professionals who, together with photographers, musicians and many others, are often questioned by this idea: "Will you work for me for free, please?".

Of course, these kinds of requests are never made so directly; they are usually expressed implicitly, leaving the conversation to continue to have the appearance of informal dialogue when in the end a professional commitment is proposed.

But no, the task of psychologists in the field of health It is defined, precisely, by being a job, something for which by default you have to receive a payment, either from patients or from public entities. If this very basic idea is not respected by many people, it is partly due to two myths about psychology that we will see below.

The personal need to "make people happy"

One of the myths that most feed the belief that psychologists can be expected to provide therapy for free is the idea that, by having chosen that professional career,

Before they are workers, they are pure souls who are happy simply making others happy.. I mean, doing favors.

Of course, this vision of what it means to "make others happy" is totally self-interested and short-sighted. How many people could benefit from a psychologist who has to spend a large part of the week practicing for free? During how much time?

The same idealistic vision that leads to say, for example, that culture is free to defend that artists can see how their work is distributed without charging nothing makes many people see psychologists as people who can afford to become an NGO themselves (although without the advantages that NGOs).

Of course psychologists like to help others, and in many cases that feeling is what makes many decide to start a career in psychology. But that does not mean that by default and until the contrary is stated, the interests of others must come before those of the professional.

anyone can give advice

Another myth that leads many people to expect free psychotherapy sessions is that what is done in them is, basically give advice. Something that can be done at a bar, something that is easy and intuitive. Something that can even happen as leisure time for both parties.

Why don't we offer free psychological therapy?

Why try to charge for something that everyone can do and that is also light entertainment? Also, giving advice and seeing how the other person respects our point of view must be very good for self-esteem, right? Psychologists are very lucky.

Actually, there is nothing in this reasoning that is not wrong. What health psychologists do It is far from giving advice, and it is not talk either light or a "talking cure" as fast as microwaving rice. And, of course, the raison d'être of psychotherapy is not to trade advice for a healthy helping of ego.

What is psychological intervention

What psychologists dedicated to intervening in individual people's problems do is, among other things, schedule a schedule with which they agree not to be doing other things when it's time to serve a customer.

It is also actively listening and concentrating your efforts for a long time on understanding the problem and the needs of the person being served. It is necessary to know where the specific characteristics of a person's life end and where begin the generalities that allow us to compare this case with others and establish a diagnosis of the situation.

The information obtained in the consultation is also contrasted with another class of information of a more theoretical scope, the result of the work of many psychologists who are dedicated to research.

psychotherapy too It consists of making decisions that commit both parties., since estimating whether or not a symptom picture fits into a theoretical diagnostic category entails the risk of being wrong, and the actions that are going to be carried out must be coherent with this decision.

The psychologists create intervention programs that consist of much more than just talking: can lead exposure sessions to phobias, biofeedback and even assess cognitive abilities on site or through tests that need to be used in a very precise way, among other things.

And of course, let's not forget the training. In order for psychologists to provide their services, they must invest effort, time and money not only in a university degree, but also in master's degrees, specialized seminars and even reading scientific articles, since the science of behavior and mental processes is evolving constantly. Intellectual stagnation is not an option.

Claim the value of your own work

All of these activities that psychologists perform would be impossible if they did not demand fair payment for their work. Not getting paid on time is a valid option, but not what defines the profession.

The mistake is, perhaps, believing that the work of psychologists, designers or computer scientists is so insignificant that can pass as something that could be done without charge but that is normally remunerated to give it the appearance of professionalism. A belief that, coincidentally, always benefits the party requesting the favor, as if the strange thing were to receive a payment in exchange for work.