Menovshchikov V. Yu. - Psychological counseling. Working with crisis and problematic situations. Theory and practice of psychological assistance. Workbook of a social security psychologist Origin of a psychological problem

THEORY AND PRACTICE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL HELP

v.yu.menovshchikov

introduction

IN PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELING

The manual discusses issues of psychological counseling in centers of socio-psychological (psychological and pedagogical) assistance, as well as other institutions for social protection of the population. Particular attention is paid to the counseling process and practical skills of the consultant. The methodological manual is intended for practical psychologists, social work specialists and students of psychological faculties.

Menovshchikov V.Yu.

Introduction to psychological counseling. 2nd ed. stereotypical. M.: Smysl, 2000. - 109 p.

The book was published with the participation of CSPA "Genesis" and the Institute of General Humanitarian Research

Isbn 5-89357-083-9

Chapter 1. SUBJECT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELING

1.1. The concept of psychological counseling........ 3

1.2. Mental norm and psychopathology.......................... 9

1.3. Origin of the psychological problem......................... 12

Chapter 2. THEORETICAL BASIS OF THE PROCESS

PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELING

2.1. General psychological foundations................................................... 19

2.2. Contributions of different theoretical orientations......... 22

2.3. Mechanisms of psychological influence......................... 29

2.4. The model of the “picture of the world” and its significance in

consultative and psychotherapeutic practice.... 32

Chapter 3. CLASSIFICATION OF TYPES OF COUNSELING

3.1. Types of Counseling......................................................... 39

3.2. Consultant positions................................................... ..41

Chapter 4. TYPES OF PROBLEM SITUATIONS

4.1. Main problem situations............................................. 43

4.2. Types of clients and their orientations................................... 45

Chapter 5. THE PROCESS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELING

5.1. Stages of psychological counseling......... 52

5.2. General overview of consultations

and methods........................................................ ........................... 55

5.3. Contact Establishment Stage...................................61

5.4. Information gathering and awareness stage

desired result........................................................ ...... 66

5.5. Enumeration of hypotheses (development of alternative

decisions)........................................................ ........................... 74

5.6. Summarizing the results of interaction with

client and leaving contact.................................................... 79

Chapter 6. Psychological

SMALL GROUP COUNSELING................................ 83

Chapter 7. FEATURES OF DISTANT CONSULTING

7.1. Telephone consultation............................................. 87

7.2. Advisory correspondence................................................... 90

Chapter 8. SPECIAL ISSUES

8.1. Supervision and training of consultants................................... 97

8.2. Burnout syndrome and its prevention.................................... 99

8.3. Ethics of a consultant......................................................... ...... 101

Literature................................................. ................................... 104

Chapter 1. SUBJECT PSYCHOLOGICALCONSULTING

1.1. The concept of psychologicalconsulting

The beginning of the development history psychological assistance should be sought in the depths of centuries. Even in the Ebers medical papyrus (XVI century BC), containing about a thousand prescriptions of healing potions and potions, the words of spells necessary for the use of medicines are given. Ancient kings accepted the services of “consultants”, ancient books “advised”. From the end of the 17th century. Attempts are being made to scientifically explain mental treatment methods, and more and more new variants are being proposed. Starting with the “magnetic fluid” of the Viennese physician A. Mesmer, they follow: in the 19th century - James Brad (hypnosis), in the 20th century. - Sigmund Freud (psychoanalysis), Carl Rogers (client-centered therapy), Frederick Perls (gestalt therapy), Milton Erickson (alternative hypnosis and therapy), Virginia Satir (family therapy) and many others (Lakosina, Ushakov, 1984). And if initially psychotherapy was the prerogative of doctors, then at the beginning of the 20th century. they were gradually joined by workers from other social services, and in the 1950s. In the United States, counseling psychology is becoming conceptually and organizationally isolated. Let's take a closer look at the latter.

Counseling psychology is interpreted as a branch of knowledge containing a systematic description of the process of providing psychological assistance (consulting). Counseling psychology is based on the idea that, with the help of a specially organized communication process, additional psychological strengths and abilities are actualized in the person seeking help, which, in turn, can provide new opportunities for finding a way out of a difficult life situation. What distinguishes counseling from classical psychotherapy is its rejection of the concept of illness and greater attention to the situation and personal resources.

To paraphrase G. Ebbinghaus, we can say: “Counseling has a long past, but counseling psychology has only a short history” - counseling psychology as a professional field can only be identified since 1951, when in the USA the Northwestern Conference recommended the name “counseling psychology”, or since 1952, when the new position of counseling psychologist was created and the American Psychological Association changed the name of the specialty, “Counseling and Guidance,” which was also used by non-psychologists, to “Counseling Psychology” (see Dawis, 1992). The second reason for this change was the need to differentiate the advisory field from clinical psychology, focused on psychotherapy and the treatment of psychopathologies.

