The soul hurts: how to choose the right method of psychotherapy. jungian sand therapy

(Khegay Lev Arkadyevich - analytical psychotherapist, psychologist, writer)

K.G. Jung was one of the founders of psychoanalysis, a student and close friend of Freud. Theoretical disagreements and circumstances of a personal nature led Jung to create his own school, which he called analytical psychology.

Jung did not entirely reject psychoanalytic concepts, but considered them to be limited and tried to correct them. In fact, the psychology he created is broader and more universal, so that Freudian psychoanalysis can be considered a special case of it.

In Jung's approach, there remains the recognition of Freud's main idea that modern man suppresses his instinctive drives, often does not realize his vital needs and the motives of his actions. If you help him better understand the situation by examining the manifestations of his unconscious life- fantasies, dreams, reservations, etc. - then he will learn to better cope with his psychological problems and his symptoms will subside.

Such is the most in general terms idea of ​​analytic therapy. However, unlike Freud, Jung had no inclination to express his thoughts in the form of scientific theories. He was always more interested in the direct experiences of people - their feelings, dreams, spiritual quests, significant life events. He developed a psychology close to the very elements of human emotions.

Therefore, he went to the point of abandoning complex theorizing and dogmatic statements, emphasizing the empirical nature of psychological science. He strove to describe various psychological phenomena as they are.

Since the emotional life in nature is universal - all living beings experience fear, excitement, pleasure, etc. - this allowed him to suggest the collective basis of human experiences.

Of course, Jung, following Freud, recognized that a person's current problems were influenced by his entire life history, experienced stresses and psychological traumas, and especially early family relationships. But we do not have an unequivocal conditionality of the past, just because many of our mental processes are characteristic of all people in general.

Man combines the individual and the collective. It has been influenced to the same extent, for example, by the traditions, language and culture of the society to which it belongs, not to mention genetic factors. This cannot be denied, and one cannot simplify the picture of mental life by highlighting only a couple of logical lines in it, as Freud did.

Logical harmony is important for scientific discussions, but for the treatment of people you need to have flexibility and breadth of vision of emerging situations. In addition, Jung saw the healing power of psychoanalysis not in the accuracy of the analyst's explanations, but in the uniqueness of the new experience that the client receives in the sessions, the experience of self-knowledge and transformation of his personality.

For example, the psychological situation of one person may resemble the struggle of a hero with numerous obstacles, while the problems of another revolve around the theme of unrequited love. It can be said that some kind of fantasy seems to hold people captive, forcing them to suffer, often for a very long period of time. This fantasy stubbornly remains unconscious. Rational explanations in terms of repressed drives would do little similar patients. How often do we say to ourselves: I understand everything, but I can’t change it. And we don’t know if there is any absolutely realistic vision that would save us from delusions and free our souls from suffering. Perhaps no sage in the world will tell us how to live and what to do.

Turning to universal human tendencies, one can single out themes in any problem that are well known from mythology, literature and religion. Jung called such themes archetypes. If the functioning of the entire psychic energy this person is due to this topic, then we can talk about the presence of a psychological complex. This term was also proposed by Jung.

But it is not enough just to name the complex in order to understand one's situation, it is very useful for a person to discuss his experiences with others and find images, symbols and metaphors that describe them. They do not contain specific recipes or advice. But the symbolic language has sufficient semantic capacity to reflect all the nuances without distorting the picture of the real situation. It is through images that are transmitted and expressed emotional states in all their depths. Therefore, in order to change your emotional situation, you must first at least see it as it is in all its versatility and inconsistency.

That is why, in practice, the Jungian analyst works more with the fantasy reality in which the client lives, and of which his current problems are actually a part.

We cannot live without inventing some version of reality that gives meaning and structure to our experiences. Although it seems to us that our picture of the world is rationally justified, in reality, behind it are ancient and well-known human fantasies from history and mythology. Jung called this unconscious tendency to order his cosmos the striving for the realization of the Self.

The words Self, True Self, Higher Self, innermost essence, God, Buddha nature, etc. create similar images of the source, ultimate goal or a pole that controls all processes. It is always something more, significant, charged with meaning. And most people will agree that opening this new perspective in life is absolutely necessary for spiritual harmony. To find oneself, to find the meaning of life, to achieve self-realization - consciously or unconsciously - such is the task of any human search, no matter what everyone means by these concepts.

