How to know if a psychologist is good?

As patients, knowing how to assess the quality of a psychotherapeutic service is key to progress.

Nowadays, psychology has diversified so much that it can be difficult to choose among this kind of professionals. However, if we have the possibility of know if a psychologist is good or notThis choice will be simpler and much more beneficial for us.

However... in what criteria should we look at to value the quality of a psychologist or psychologist?

Criteria to know if a psychologist is good

If you are thinking of going to a psychologist or if you are already in therapy and want to know if you have chosen the right professional, you will be interested in knowing these 6 aspects to take into account:

1. Training criteria

Let's start from an obvious minimum: the psychologist must have a bachelor's degree (current degree) in psychology. There are some professionals who are promoted as therapists, counselors, etc., who do not necessarily have a degree in psychology.

In addition, complementary training is very important. The psychology degree offers a few subjects dedicated to the clinical field, but the rest are related to other specialties, so it is desirable that the therapist has specialized postgraduate training in the clinical area (master's degree or expert type)This includes practical training in which the theoretical knowledge can be applied.

2. Legal criteria

The practice of our profession has an obligatory requirement of collegiality (which may be visible on the professional's website, invoice or any other advertisement). In this case, it is only a legal matter that involves paying a fee to the corresponding school without this implying greater experience or professionalism.

It is also important to have the title of clinical psychologist or generalist psychologist is also important.. In Spain, the only legal formula for dealing with patients is either to have gone through the PIR system (a competitive examination that includes several years of clinical practice in rotation) that accredits you as a clinical psychologist, or to obtain the title of general health psychologist, which is currently obtained through a master's degree.

As an exception, professionals who were already practicing before the regulations could be accredited if they had professional experience, postgraduate training and professional activity in an approved center.

3. Years of experience

The years of experience in the profession bring a plus to the therapist. Although this criterion is not always an endorsement of quality, it is true that the greater the experience, the higher the level of competence. As a benchmark, for any skill, it is considered that excellence is achieved after 10 years of practice in a subject. in a subject.

4. Opinions and references

The vast majority of psychologists are registered in search engines such as Google Maps, where patients can post their opinions about us, which can be a guide to how we do our work. And of course, the direct testimony of another patient who has been through your psychotherapy is tremendously valuable information, although there are always exceptions due to individual differences and what works for one person may not work for another.

5. Search on the internet

If you search on the Internet for a psychologist to go to and you put in Google "psychologists" followed by your city, what you should take into account are not those results that appear above the green advertisement label. That advantageous positioning (the first ones that come up) is the product of an economic investment in Googlebut it does not speak of the relevance of your content.

Although the operation of search robots on the Internet is extremely complex, what makes a page appear (the psychologist's web page, his blog, or his publications) if it is not previously paid for, is, among other things, that many people visit it, and that can be a quality orientation.

Spend some time comparing various professionals by visiting the information you find about them: their career path, the type of therapy they do, how long they have been practicing, and whether they fit your needs. For example, if you have an anxiety problem, perhaps a sexologist psychologist is not the most appropriate for your case, even if he/she meets the other requirements (experience, master's degree, good opinions, etc.).

Criteria to consider in the therapy itself

Other aspects to consider and that are part of the psychotherapy sessions themselves are the following:

That the questions you ask have a therapeutic objective.

Therapy is far from being therapy is far from being a colloquial conversation with a friend.Therefore, a therapist should not ask a question out of mere curiosity, but because it is necessary to clarify some aspect of the person.

Questions about your profession, the reason for a decision, questions about the people around you, give clues about the internal and relational dynamics that underlie your life. However, there are other unnecessary questions (for example: if you go to a spinning class and count it as a hobby, the therapist's asking you which gym you go to makes no therapeutic sense).

The therapist talks about himself/herself

To make a patient understand a problem or a solution, it is not necessary for the therapist to be an example. The protagonist should never be the therapist, but the patient..

It is true that there are some useful disclosures, (for example: when you talk about this subject, I feel your aggressiveness or your sadness) because they are a way of mirroring the patient to make him understand his emotions and what they can generate in others. But this disclosure should not become an outlet for the professional.

For example, in a case of couple therapy, the professional may reveal that he also has conflicts with his wife, or in a case of anxiety treatment, he may give you an example of when he suffered from it and tell you his story.

Counseling therapy

A therapist should not tell you what to do but help you figure out what is the best option for you. Counseling is a reflection of what you think is best for someone else. The therapist cannot know what is best for you according to him, but must discover with you what is best for you according to you.

The therapist uses external information and brings it into session.

Let's suppose that by chance your therapist knows someone in your environment and knows something about you that you have not told him. Under no circumstances is he/she authorized to reveal this information and share it with you.

When a patient consents to analyze himself in therapy, such a relationship is only allowed within the walls of the practice.. Outside, the therapist ceases to be your therapist and has no "permission" to analyze you. No matter how much you meet in another context (in a classroom, or in the supermarket), he/she can neither practice as such nor use the information he/she perceives from the street in therapy.

Contact outside of therapy

Although over time the therapist-patient relationship may become closer or there may be more trust between the two, the rule of neutrality must always be respected. The only way for therapy to work is for the patient to have a therapist, not a friend. Therefore, being left out of the consultation crosses the line from cordiality to companionship, which undermines the professional relationship.