Whitely, mentioned in the work of R. Davis, calls the “roots” of counseling psychology, first, the psychology of individual differences and its branches such as psychometric or psychological measurements; secondly, applied psychology.

Until the 1950s the field of applied psychology was understood primarily as the border between clinical and experimental psychology and consisted almost exclusively in the application psychology of individual differences. The other two branches of applied psychology at that time were educational psychology And industrial psychology, representing the psychology of individual differences in relation to school and labor activity. In the process of development, counseling psychology was divided into work with personnel educational institutions and student counseling, and from industrial psychology into forms professional psychology and professional counseling (see Dawis, 1992).

We have already mentioned that what distinguishes counseling from psychotherapy is the rejection of the concept of illness. However, not everything is so simple and unambiguously understood today in the psychological and psychotherapeutic “world.” Many answers (attempts to explain, describe various models of psychological assistance) only give rise to new questions. And yet we will try to answer some of them. First of all, let us dwell in more detail on the relationship between the concepts consulting And psychotherapy. Let's start with the concept psychotherapy. We have analyzed several of its definitions. The most general interpretation is given in the dictionary “Psychology” (M., 1990). Here the term "psychotherapy" is seen as originating from the Greek psyche(soul) and therapy(care, treatment). It means a complex therapeutic, verbal and non-verbal, impact on emotions, judgments, and self-awareness of a person in many mental, nervous and psychosomatic diseases. Moreover, they conventionally distinguish clinically oriented psychotherapy, aimed primarily at mitigating or eliminating existing symptoms, and personal-landmark about the bathroom, aiming to assist the patient in changing his attitude towards the social environment and his own personality.

A number of researchers (see Eidemiller, Justitsky, 1989) talk about non-medical psychotherapy, referring to counseling problematic families who are unable to cope with the organization of relationships. Others express some doubts about the use of the term “psychotherapy”, since in this case we are not talking about therapy (treatment) in the strict sense of the word.

Another term introduced into use specifically in Russia is psychocorrection.“Psychotherapy is, as is clear from the term itself, treatment. Psychocorrection, as is clear from this term, is aimed at correction, that is, at correcting certain disorders, but at the same time, treatment in some cases is not designed to completely eliminate pathological disorders , but only to compensate for them. An essential common feature of both psychotherapy and psychocorrection is the psychological impact aimed at normalizing or improving mental activity and neurosomatic functions of the human body" (Kabanov, Lichko, Smirnov, 1983). In the following, in the text of respected authors, the terms are used as synonyms. For example, methods of psychological correction are called autogenic training, training methods, family psychotherapy, etc.

Note that the same psychological influence in Russia is most often called psychotherapy if it is carried out by a doctor, and psychocorrection if it is used by a psychologist. The division of these concepts that has arisen in Russian psychology is not related to the peculiarities of the work, but to the rooted and legalized position that only people with a special medical education can engage in psychotherapy. This limitation is artificial, since psychotherapy involves non-drug, that is, psychological influence. In addition, the term “psychotherapy” is international and in most countries of the world it is clearly used in relation to to the source work carried out by professional psychologists (Aleshina, 1994).

Thus, in Russia there are at least four concepts that are similar in content: psychotherapy, psychocorrection, non-medical psychotherapy, psychological counseling. Let us present their similarities and differences in Table 1.

Table 1

DIRECTION
Psychotherapy
A. clinically		Liquidation
oriented	(psychiatrist,	symptoms
	psychotherapist)
B. personal-		Personal
oriented	psychologist,
	social	interpersonal
	worker	changes
Psychocorrection		Correction
	psychologist	one or another
		disorders,
		normalization
		mental
		activities
Non-medical	Psychologist	Optimization
psychotherapy
		relations
		(For example,
		in problematic

Consulting	Consulting	Adaptation
		to life at the expense of
	psychologist,	revitalization
	social	personal
	worker	resources (output
		from difficult
		vital
		situations)

We see that the terms psychotherapy And psychocorerectorship almost identical in content. Concepts also overlap non-medical psychotherapy And consultation. Moreover, within the framework of the concept psychotheraPiya two components are clearly distinguished, and the second of them, that is, person-oriented psychotherapy, is similar to the concepts non-medical psychotherapy And consulting.

What is psychological counseling in its essence?

Word consultation in the dictionary (see Ozhegov, Shvedova, 1995) has several meanings. This is a meeting of specialists on a particular matter, and advice given by a specialist, and institutions that give such advice (for example: legal advice).

Consult - means to consult with a specialist on some issue. And advice is just an opinion expressed to someone about what to do, what to do, etc. This is the difference between psychological counseling and psychotherapy, at least deep psychotherapy. Counseling focuses on more superficial work, often related to interpersonal relationships. The main task of a psychologist-consultant is to help the client look at his problems and life difficulties from the outside, to demonstrate and discuss those aspects of relationships that, being sources of difficulties, are usually not realized and not controlled (Aleshina, 1994). This is also a psychological impact, but the impact is milder. Counseling is also distinguished by its short duration (from one to 5-6 meetings), although almost “instant” psychotherapeutic techniques have appeared recently (Grinder, Bandler, 1992). Some authors consider counseling to be the initial stage of psychotherapeutic assistance. So, it can be assumed that different kinds Psychological assistance is applicable at different stages, possibly of a single process.