A person approaches this goal in a complex spiral way of trial and error. It cannot be said that he is necessarily convinced in the end of some certain truths or accepts religious faith giving him spiritual strength. Rather, something crystallizes in it by itself as it accumulates. life experience knowledge of the world and oneself. In any case, we are talking about such a person as strong personality as having a broader consciousness and revealing their creative potential. Jung believed that in order to move towards this state, development is absolutely necessary. symbolic relationship, and that substantive analysis is one of the practices that develops such an attitude.

For example, a person experiences loss of energy, fatigue, influxes of depressive moods. He's insecure, he thinks he's a failure weak man can't find an occupation to his liking. He has a feeling that something is broken, that something is going wrong in his life and needs urgent help. Dissatisfaction with himself is growing, and he comes to a psychoanalyst. He probably hoped to get advice and quickly understand what exactly should be done. It may happen that the analyst will disappoint him by saying that analysis usually requires a long period of time and regular meetings. Any result requires effort and required amount work done. In addition, it should be clear that it is difficult to instantly change something that has evolved over the years and has a long history.

The analyst can only promise to use all his knowledge and professional experience to help the client understand his situation. In the beginning, uncertainty about the nature of the analytic work is likely to cause some anxiety and subconscious fears in the client. But soon he will find that after the session he feels much better. The analyst demonstrates a desire to understand his problems, he never judges or criticizes, he is polite and considerate, and his insightful comments help to clarify a confusing life situation. In addition, the client usually likes the relaxed atmosphere in the sessions. He has the right to do absolutely whatever he wants and say whatever comes to mind. He will find that for the first time he confessed to himself things that he had not previously suspected, and was able, having stepped over barriers, to tell about episodes of life that he had not previously told to any outsider.

Having outlined his life story, he will feel great relief, as if he had lifted a heavy burden from his shoulders. And at the same time, many points will appear that will interest and puzzle him. It is as if he will live his life again, seeing in a new way the role of others in it, especially those closest to him. Perhaps the discoveries made will sadden him a little. But at the same time, he will be able to distance himself more from his past, will begin to see it more realistically. He will now, as it were, learn to find support within himself. This is how the analysis will unfold session by session.

Each time, plunging into the world of his memories, thoughts, feelings and fantasies, the client will feel that something very important is happening in his life, personally important, that this is the place where he feels good, where he can just be himself, not hiding behind masks and not trying to adapt to someone. He will find that he can afford to be foolish, moody, aggressive and weak and dependent in sessions. But this behavior does not bother the analyst, he does not respond aggressively, as his parents reacted in childhood, he accepts the client with all his human weaknesses, thereby teaching him to accept himself in the same way, and calmly helps to sort out his feelings. In moments of any unpleasant experiences, the client will no longer fall into despair and depression, knowing that he can always turn to an analyst for support - a person he trusts. Gradually, he will have a sense of his path in life, his path, which gives confidence in his abilities. His life will change for the better. All of these stages describe the development of a symbolic relationship. Those. earlier this man lived, experiencing a strong internal conflict, lived on the principle of “either-or”, “all or nothing”. Now he seemed to be able to rise above the former contradictions, his internal stress weakened, and in his behavior there was more spontaneity and creativity.

This is the idealized picture of analytic therapy. Some people have the fantasy that psychoanalysis is difficult and painful procedure. However, this is not at all the case. If our client described above had gone to a psychiatrist, he would probably have been given some kind of diagnosis that sounded frightening to a person unfamiliar with medicine, would have been prescribed pills, or would have been admitted to a hospital. But everyone knows what the atmosphere of psychiatric clinics is, and what reputation this can create later. Another option would be to see a psychotherapist. Currently, most psychotherapists use active techniques. The client would have to undergo hypnosis, or maybe he would be forced to do some exercises or breathe unnaturally. In general, in similar procedures there is a large element of violence. They are designed for those who like to take risks and try everything for themselves. However, despite the usually big promises, their therapeutic result hard to predict. In addition, as can be seen, in these approaches, the client is not treated with respect, as a person who has his own rights. For some people who are accustomed to humiliation and self-humiliation, this “let them fix me”, “do something about me” attitude is completely natural. However, for many others this is unacceptable.

