How does labor intrusiveness in psychotherapy affect patients?

These are the negative effects that labor intrusiveness in psychotherapy has on patients.

Psychotherapy is a key field of work both in the world of mental health and in terms of psychological support for people who want to improve their well-being in some aspect: relationships, time management to promote new projects, job performance, preparation of oppositions...

However, unfortunately not all people who advertise themselves as offering psychological therapy services are qualified to do so. And if we add to this the fact that many people do not have the knowledge to distinguish these cases, on the one hand, and that part of the population is indifferent to this fact because they believe that it does not affect them, on the other, the result is a problem to be taken into account.

With the intention of contributing to remedy it, in this article you will find the reasons why labor intrusion is problematic and what can be done to verify that a professional is qualified to care for patients in this field. to take care of patients in this field.

What does intrusiveness consist of?

Let's start with the basics: what exactly does the word "intrusiveness" mean? It is the fact of performing the work of a specific professional profile without having the qualification to do so, either in a paid or unpaideither on a paid or unpaid basis.

Thus, intrusion is committed by those who dedicate themselves totally or partially to perform a job that can only be performed by people who are authorized to do so, since they are trained to do so. In fact, in many cases, this activity constitutes a crime.

It is true that in certain fields of work, the concept of intrusiveness is poorly defined and difficult to identify.. Along these lines, if we talk about the work that psychologists in general (including those who are not specialized in psychotherapy) can perform, we will see that many of these activities overlap with other disciplines and areas of science.

For example, a research work about social dynamics among urban tribes in a city can be done by psychologists, but it can also be done by sociologists or even anthropologists.

However, if, within the field of psychology, we focus specifically on the field of psychotherapy, the fence narrows and labor intrusiveness is much better defined. Thus, in these cases there are criteria to determine what type of training and certificates are necessary to attend patients offering psychological therapy.The training and skill requirements for practice are much more detailed and regulated.

At the end of the day, psychotherapy follows a series of scientifically tested guidelines in order to offer quality services, and being part of the mental health world, it is important to regulate how one works. This simple fact already gives us an idea of why labor intrusion in psychotherapy is a problem.

What problems can intrusiveness in psychotherapy cause you?

As a patient, labor intrusion in the field of psychological therapy affects you in these ways:

• It exposes you to people who offer services without knowing the deontological code of psychology.
• It exposes you to people who are not trained to offer you effective solutions to your problems (but charge you anyway).
• You can be a victim of pseudotherapy procedures that generate side effects, without professional supervision to prevent or mitigate them.

How to avoid going to those who offer psychotherapy committing intrusiveness?

What are the main measures that you can adopt, in the Spanish context, to avoid falling into cases of labor intrusiveness as a psychotherapy patient? The fundamental thing is to check that the professional is registered in the COP.

The Consejo General de la Psicología de España (COP) is the main entity through which the professional activity of psychologists is legally regulated, especially those whose work is of special social sensitivity.

This organization exists to ensure that the country's psychology professionals are subject to the highest ethical and training standards. Therefore, to offer psychotherapy services in Spain, one of the main requirements is to be a member of the COP.

So, when you are going to choose a professional who offers psychological therapy, make sure that he/she has a COP membership number in a territorial area of Spain.. This way you will know if he/she is registered or not in one of the branches of the COP; for example, in the Official College of Psychologists of La Rioja.

In principle, this is the main criterion to avoid cases of labor intrusion, since it is not possible to become a member of this entity without having completed a university degree in psychology and without having the basic material elements to consult in a safe place.

However, it could be that at a given moment the professional has ceased to be registered and that he/she hides from you that he/she is no longer under the COP umbrella. Fortunately, you can go to the COP's website to, from there, see if the professional in question is still registered, through its digital search engine..

On the other hand, keep in mind that even if a person has obtained a university degree in psychology and at some point has become a member of a professional association, it is technically possible that, for whatever reason, he or she no longer offers true psychotherapy or abides by the code of ethics of psychology, but offers supposed remedies that have nothing to do with psychology, such as "mystical" experiences of "connection with the universe", homeopathy, etc...

Keep in mind that anything that goes beyond the adoption of new ways of managing emotions, thoughts and behaviors is not psychotherapy.

Are you interested in having psychotherapy services?

I am a General Health Psychologist federated by FEAP (Spanish Federation of Psychotherapists Associations) with more than 20 years of experience in patient care.

I work helping adults and adolescents, as well as couples and families, and I offer face-to-face sessions in my office in Seville or online via video call.