This process can be systematized and displayed in a table by introducing some conventional concepts, such as good standard(normal healthy man), pograpersonal rate(initial mental deviation), disease(pathological mental phenomena), and correlate them with types of psychological assistance, we get the following picture (see Table 2):

table 2

Thus, the choice of counseling as a form of psychological assistance depends on the degree of responsibility that the client himself can bear. This, in turn, presupposes an adequate orientation of the client in relation to problematic and advisory situations, an appropriate emotional state and a level of intellectual development that allows one to choose options for solving the problem situation, that is, as a rule, the client is within the conditional boundaries of “normal mental health.”

But what is a mental norm?

THEORY AND PRACTICE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL HELP

V. Yu. Menovshchikov

psychologicalconsulting

work with crisis and problem situations

Second edition, stereotypical

UDC 316.6

BBK 88.5 M 507

Menovshchikov V. Yu.

M 507 Psychological counseling: working with crisisand problematic situations. - 2nd ed., erased. - M.: Meaning, 2005. - 182 p.

The educational manual discusses issues of psychological counseling in socio-psychological centers(psychological and pedagogical) assistance, as well as other institutions and psychological services.

The manual is intended for students of the psychological facultyComrade, practical psychologists and social work specialists.

The book was published with the participation of SOP LLC

5-89357-200-9 ..- © Perm Regional Center for Psychology

pedagogical assistance to the population, 2002.

chapter 1. general idea O crisis,

problem and crisis intervention 7

chapter 2. suicide as a manifestation of crisis 14

suicide theories

suicide risk factors 16

consultant tasks 23

signs of suicidal danger(“keys”) 24

hazard assessment

(mortality) situation 26

2.6. actions By attitude To suicidal
to the client. general principles of intervention 29

2.7. consultant support 35

chapter 3.

when experiencing grief (loss, bereavement)38

3.1. critical periods of time.

Symptoms grief 38

3.2. advisory help 42

chapter 4. advisory work And emotional

problems (depression, fear, anxiety) 48

chapter 5. illness, dying, death And other

existential questions

in advisory practice55

chapter 6. rapists, victims, co-victims 62

violence. classification

forms.....

victim counseling

SEXUAL VIOLENCE 62

domestic (family) violence

consulting By question

FAMILY VIOLENCE 78

chapter 7. consulting By problems,

related With children 88

7.1. general operating principles With parents

IN THE PROCESS OF CONSULTING 88

main problems

school problems 96

chapter 8. consulting V teenageand adolescence

teenage And youth phones
psychologicalhelp........................................ 105

causes and manifestations of the most
severe problems in adolescents and young adults
(suicide, drug addiction).................. 107

chapter 9. premarital, marital And post-marital

CONSULTING

9.1. WHAT IS MARITAL COUNSELING.

Types marital problems

9.2. organization And tactics

counseling (therapy).................................... 119

Job

spouses

...................................... 119

building a reception for married couples.................... 124

counseling for those getting divorced

and post-marital counseling.................................... 133

chapter 10. advisory work With dependencies.................. 136

10.1. general idea

O dependencies And co-dependency............................ 136

addiction

.............................................................. 139

Alcoholism................................................. ............... 143

Help clients

WITH ADDICTIONS AND THEIR RELATIVES.................................. 146

chapter AND. consulting By problems,related With work 11.1. psychological counseling And career guidance

11.2. unemployment problems

chapter 12. psychological counseling

organizations....................................................................... 162

12.1. asked a psychologist-consultant

In the organisation. forms of work................................... 162

typical operation scheme

organization

examples of problems..................................................... 172

interior And external consulting..................... 178

literature................................................................................... 180

This book, in fact, continues my work “Introduction to Psychological Counseling”, written byin 1996 and published in Perm (1997) and Moscow(1998; 2000)". From the general, "introductory" questions raised in it concerning theoretical foundations advisedknowledge, building a consultative process, individualmethods and techniques, in this book I move on to conc.special cases, working with crisis situations, trialpsychologists for temporary, regular and other clients ical services.

The book “Psychological counseling: working withcrisis and problematic situations" is based onlectures I gave in 1998-2000 at the Faculty of Psychology of the Perm State Pedagogical UniversityGogic University. While the lectures were becoming black you books, several interesting works came out in the same region (R. Kociunas, A. Mokhovikov and others). I hope, however, that my work will be in demand and will expand the understanding of psychological counseling.research as a science and practice of psychological assistance to healthy and “not quite healthy” mentally people.