In psychoanalytic sessions, the situation is completely different. All work is based on exclusively voluntary cooperation. And it is more like a normal conversation with a benevolent partner. Moreover, the analyst will not throw rash phrases, impose his opinion, interrupt the client or force him to do something. The important thing is that the client will feel that he has gradually formed a personal relationship with him. The analyst will indeed become a friend whose opinion, whose attitude is not indifferent. He will become a necessary, significant person, and at the same time remain a person on whom the client does not depend so that this could somehow limit his freedom or cause harm. Indeed, at any moment when he feels that their relationship has been exhausted or is no longer necessary, he has the right to interrupt the analysis.

Jungian analysts are especially distinguished by their view of any person, no matter how difficult the period he is currently going through, as potentially healthy, talented and capable of positive change. While classical Freudian analysts still retained some elements of their medical heritage, such as the use of the couch and the exploratory nature of their basic method of free association, the atmosphere of Jungian analysis is freer.

Unlike Freudians, who strive for precise, theoretically based interpretations, which, unfortunately, can sometimes be revealing and therefore perceived as accusations, Jungian analysts proceed from the fact that only what is true for the client himself is true. They will try to discuss the problem with everyone possible points perspective, in a gentle manner, making assumptions rather than statements, leaving the client the right to choose for himself what is important to him at the moment. Seeing analysis as more than just a clinical procedure - a way to intensify the personal and spiritual development- Jungians support any creative undertakings with clients, which can manifest themselves in a love of drawing, clay modeling, writing stories, keeping a diary, etc.

It is no coincidence that after undergoing Jungian analysis, many clients find themselves in art. A typical example is the fate of Hermann Hesse - laureate Nobel Prize in literature. Not only his books, but also the works of Gustav Meinrik, Borges and many other famous writers were created under the strong influence of Jung's ideas. However, Jungian psychologists themselves, not only their former clients, are known for their literary work. So in recent times The books of James Hillman, Thomas More, Robert Johnson gained worldwide fame. Some of them, without exaggeration, can be called bestsellers. Such is the peculiarity of the modern reader that he likes not only works of art, but also fascinatingly written books on psychology, dedicated to the mysteries of the human soul. Many Jungian books are now available in Russian. But it may be even better to get acquainted with the ideas of Jung by reading, for example, the fantasy novels of Hogarth, Tolkien or Stephen King, or most interesting books according to the mythology of Joseph Campbell and Mircea Iliade, who were close friends of Jung.

One might get the impression that Jungian analysis is intended only for special people prone to introspection and reflection. But analytical methods today work with a variety of clients, even with young children. The desire to be happier, more successful, to be at peace with oneself is inherent in all people, even if they are not able to clearly understand it and articulate it in such phrases. The theoretical breadth, flexibility and variety of methods in analytical psychology allow the analyst to find the "key" to any human soul.

Returning to history, Jung did not make petrified dogmas out of his ideas and did not suggest blindly following them. First of all, Jung gave us an example of courageous exploration of the depths of one's own soul and selfless service to people. He
recognized that the psychology he created was essentially his own psychology, a description of his personal spiritual quest, and did not want it to be disseminated, let alone turned into a fetish. However, he had a huge impact on so many people. His personality, undeniably brilliant, is comparable only to the titans of the Renaissance.

His ideas gave a powerful impetus not only to the development of psychology and psychotherapy, but also to almost all the humanities in the 20th century, and interest in them has not waned. It can be said that modern religious studies, ethnography, studies of folklore and mythology would not exist without Jung. Some people from the mystical-occult environment even considered him a Western guru, attributed supernatural abilities to him and perceived his psychology as a kind of new gospel.

In the years since his death, several educational institutes of analytical psychology have been established in different countries of the world, magazines are founded and written great amount books. The study of Jungian psychology has long been mandatory for anyone pursuing an education in psychology or psychotherapy. But the most important thing is that the third generation of his followers has already grown up - Jungian analysts who continue to successfully help people, integrating his ideas into practice and developing them creatively. They are united in the International Association of Analytical Psychology, as well as in numerous local clubs, societies and national associations. Congresses and conferences are periodically held. If you take an interest in the works of contemporary Jungians, you will notice that they are not a simple apologetics of Jung. Many of his concepts were criticized and changed in accordance with the spirit of the times. In addition, the mutually enriching influence of analytical psychology and other currents in psychoanalysis is noticeable, so that there are many examples of the synthesis of Jungian ideas with the theories of such famous psychoanalysts as Melanie Klein, Winnicott, Kogut.

