Is any psychologist worth it for any case?

The operation of a psychotherapy center is not easy: the forms of discomfort and the problems that lead people to go to these consultations are very varied. How to make sure that the team of professionals who work in one of these clinics or psychology cabinets will be able to give the necessary attention? The key is in the selection of psychologists, training and joint work dynamics.

To understand how to respond to this diversity and complexity in the problems of patients, We interviewed Beatriz Romero, Director of Despertares Psychological Consultation.

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Interview with Beatriz Romero, Director of Despertares Psychological Consultation

Beatriz Romero Martin She is a psychologist specializing in adult psychotherapy, couples therapy, and organizational psychology. is in front of Psychological Consultation Awakenings, an entity specializing in mental health care that has centers in Madrid, Getafe, Leganés and Móstoles.

In this interview, she tells us about how teams of psychologists are set up to cover all possible needs that patients may have.

When selecting personnel to expand the team of experts that the psychotherapy center has, is it difficult to know how to choose well?

Yes, it is complicated since our selection criteria is strict. We, at Despertares, are very clear about the profiles of the professionals with whom we want to collaborate. They are profiles of high value, good training, a lot of experience and the ability to work as a psychologist.

This last required capacity may seem obvious, but something we have learned in these 8 years of journey and more than 8000 patients attended is that not only training and experience make a psychologist be good. Maturity and having a good aptitude and attitude for it is also very important, this is usually the most difficult thing to find. From our team we can affirm that they have training, experience and individual capacity, which is why they are very good psychologists.

Is it common for psychologists on the team to advise each other? Or do they always work in parallel, without their paths crossing when it comes to handling their patient cases?

We have a team of approximately 35 psychologists with different specialties, spread over 5 centers in the community of Madrid. Being such a large team, the possibilities of support and advice are very important.

Our team, in the centers, has common meeting areas, and in them during the breaks many assessments take place. We have specialists in all the psychological problems that we usually see in consultation, so any doubt or need for support is immediately attended to. Sometimes there are psychologists who request complete supervision of cases, these supervisions are also carried out by our most veteran team.

On the other hand, it is worth mentioning that when a psychologist starts working at Awakenings, it is because he has the ability to proven to care for patients with guarantees, so in practice, psychologists are very independent and self-sufficient

Are there methods and theoretical-practical orientations from which it is possible to treat any psychological problem, or is it necessary to combine several of these methodologies? If it's the latter, how do you strike a balance between what's offered to patients?

At Despertares we work with a comprehensive method of theoretical-practical orientations. This means that the psychologist-patient assignment is made based on the profile of the psychologist and the characteristics of the patient or the demand.

All psychological orientations are applicable to all cases, but not all psychologists have all the tools of a single orientation. We value the professional as a whole, and the skills of our professionals are framed within different psychological currents but not only one.

Experience has taught us that the most effective way is for professionals to use the tools with empirical evidence and to frame them within their theoretical framework. This is how in Despertares we have managed to balance theoretical and practical knowledge, empirical evidence and characteristics of the patients and their demand.

Beyond the reasons that patients say have led them to seek professional help in psychotherapy, there are many other factors that influence your problem, such as your job, your family life, the group of friends, etc Is this also taken into account to find out what type of professional and therapy best suits your needs?

Many patients who call us asking for help are not very clear about the real demand of origin. They tell you their circumstance and we are the ones who, based on what they tell us and our experience, try to determine where care should begin.

In order to know the data necessary for this, we need to know data about the person and their situation, personal, work, social, etc. We try to find out these data before assigning the case to one of the professionals on our team.

What criteria does a psychological assistance center with the characteristics of Consulta Despertares follow when assigning patients to the psychologists on the team?

It would be: personal data, patient preferences (there are patients who request that the psychologist have a specific type of orientation or that apply a specific tool), reason for consultation and other data that help us to take the first “still photo” of the person.

To what extent is continuous training important when it comes to being a psychologist specialized in therapy? Isn't it enough with what you learn in the university and in the day to day treating patients?

The educational career of psychologists is very long. Let me explain, the university offers a first approach to psychology, teaches orientation and techniques. This is not enough to be a psychologist in the field of health psychology.

To be a psychologist in this field, it is necessary to have a deep knowledge of the psyche, of the theoretical frameworks and of the different techniques that are used. This in-depth knowledge is achieved after completing different training courses and master's degrees. One of them, a master's degree in general health psychology, is an essential requirement to work at Despertares.

Psychologists, in the exercise of our profession, sometimes see that we do not feel safe in some area because we lack training. To fill these gaps there are many specialized courses in all kinds of problems.

To facilitate access to these formations, Despertares has an agreement with the Spanish Association for the Promotion and Development of Psychotherapy, where our psychologists receive high-quality training under very advantageous conditions for them.