I would also like to note the following. On supervisorygroups that I lead myself or that I attend As a participant, questions related to work on a specific issue - suicide,

alcohol, etc. and so on. I am convinced that although any crisis, any client problem has its own specifics,principles of working with different clients are much moresimilarities rather than differences determined by the situation. And inin this sense, we - consultant psychologists or psi For therapists, it doesn’t matter what the client asked for help with. Does the problem concern marital relationships, communication with people or drug addiction, - according toable, even without knowing anything about these objects, eye can help if he simply knows how to provide it. Much more significant than knowledge of a specific problem ki, it turns out personal (personal) readiness to helpthe speaker and his professional skills and abilities. At thatAt the same time, it would be wrong to say that understanding features of the crisis or the specifics of the problem does not contribute to the success of the work, does not give the consultant (to the psychotherapist) more confidence and focusdifficulties in choosing a specific strategy and tactics of workwith the client. That is why this book appeared.

Victor Menovshchikov

GENERAL VIEW

ABOUT THE CRISIS, PROBLEM

AND CRISIS INTERVENTION

In principle, any situation that forces a person century to seek psychological help, is a crisis Noah. The very concept of “crisis” really means an acutesituation or point in time for making some kind of decision turning point, turning point, critical moment (Perry,1995). The Chinese character for the word "crisis" consists of two characters: one meaning "danger" and the other"opportunity to do something" Building on this GoreDon Hambly defines a crisis as follows: “A crisis is a dangerous opportunity with attendant anxiety.goy." He distinguishes two types of crisis:

Random crisis (crisis of circumstances)(Hambly,
1992).

TO vital crises include major events inhuman life, such as birth, death, marriageor marriage, etc. In many cases, these crisesfreely predictable, but nevertheless can cause significantsignificant stress reaction. Crises of the second type, onagainst, unpredictable, they cannot be foreseen: someone was walking down the street and got hit by a car; the woman was raped; what the catcher suddenly fell seriously ill - all these events lead to random crises, or crises of circumstances.

The problematic situation, as a rule, is not so acute, notso stressful for the client. It can last for yearsmi without any significant dynamics and yetit poses a problem for the client (with more or lessits clearly defined, permanent nature of the situation),

Chapter 1

with which he turns for help, support to the timesto other people, including psychologists-consultants.

The actions of a consultant in crisis situations, in our opinion, are not very specific and practically do not depend on the character of the situation. On the contrary, in any crisis situation tions have similar features - stress, confusion, differences negative feelings: fear, guilt, despair, etc.

The patterns of dynamics of any crisis lead toapproval of some general rules, according to whichA psychologist-consultant can act. Most Creecrisis situations require that the consultant seek three goals:

Determining the essence of the crisis situation.

Providing the applicant with the opportunity to act.

The first goal is to establish a relationship of trust - toachieved through empathic listening and reflectionclient's feelings. At the same time, it is important not only to sympathize,but also expressing this sympathy (empathy) is goodchosen words. The client needs to know that you are hisunderstand and are ready to work with him in search of timessolutions to the crisis.

The second goal is to establish the character and details of the Creezisa. The client must be given the opportunity to express clearly anddetails what happened and what caused the crisis. It is necessary to focus the client's story so thatUltimately, the crisis situation could be describedin one sentence.

During dialogue, it is useful to separate those aspects of problems that can be changed from those that cannot. cannot be changed. It is also worth asking the client to describe any previous attempts to find a solution and then explore other possible solutions. For example, we can but ask: “What will happen if you...”, “How will you how do you feel about this?” That is, you need to helpentu think through the various likely consequences ofhis decisions, as well as the ways in which he cancarry out your decision. You need to try to connect to recognize the inner, spiritual forces of the individual and, perhaps,

Name: Psychological consultation. Working with crisis and problematic situations
Author: Menovshchikov V. Yu.
Format: pdf
Language: Russian
Size: 7.56 MB

The educational manual discusses issues of psychological counseling in centers of socio-psychological (psychological and pedagogical) assistance, as well as other institutions and psychological services.
The manual is intended for students of psychological faculties, practical psychologists and social work specialists.