So we can speak with full confidence about the process of gradual erasing of boundaries between psychotherapeutic schools and about one unified field of ideas in depth psychology. In some countries, Jungian analysis has received state recognition and is included in the system. health insurance. There are even examples of involving Jungian psychologists in political consulting.

The fate of a figure very famous in the early period of psychoanalysis, Sabina Spielrain, a psychologist from Rostov-on-Don, a student of Freud and Jung, was connected with Russia. In the 1920s there was great interest in psychoanalysis in Russia, and some of Jung's works were translated. However, everyone knows that there followed a long period of persecution of Freudianism, which also affected analytical psychology.

It is clear that many of Jung's ideas, especially about the demonic nature of collective psychology and the attempts of the individual to resist it, as well as about the irrational forces in the human soul that can break out, could threaten the ruling regime by opening people's eyes to what is happening. Besides, poetic language Jung was incomprehensible to the ideologically processed Soviet minds, thinking in terms of “activity” and “ mental functions". Only the typology developed by Jung seems to have been accepted unconditionally, entering many domestic psychodiagnostic studies. Only with the onset of the so-called "perestroika", when everyone was drawn to normal world values ​​and standards, interest in Jung began to grow like a snowball. Not the last role in the popularization of Jung was apparently played by the translations of Academician Averintsev, which he accompanied with magnificent comments, truly not inferior to Jung in erudition. Thus, thanks to enthusiastic philosophers and psychologists, many of whom tried primarily to fill their own spiritual vacuum, we received translations of the most important works Jung and his closest students.

Modern psychology and psychoanalytic science offer many points of view, paradigms and directions. There are such currents of psychological science that focus more on working with consciousness, for example, cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy. As for all areas of psychoanalytic work, they focus primarily on the unconscious aspects and manifestations human psyche. The discovery of the unconscious by Sigmund Freud at the beginning of the 20th century marked the beginning of a completely different kind psychological work- deep work with the psyche, which is impossible without recognizing the existence of the unconscious.

Freud, working with patients suffering from hysteria, noticed that their symptoms were based on problems of a psychosexual nature. From this observation, over time, Freud's theory of the unconscious developed, which is centered on the idea of ​​the flow of sexual energy - libido and that the structure of an adult personality is formed in early childhood and directly depends on how the child went through the stages of his development. Jung, in the early days of his work in psychiatry, became acquainted with the writings of Sigmund Freud, and later with Freud himself. Since 1907 they began to work in close cooperation which lasted 5 years. Freud considered Jung his student and believed that he would develop his ideas and carry them to the masses.

But Jung's views on the unconscious did not fully coincide with those of Freud, and in 1912 Jung published The Psychology of the Unconscious, in which he refuted many of Freud's ideas. Jung did not agree that sexuality is central to the formation of neuroses and attached more importance to the collective unconscious with its original patterns of human behavior - archetypes. Freud accused Jung of mysticism and excessive subjectivization of the psyche.

Mental processes, according to Freud, are largely explained by how a person resolved for himself the main children's conflicts on different stages development and how freely it flows sexual energy and how fully he can enjoy. Jung believed that the main aspiration of the psyche is development and that any neurosis that arose in a person in adulthood is not only a conflict not resolved in childhood, but also a kind of actual search for the human soul here and now, which wants to be most fully embodied and seeks meaning, not necessarily related to sexuality issues. Jung also great attention paid attention to archetypes and complexes when looking at the human psyche, which can be compared with energy centers in the human psyche, universal for its nature.

When in modern life we ​​say "classical psychoanalysis" or "the analytical psychology of C. G. Jung", we mean numerous theoretical differences, because of which Freud and Jung broke off their relationship.

But when we are talking about working methods in individual therapy, then we can say that the interpenetration different directions psychological science in each other is so great that you can find a lot in common in the work of classical psychoanalysts, analytical psychologists, Gestalt therapists or existential psychologists, despite the fact that each of the representatives of these different directions is based on different theoretical concepts.

As for the answer to the question “How does Jungian analysis differ from Freud's psychoanalysis? ”, then in general terms it can be said that the interpretations of the Jungian analyst and the classical psychoanalyst will differ at some points. The Jungian analyst is unlikely to interpret the current problems of the client in terms of his sexual desires, rather he will look for meaning in neurosis or some archetypal plot that sets this or that course of neurosis and the possibilities for transforming or changing this archetypal plot. In classical analysis, the client can expect greater reliance on the universality of psychosexual conflicts for a person: each person goes through certain stages of development, everyone is faced with the resolution of the same problems, the structure of the psyche and the type of neurosis are due to patterns common to human development and how a particular person resolved the main human conflicts within the received childhood experience. mental structure seen as the result of the initial opening steps in a chess game according to Freud's comparison.

In Jungian analysis, the focus is rather on the subjective, which is generalized to collective processes: inner reality, imagination, the context in which a person lives and thinks, and a kind of "inscription" of this context into something common and universal for all human experience - archetypal plots - and there is what is subject to elaboration, transformation, is used as a resource for analysis. Perhaps both approaches have their strengths and weaknesses, but one goes, as it were, from the outside in, and the other from the inside out.

Interesting to see these theoretical approaches through the prism of Jung's discovery psychological types. Jung argued that there are two attitudes of consciousness - extraverted (perception, to a greater extent concentrated on the external, based on the object world) and introverted (perception of the external world through the prism of the inner world of the subject). If we think about how Freud and Jung looked at human nature, it is difficult not to notice how Freud, in his theoretical views, relied more on the universality of objective reality, on what reality is for the majority, and was looking for objective patterns according to which the psyche functions. , while Jung focused on inner meanings, finding confirmation of the existence of inner life in the experience accumulated by mankind - mythology, fairy tales, folklore. Both views on the psyche are certainly interesting and somewhat complement each other, while not excluding the angles of other theoretical concepts.

Numerous modern research revealed the paradox that psychotherapy has good effect and it has nothing to do with direction or methodological basis where this effect is achieved. Each modern client chooses exactly the method that is closer to his soul and individual characteristics. And it is also difficult to ignore the fact that the personality of a psychologist is a fundamental factor in the work. After all, it is in the contact “I-Other” and in the space of trusting therapeutic relationships that true and deep changes in the psyche occur.

This is one of the directions psychoanalysis, the author of which is a Swiss psychologist, psychiatrist and culturologist, theorist and practitioner of depth psychology Carl Gustav Jung. This is a holistic approach to psychotherapy and self-knowledge based on the study of unconscious complexes and archetypes.

Analytical psychology based on the notion of existence unconscious sphere of personality, which is the source healing powers and development of personality. This doctrine is based on the concept of the collective unconscious, which reflects the data of anthropology, ethnography, the history of culture and religion.

Distinguish individual(personal) and collective unconscious. Individual unconscious is a powerful component of the human soul. A stable contact between consciousness and the unconscious in the individual psyche is necessary for its integrity.

collective unconscious is common to a group of people and does not depend on the individual experience and experiences of a person. The collective unconscious is made up of archetypes(human transformations) and ideas. The most obvious and complete archetypes can be seen in the images of the heroes of fairy tales, myths, legends. In addition, each person in his own experience can meet with archetypes in the images of dreams. The number of archetypes is limited, while one or another archetype appears in all cultures in all historical eras in more or less degree.

Unlike Z. Freud, K. Jung believed that the most intensive development of the personality occurs not in early childhood, but in adulthood. Accordingly, it is not the interaction of the child with the parents that comes to the fore in his scheme, but the multifaceted system of social relations of the adult personality in all its diversity. Wherein full development K. Jung considered the acquisition of the integrity of the personality in the process of individuation- overcoming the split between consciousness and the unconscious, which inevitably arises, according to K. Jung, in childhood.

The split, or splitting of this kind, is largely due to the influence of the social environment. So, in particular, entering into school age and trying to take the most comfortable position among peers, the child consciously chooses those personal qualities and behavioral strategies that evoke the desired reaction from his social environment. Thus, a person is formed - that component of the personality that is fully realized, subjectively accepted by it and purposefully presented to the world. At the same time, those aspects of the personality that do not meet the criterion of social desirability are not just hidden, but actively rejected at the intrapersonal level and, ultimately, are forced out into the unconscious. This is how it is formed shadow- a structure incompatible with self-acceptance and self-esteem of the ego. Shadow- it is like an unconscious complex in which all the repressed or alienated parts of the conscious personality are contained. In dreams, the shadow can be represented as a dark figure of the same gender as the dreamer himself. A person who is not aware of and rejects his shadow, as a rule, demonstrates extremely rigid forms of behavior, does not adapt well to teamwork, is incapable of full-fledged creative activity, the perception of innovative ideas and alternative points of view.