Table of contents
From the author...5
Chapter 1. General understanding of the crisis, problem and crisis intervention...7
Chapter 2. Suicide as a manifestation of crisis…14
2.1. Theories of suicide...14
2.2 Suicidal risk factors...16
2.3 Consultant’s tasks…23
2.4 Signs of suicidal danger (“clues”) ...24
2.5 Assessing the degree of danger (lethality) of the situation...26
2.6 Actions towards a suicidal client. General principles of intervention...29
2.7 Consultant support…35
Chapter 3. Psychological counseling when experiencing grief (loss, bereavement) ... 38
3.1 Critical periods of time.
Symptoms of grief...38
3.2 Advisory assistance ...42
Chapter 4. Counseling work and emotional problems (depression, fear, anxiety) ...48
Chapter 5. Illness, dying, death and other existential issues in counseling practice...55
Chapter 6. Rapists, victims, co-victims...62
6.1 Violence. Classification of types and forms ... 62
6.2 Counseling victims of sexual violence…62
6.3 Domestic (family) violence…66
6.4 Counseling on domestic violence...78
Chapter 7. Counseling on problems related to children ...88
7.1 General principles of working with parents
in the process of consulting...88
7.2 Main problems of preschool children ...92
7.3 School problems ...96
Chapter 8. Counseling in adolescence and youth...99
8.1 Counseling for adolescents ...99
8.2 Adolescent and youth psychological helplines ...105
8.3 Causes and manifestations of the most severe problems in adolescents and youth (suicide, drug addiction) ...107
Chapter 9. Pre-marital, marital and post-marital counseling...114
9.1 What is marital counseling.
Types of Marital Problems...114
9.2 Organization and tactics
counseling (therapy) ...119
9.3 Working with one of the spouses ...119
9.4 Construction of reception for married couples ... 124
9.5 Counseling for those divorcing and post-marital counseling…133
Chapter 10. Consultative work with addictions...136
10.1 General understanding of dependence and co-dependence ...136
10.2 Drug addiction…139
10.3 Alcoholism…143
10.4 Help for clients with addictions and their relatives ...146
Chapter 11.Counseling on work-related problems...152
11.1 Psychological counseling and career guidance...152
11.2 Problems of unemployment ...156
Chapter 12. Psychological consulting of organizations...162
12.1 Tasks of a consulting psychologist in an organization. Forms of work...162
12.2 Typical scheme of working with an organization ...167
12.3 Examples of problems ...172
12.4 Internal and external consulting ...178
Literature ...180

Chibisova M.Yu. Psychological counseling: from diagnosis to ways to solve problems (Document)

Olifirovich N.I. Individual psychological counseling: theory and practice (Document)

Nelson-Jones R. Theory and practice of counseling (Document)

Spur - Questions and answers on psychological counseling (Crib sheet)

Elizarov A.N. Introduction to Psychological Counseling (Document)

Kabachenko T.S. Methods of psychological influence (Document)

Minigalieva M.R. Psychological counseling: Theory and practice (Document)

Management consulting (video, presentation, program, textbook) (Document)

n1.doc

THEORY AND PRACTICE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL HELP

V.yu.menovshchikov

Introduction

IN PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELING

2000
The manual discusses issues of psychological counseling in centers of socio-psychological (psychological and pedagogical) assistance, as well as other institutions for social protection of the population. Particular attention is paid to the counseling process and practical skills of the consultant. The methodological manual is intended for practical psychologists, social work specialists and students of psychological faculties.

Menovshchikov V.Yu.

Introduction to psychological counseling. 2nd ed. stereotypical. M.: Smysl, 2000. - 109 p.
The book was published with the participation of CSPA "Genesis" and the Institute of General Humanitarian Research

ISBN 5-89357-083-9

Chapter 1. SUBJECT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELING

1.1. The concept of psychological counseling........ 3

1.2. Mental norm and psychopathology.......................... 9

1.3. Origin of the psychological problem......................... 12

Chapter 2. THEORETICAL BASIS OF THE PROCESS

PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELING

2.1. General psychological foundations................................................... 19

2.2. Contributions of different theoretical orientations......... 22

2.3. Mechanisms of psychological influence......................... 29

2.4. The model of the “picture of the world” and its significance in

consultative and psychotherapeutic practice.... 32

Chapter 3. CLASSIFICATION OF TYPES OF COUNSELING

3.1. Types of Counseling......................................................... 39

3.2. Consultant positions................................................... ..41

Chapter 4. TYPES OF PROBLEM SITUATIONS

4.1. Main problem situations............................................. 43

4.2. Types of clients and their orientations................................... 45

Chapter 5. THE PROCESS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELING

5.1. Stages of psychological counseling......... 52

5.2. General overview of consultations

and methods........................................................ ........................... 55

5.3. Contact Establishment Stage...................................61

5.4. Information gathering and awareness stage

desired result........................................................ ...... 66

5.5. Enumeration of hypotheses (development of alternative

decisions)........................................................ ........................... 74

5.6. Summarizing the results of interaction with

client and leaving contact.................................................... 79

Chapter 6. PSYCHOLOGICAL

SMALL GROUP COUNSELING................................ 83

Chapter 7. FEATURES OF DISTANT CONSULTING

7.1. Telephone consultation............................................. 87

7.2. Advisory correspondence................................................... 90

Chapter 8. SPECIAL ISSUES

8.1. Supervision and training of consultants................................... 97

8.2. Burnout syndrome and its prevention.................................... 99

8.3. Ethics of a consultant......................................................... ...... 101

Literature................................................. ................................... 104
Chapter 1. SUBJECT PSYCHOLOGICALCONSULTING
1.1. The concept of psychological counseling