This area of ​​psychotherapy has not lost its relevance for many decades. In addition, Jung's analytical psychology gave rise to such areas of psychotherapy as:

• Jungian symbol drama (catatim-imaginative therapy),
• jungian art therapy,
• jungian psychodrama,
• Process Oriented Therapy
• sand therapy,
• Neo-Ericksonian hypnosis
• Socionics.

Ivanova T.A.

Jungian or analytical psychotherapy represents not only a psychotherapeutic approach, but also the underlying special outlook. The therapeutic tradition of analytical psychology grew out of scientific papers K.G. Jung, who devoted his life to the empirical study of the laws of the functioning of the human soul.

Home purpose Jungian therapy is the achievement by the client of spiritual integrity and connection with his inner center, around which his personality is formed. This connection is called the ego-Self axis and allows the client to be in constant contact with himself, with his destiny and with the basic meanings of his life. Finding contact with the core of his personality, with the Self, a person gets access to the colossal resource of the symbolic wealth of his inner world.

path to maturity or individuation in analytical psychotherapy, this is the path of painstaking and at times even painful joint work of the client and the psychotherapist, during which the client gradually becomes aware and assimilates his own Shadow, learns to perceive and analyze the messages of the unconscious and frees himself from the power of the destructive complexes that dominate him.

Main methods Jungian psychotherapy are work with dreams and active imagination. For each session, it is desirable for the client to bring dreams recorded by him, from the content of which the analyst can understand the dynamics of the analysand's unconscious and begin to contribute to its awareness. In addition, in the process of analysis, active work is carried out to establish contact between the consciousness and the unconscious of the client, which requires the symbolic interaction of the analysand with images from his fantasies and dreams. This process of transforming the client's own internal images is called active imagination. Also, in analytical psychotherapy are often used psychological techniques aimed at revealing the client's creativity and symbolizing what is happening in his inner world. The development of symbolic thinking allows a person to master the tool for overcoming crisis situations and neurotic states which greatly accelerates the pace of his personal growth.

The effort of the Jungian practitioner is to hear the music of the soul each client who comes to him for help and help him begin to live in harmony with his inner spiritual rhythm. As a result of such subtle work, the client is able to break free from the shackles of his own past conditioning, increase his awareness and begin a productive, joyful and creative life.

Contrary to popular belief, psychotherapy is not only for people suffering from depression or autism. It helps to deal with fears and neuroses, cope with difficult life situations, overcome loneliness or disagreements in the family. Of course, today specialists more often use combinations of different methods, selecting them depending on what a particular client needs....

Contrary to popular belief, psychotherapy is not only for people suffering from depression or autism. It helps to deal with fears and neuroses, cope with difficult life situations, overcome loneliness or disagreements in the family. Of course, today specialists more often use combinations of different methods, choosing them depending on what a particular client needs.

And yet this or that direction can be basic; knowing how they differ from each other can help to choose a place - or, according to at least to decide to finally heal their spiritual wounds. We have compiled a guide to the areas of psychotherapy that will help you find suitable shape work with a therapist.

Psychoanalysis: free association

Psychoanalysis is one of the oldest, but not obsolete areas of psychotherapy. It appeared more than 100 years ago and was originally used to treat neuroses. Psychoanalysis is based on the cathartic method. Joseph Breuer (Breuer), who used hypnosis in his work, which allowed patients, in the form of a conversation with a doctor, to restore lost memories or impressions and solve problems associated with them. Sigmund Freud became a co-author of this method and at first also resorted to hypnosis. Later he abandoned this technique, and this marked the beginning of the formation of psychoanalysis as a method.

Psychoanalysis is a conversational therapy. Its main goal is to help the client answer the questions:

What's happening?
Why is this happening?
what to do?

This allows a person to become aware of those parts of the psyche that previously lay in the area of ​​the unconscious - and this is why psychoanalysis is sometimes also called depth psychology. Instead of hypnosis in this case, the method of free association is used, so that within the framework of the session the client can say whatever comes to his mind. The task of the psychotherapist here is to create a situation of security and trust in which the person who comes to him can relax. An important condition, as in the case of any other psychotherapy, is the absence of friendly or family ties between the therapist and his client. In addition, as in other fields, the specialist is obliged to keep secret everything that is communicated to him, so that free associations do not go beyond the office in which they sound. It must be understood that a therapist who uses hypnosis in his practice and at the same time calls himself a psychoanalyst is actually practicing a different method: including the cathartic method. Breuer. Psychologists do not have the right to use hypnosis at all. After all, psychology and psychotherapy are not the same thing. The status in this case depends on the education of the specialist.