The beginning of the history of the development of psychological assistance should be sought in the depths of centuries. Even in the Ebers medical papyrus (XVI century BC), containing about a thousand prescriptions of healing potions and potions, the words of spells necessary for the use of medicines are given. Ancient kings accepted the services of “consultants”, ancient books “advised”. From the end of the 17th century. Attempts are being made to scientifically explain mental treatment methods, and more and more new variants are being proposed. Starting with the “magnetic fluid” of the Viennese physician A. Mesmer, they follow: in the 19th century - James Brad (hypnosis), in the 20th century. - Sigmund Freud (psychoanalysis), Carl Rogers (client-centered therapy), Frederick Perls (gestalt therapy), Milton Erickson (alternative hypnosis and therapy), Virginia Satir (family therapy) and many others (Lakosina, Ushakov, 1984). And if initially psychotherapy was the prerogative of doctors, then at the beginning of the 20th century. they were gradually joined by workers from other social services, and in the 1950s. In the United States, counseling psychology is becoming conceptually and organizationally isolated. Let's take a closer look at the latter.

Until the 1950s the field of applied psychology was understood primarily as the border between clinical and experimental psychology and consisted almost exclusively in the application psychology of individual differences. The other two branches of applied psychology at that time were educational psychology And industrial psychology, representing the psychology of individual differences in relation to school and work. Counseling psychology in the process of development was divided into work with personnel of educational institutions and student counseling, and from industrial psychology - into the forms of professional psychology and professional counseling (see. Dawis, 1992).

Table 1

DIRECTION	SUBJECT	AN OBJECT	TARGET
Psychotherapy
A. clinically	Doctor	Sick,	Liquidation
oriented	(psychiatrist,	patient	symptoms
	psychotherapist)
B. personal-	Doctor,	Sick,	Personal
oriented	psychologist,	client	And
	social		interpersonal
	worker		changes
Psychocorrection	Doctor,	Sick,	Correction
	psychologist	client	one or another
			disorders,
			normalization
			mental
			activities
Non-medical	Psychologist	Client	Optimization
psychotherapy			mutual
			relations
			(For example,
			in problematic
			families)
Consulting	Consulting	Client,	Adaptation
	raging	family,	to life at the expense of
	psychologist,	group,	revitalization
	social		personal
	worker		resources (output
			from difficult
			vital
			situations)

What is psychological counseling in its essence?

Consult - means to consult with a specialist on some issue. And advice is just an opinion expressed to someone about what to do, what to do, etc. This is the difference between psychological counseling and psychotherapy, at least deep psychotherapy. Counseling focuses on more superficial work, often related to interpersonal relationships. The main task of a psychologist-consultant is to help the client look at his problems and life difficulties from the outside, to demonstrate and discuss those aspects of relationships that, being sources of difficulties, are usually not realized and not controlled (Aleshina, 1994). This is also a psychological impact, but the impact is milder. Consulting is distinguished by its short duration (from one to 5-6 meetings), although in Lately almost “instant” psychotherapeutic techniques appear (Grinder, Bandler, 1992). Some authors consider counseling to be the initial stage of psychotherapeutic assistance. So, it can be assumed that different types of psychological assistance are applicable at different stages, possibly of a single process.

This process can be systematized and displayed in a table by introducing some conventional concepts, such as good standard(normal healthy person) pograpersonal rate(initial mental deviation), disease(pathological mental phenomena), and correlate them with types of psychological assistance, we get the following picture (see Table 2):

table 2

Thus, the choice of counseling as a form of psychological assistance depends on the degree of responsibility that the client himself can bear. This, in turn, presupposes an adequate orientation of the client in relation to problematic and advisory situations, an appropriate emotional state and a level of intellectual development that allows one to choose options for solving the problem situation, that is, as a rule, the client is within the conditional boundaries of “normal mental health.”

But what is a mental norm?

1.2. Mental norm and psychopathology.

The question of what form of psychological assistance (consulting, correction, psychological or medical psychotherapy) should be used in a given case cannot be resolved without an idea of the “mental norm.”

What was considered abnormal yesterday may seem normal tomorrow, and what seems unacceptable to us sometimes fits very well into the lives of other peoples.

As a general rule, the less common a behavior is, the more likely it is to be perceived as abnormal. We are talking about a statistical criterion that allows us to state that from 2 to 3% of people on either side of the majority who behave more or less “normally” will be people, respectively, “too” or “not enough” sociable, restless, organized, etc. .

Most often, however, a person is considered “abnormal” if he has gone beyond all normal limits, and whose entire behavior runs counter to the values, habits, or attitudes of other people.

The concept of a norm is very ambiguous, and if you think about it, you can come to the conclusion that there is no clear boundary between “acceptable” and “unacceptable”. There is no “ideal norm”. Every person is abnormal to one degree or another. (Godefroy, 1992).

Thus, in general, it is impossible to draw a clear line of demarcation between “normal” and pathological characters, between “normal” people and neurotics, or between neurotics and psychotics. As A. Adler wrote: “Minor difficulties are the norm, major difficulties are neurosis” (see. May, 1994. P. 47).

However, no matter how “slippery” the definition of “mental norm” may be, from a practical point of view it is necessary to understand with what “difficulty level” a consultant psychologist should work, with which a psychotherapist should work, and what is already within the competence of a doctor -psychiatrist First of all, this is a question about the “measure” itself, about the criteria that determine the degree of “norm-pathology”. A similar question is raised in psychiatry when delimiting the level of mental disorders. For example, A.V. Snezhnevsky identifies nine “circles” of sequential increase in the severity of psychopathological syndromes: from emotional-hyperaesthetic disorders, among which the leading place is occupied by asthenic syndrome (first circle), to affective disorders (second), neurotic disorders (third), paranoid states (fourth), catatonic syndromes (fifth), stupefaction (sixth), paramnesia (seventh), convulsive and other disorders characteristic of epilepsy (eighth), and, finally, psychoorganic psychopathological disorders characterizing the polymorphism of all known gross organ psychoses (ninth circle).

In this schematic model of the relationship between psychopathological disorders, A.V. Snezhnevsky classifies asthenic and other disorders, most characteristic of neuroses, among the least specific manifestations of mental pathology.

Within the framework of the medical model, attempts are made to describe and classify mental illnesses, including by severity. In 1980, the American Psychiatric Association published the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual mental disorders(DSM 3)".

DSM 3 distinguishes “Severe mental disorders,” the list of which begins with mental retardation and ends with behavioral adjustment disorders at work, at school, etc. At the very end of the list are conditions that are not associated with mental disorders, but require attention or correction - antisocial forms of behavior; difficulties related to physical characteristics, marital and parental relationships, etc. (YearFrois, 1992).

However, the framework of the medical model that describes the severity of psychopathological symptoms turns out to be too narrow. It is not possible to differentiate the measure of psychological assistance and its nature on this basis alone. Various authors provide other criteria for identifying the boundaries of counseling.

In particular, such a criterion is responsibility for the result of interaction, which in counseling lies mainly with the client, and in any type of psychotherapy with the therapist. In addition, it is impossible to ignore the issue of the client’s (patient’s) orientation, which we will specifically address in Chapter 4.

1.3. Origin of the psychological problem

To understand the theoretical foundations of psychological counseling, it is necessary to answer one more question - what is the genesis of the psychological problem?

Apparently, the answer to this question is extremely complex and depends both on the theoretical orientation of the researcher who takes the liberty to answer it, and on the specific place, time, historical era...

The scope and purpose of this work can in no way claim to be a complete answer. Therefore, we will only try to outline the main approaches to understanding what can be called a “psychological problem” and to its origin.

If we assume that the field (area of activity) occupied by counseling psychology borders on the field of “minor psychiatry,” it is appropriate to assume that the areas of “psychological problems” and “minor psychiatry” are on the same line (intersect)

Arguing further, it is necessary to take into account that in a number of studies conducted on models of various clinical conditions, the mechanism of syndromogenesis is shown as fundamentally the same for both “major” and “minor psychiatry” forms. (Ushakov, 1978). Essentially, this suggests that counseling and “big psychiatry” are opposite points on the same continuum.

Within the medical paradigm, it is also difficult to find complete unity of views on the genesis of borderline mental disorders, the main treatment method for which is psychotherapy, as within any other natural science or humanistic paradigm. Psychoanalysis does not agree with behaviorism, behaviorism does not agree with existential-humanistic psychotherapy, and the latter does not agree with transpersonal psychology, etc.

In domestic psychotherapy, one of the most significant issues concerning the psychogenesis of neuroses and their role in the emergence of intrapersonal conflicts is the understanding of the basic clinical forms neuroses as fixed mechanisms of painful perception and processing of life difficulties experienced by a person.

The grouping of neurotic conflicts according to their genesis, that is, in accordance with the internal mechanisms of their development, belongs to V.N. Myasishchev (Myasishchev, I960). The doctrine he developed about neurotic conflicts received further development in a number of works by his collaborators and students (Iovlev, 1974; Karvasarskip, 1980; 1982; Tashlykov, 1984, etc.).

In accordance with the main forms of neuroses, 3 types of psychological conflicts are described: hysterical, obsessive-psychasthenic and neurasthenic.

The first one (hysterical) is determined by excessively inflated claims of the individual, always combined with an underestimation or complete ignorance of objective real conditions or the requirements of others. Conflict is characterized by an excess of demands on others over demands on oneself and a lack of a critical attitude towards one’s behavior. In the genesis of this type of conflict, the history of the development of the individual and the process of formation of his life relationships acquire significant significance. Due to improper upbringing, such individuals have a weakened ability to inhibit their desires that contradict social requirements and norms.

Second (obsessive-psychasthenic) type of neurotic conflict is caused by contradictory internal tendencies and needs, the struggle between desire and duty, between moral principles and personal attachments. Moreover, if even one of the needs becomes dominant, but continues to encounter opposition from another, favorable opportunities are created for a sharp increase in neuropsychic tension and the emergence of obsessive-phobic disorders. Of particular importance is the presentation of conflicting demands on the individual, which contributes to the formation of a sense of personal inferiority, contradictory life relationships and leads to separation from life, the emergence of unrealistic attitudes that are far from reality.