A psychologist is a person who has received a psychological education (and even a clinical psychologist with a medical degree is neither a psychotherapist nor a doctor). A psychotherapist is a psychologist or physician who has continued his education, specialization or retraining, and qualified to practice psychotherapy.

Psychoanalysis is a proven progressive method that gives a person the opportunity to deeply work through problematic moments and chronic psychological trauma, or, for example, change the style of communication. True, in this case, you need to prepare for a long work: short period a year and a half is considered, the average is about seven years.

Jungian psychotherapy: fairy tales and cultural studies

Jungian psychotherapy is fairy tales, dreams, myths, parables and even pictures that the client comes up with, writes down, draws, remembers and discusses with the psychotherapist. Anything that has a plot and an idea is good material here. The therapist does not act as an attending physician, but rather as a partner of the client, his "companion on the way."

According to the founder of this direction Carl Gustav Jung- a Swiss psychiatrist and opponent of Freud, - the unconscious normally exists in a state of equilibrium and can mobilize complexes if this balance is disturbed. Complexes in the Jungian interpretation carry an emotional charge and are usually repressed from the field of consciousness, however, they can manifest themselves in dreams, memories, emotions, instinctive impulses, fantasies and behavior. This is why Jungian psychotherapists usually have a deep knowledge of cultural studies, which allows them to understand the meaning of their client's stories. The Jungian approach gives a person the opportunity to work with images, recognizing their problems and complexes through them and establishing control over them.

Like psychoanalysis, the Jungian approach does not work. Nevertheless, this method allows you to understand the systems of relationships well, learn how to correctly understand and interpret various phenomena, develop your own individuality and become a more holistic person.

Gestalt therapy: contact and balance

Within the framework of Gestalt therapy, the therapist's communication with the client takes place face-to-face, in a fairly free extraverted dialogue. Heard or not heard? What can you take from environment, and what is not? Are you able to ask for what you need? When do you want to end the conversation and defend yourself? For the client, Gestalt therapy is built on contact: both with the therapist and with oneself.

It is an open-minded, mobile type of therapy that allows a person to solve psychological problems by establishing or establishing connections with his own self, people around him and life circumstances. This is mainly achieved through working with actual feelings and their bodily manifestations.

You can also use memories, dreams, and even imaginary characters.

The main task of a person during Gestalt therapy is not so much to think as to feel. Awareness of emotions and reactions to them are used as tools.

The best result of such work is finding a balance where you can rely on signals coming from within, while taking into account external circumstances when it comes to action.

Gestalt therapy teaches you to adapt to the world around you without violence against yourself and to satisfy your needs in an adequately perceived way in society.

The average duration of gestalt therapy is up to two years. Today, one of the problems of this trend remains that some of its supporters perceive it more as a social movement or even a subculture, so that the process of development or problem solving to some extent turns into leisure and loses effectiveness.

Cognitive Therapy: applied work with behavior

Cognitive therapy is the only type of psychotherapy paid for by insurance in the EU.

In this case, we are talking about behavioral work, in a certain sense devoid of psychoanalytic load, when it is necessary to think over long-standing and, at first glance, insignificant events.

Cognitive therapy creates a short-term, well-structured and symptom-focused strategy to enhance self-exploration and behavioral change.

The method is one of the directions of the cognitive-behavioral flow, which studies how a person perceives certain situations, how he thinks and how he behaves in connection with this, as well as how all these processes can be corrected if something goes wrong. not this way. Cognitive therapy is largely based on the concept of "self-made man", which states that a person is capable of favorable changes despite pressure. psychological trauma and the dark burden of the unconscious

The focus of the direction is a "cognizing person", an active figure who is able to stop being a slave of the past, control the present and predict possible scenarios for the future. One of the pioneers of cognitive psychotherapy, American psychiatrist Aaron Beck claimed: “Human thoughts determine his emotions, emotions determine the corresponding behavior, and behavior, in turn, shapes our place in the world around us. It's not that the world is bad, but how often we see it that way.".

One of the main areas of work within cognitive therapy is negative automatic thoughts.