Finally, the third type of conflict (neurasthenic) represents a contradiction between the capabilities of the individual, on the one hand, and her aspirations and inflated demands on herself, on the other. To a certain extent, the emergence of this type of conflict is facilitated by the high demands made by the increasing pace and tension modern life. Features of this type of conflict are formed during upbringing, when an unhealthy desire for personal success is constantly stimulated without real consideration of the individual’s strengths and capabilities (Karvasarsky, 1985).

It is logical to assume that a number of problematic situations with which clients turn to a psychologist-consultant are based on the same intrapersonal conflicts, only what comes to the fore is not the painful symptoms they generate, but the disruption of interpersonal relationships with people significant to the individual. For example, when a parent turns to a counselor with complaints about his adult child, stating: “He is always rude to me” or “She doesn’t help me with anything,” an intrapersonal conflict of the first type is quite likely. And with complaints like: “My son is unhappy, he’s confused, and I’m powerless, I can’t help him,” - a conflict of the second type, etc.

Naturally, a combination of different types of intrapersonal conflicts is also possible.

Another aspect of the genesis of psychological problems, developed within the framework of the medical approach, is also interesting - the question of PS their traumatic factors. Even I.V. Davydovsky (1957) drew attention to the fact that under certain conditions any object that affects any vital system of the body can be “traumatic”.

The taxonomy of mental trauma is complex and ambiguous. As an example, we give only the classification of mental trauma by intensity:

1. Massive (catastrophic), sudden, sharp, unexpected, stunning, one-dimensional:

A) highly relevant for the individual;

B) irrelevant for the individual (for example, natural, social disasters, intact for a given individual).

2. Situational acute (subacute), unexpected, multifaceted involving the individual (associated with the loss of social prestige, with damage to self-affirmation).

3. Prolonged situational, transforming conditions of many years of life (situation of deprivation, situation of abundance):

A) conscious and surmountable;

B) unconscious and irresistible.

4. Prolonged situational, leading to a conscious need for persistent mental stress (debilitating):

A) caused by the content of the situation itself;

B) caused by an excessive level of aspirations of the individual in the absence of objective opportunities to achieve a goal in the normal rhythm of activity (Ushakov, 1978).

But what is psychological trauma for one person may not be such for another. Experience approaches the personality “like a key to a lock” (Kretschtner, 1971). Let us illustrate what has been said in Table 3, borrowed from the mentioned work of G.K. Ushakov (1978) and somewhat adapted by us in relation to the topic under discussion.

Table 3

Leading character traits (premorbid)	Clinical syndromes of borderline disorders	Psychotraumatic circumstances
Sensitivity	Neurasthenic, asthenic, psychopathic, autistic
Anxious suspiciousness	Obsessive, compulsive, psychasthenic
Hysteria	Hysterical, puerile, ps eudod ment	Situations that deny a persistent egocentric stereotype
Inertia, rigidity (of affects and judgments)	Exclusive, epileptoid, paranoid

Let us now try to translate what has been said into the mainstream

Psychological paradigm (Table 4):

Table 4

LEADING CHARACTER PROPERTIES	FORMULATION OF THE PROBLEM	PSYCHOTRAUATIVE (LEADING TO A PROBLEM SITUATION) CIRCUMSTANCES
Sensitivity (sensitivity)	“I can’t cope with myself...”, “I’m tired, I don’t want to see anyone...”	Situations of overstrain (exhaustion) of the existing stereotype
Anxiety	“I can’t decide, I’m worried...”	Situations that violate the stereotype
Hysteria (demonstrativeness)	“I’m tired of everyone, fed up with them, they don’t like me...”	Situations that deny a persistent egocentric stereotype
Stiffness, rigidity	"I'll show them..." "They're just following me..."	Situations that deny the uncompromising nature of the usual stereotype

Thus, numerous studies of the genesis of borderline neuropsychiatric disorders, conducted within the framework of a medical approach, can also be useful for understanding advisory issues. Moreover, the logical question is: “Aren’t doctors and psychologists talking about the same thing, using their own specific terminological language?”

Finally, the last generalization that we allow ourselves to make in this section is the combination of all factors leading to borderline mental disorders and so-called psychological problems into 3 groups:

1) Group of biological factors. Man, being a biological species, is constantly exposed to the influence of complex physical, chemical, climatic and other factors, reacting to them in one way or another. There is a unity of physio- and psychogenesis (Ushakov, 1978).

2) Group of social factors. For example, Satin (Satin - cm. Ushakov, 1978) drew a parallel between the number of stresses and social problems(material deprivation, lack of work) in the anamnesis of patients and the occurrence of painful conditions in them.

3) Group of psychological factors. They are caused by relationships with other persons (conflicts in the family, at work, etc.).