To overcome them, several tools are used:

Reassessment technique, when alternative causes of the problem are subjected to verification;
decentralization of thinking (it suits people who suffer from the feeling that they are in the center of everyone's attention and vulnerable to the opinions of others);
conscious self-observation, useful in depression and anxiety;
decatastrophization, which also helps reduce anxiety;
purposeful repetition, when the desired scenarios of positive behavior are repeatedly tried in practice;
the “Stop!” method, which allows you to destroy negative images on command;
positive imagination, when a negative image is replaced by a positive one, and this allows you to relax;
metaphors, parables or even verses, which, however, in this case are not the leading tool.

The psychotherapist selects the methods of work individually, and in the course of the process they can change. Cognitive therapy does not last long and is a rather applied way of working on oneself.

Its disadvantage lies in the fact that in some cases the problems can be touched superficially, and the effect of the process may disappear before the end of work with the therapist.

Psychodrama: theater "I"

Unlike all of the above

psychodrama is group therapy

It uses dramatic vocabulary and dramatic action as a tool. Romanian psychiatrist, psychologist and sociologist, opponent Sigmund Freud and inventor of this method Jacob Levy Moreno wrote that it allows you to go through different life situations outside of ordinary circumstances.

Five key figures and elements are always present in psychodrama: the protagonist, the director, the auxiliary self, the audience and the stage.

Protagonist

During the session explores aspects of his personality,

director

In the role of which the therapist acts, determines the direction of progress, and

auxiliary "I"

Present important people, phenomena and even objects.

They are watching from the side, and any spacious room can become a stage, since psychodrama participants often need to move a lot.

Within each psychodrama, three stages are distinguished: warming up, dramatic action and sharing.

Myself Jacob Moreno called psychodrama "a science that seeks truth in a dramatic way". “One of its tasks is to teach people to resolve their conflicts in the microcosm of the world (group), free from conventional frameworks, through acting out their problems, ambitions, fantasies and fears. Moreno wrote. - It implies the maximum involvement of all those present in the study of current conflicts in the form in which they exist, supplementing it with early impressions and memories of the hero..

This method is suitable for working with psychological trauma, conflict situations in the family or in a group, for child psychotherapy, as well as for the treatment of psychosomatic disorders.

Family-systemic constellations: the theater of the domestic problem

Family-systemic constellations are somewhat reminiscent of psychodrama, but in this case, all the roles are alternately played by the same person. He also shows the group members who help him what to do. During the process, the “deputies” convey what is happening in the family system, based on the information provided by the protagonist.

He claims that most of psychological problems of a person stems from problems in his family system - a circle of relatives and people equivalent in importance to them

Hellinger refers to such problems as murders, suicides, early deaths, rape, immigration, loss of property, broken family relationships, and so on. According to the philosopher, they, as a rule, cause psychological trauma, conflicts, psychosomatic and other diseases.

To resolve a conflict or problem, Hellinger suggests working through it in action.

Body Oriented Psychotherapy: Working with Matter

Today, this direction of psychotherapy is a whole bunch of techniques that are often used in combination.

They are suitable for people who are faced with violations of the body scheme, neuroses and other manifestations of psychological problems through a physical condition.

At the heart of any body-oriented psychotherapy are body contact procedures.

The main concept here is the concept of a muscular shell or a system of muscle "clips" - dense areas of compression in the muscles that do not relax at rest. Such areas can be observed throughout the body, from the head and face to the pelvis. According to the founder of the methodology Wilhelm Reich- student Sigmund Freud, over time, departed from psychoanalysis - they are created as a protection against unwanted anxiety, anxiety, fear, tears, anger, screaming, anger, passion and excitement.

In order to work out the “clips”, a variety of methods are used: massage, exercises, breathing practices and thanatotherapy - a practice based on maximum muscle relaxation

However, any body-oriented psychotherapy is aimed at "unclenching" repressed feelings, awareness of the body and emotional response.

It allows you to bring back to the stage the problems and traumas that were previously pushed into the area of ​​the unconscious, and work through them. However, such psychotherapy often allows not only to analyze the trauma, but to reconnect with it and free oneself from feelings that have been suppressed for years.

Because of this, experts recommend alternating sessions of body-oriented and analytical psychotherapy. Otherwise - without awareness and the psychological changes associated with it - the results of the work done may turn out to be short-term.