Interview with Guacimara Hernández: a psychologist’s day-to-day life

Psychologist Guacimara Hernández talks to us about the characteristics of her work in psychotherapy.

Sometimes psychology is seen as something cold and far from people's real concerns. To dispel this myth, there is nothing better than getting to know this discipline from the hand of those who are dedicated to it: psychologists.

In this case, we interviewed Guacimara Hernandez, a psychologist who offers her sessions in the field.a psychologist who offers her psychotherapy sessions in the Canarian city of Arrecife.

Interview with Guacimara Hernandez Santana, psychologist

Guacimara is a psychologist specialized in Clinical and Health Psychology and Sexology. In this interview she talks about her daily professional life and her impressions about her work with patients.

You have extensive experience as a clinical psychologist. What led you to study psychology?

It is true that when I started studying the career I saw it as something very complicated, but at the same time when you like something you study it with great enthusiasm. It is a very pleasant career path when it comes to being able to help others, that is the reason.

Nowadays, working in this field for me is a lucky thing, because it is what I like and the hours I dedicate to my work are many, but I can always say that I am lucky because I made the right choice.

What characteristics do you think a good psychologist should have?

For me, the fundamental characteristics are security, accessibility, patience and being in continuous training. And above all, to know well that the person is looking for help and not all of us are specialized in that, the first thing is to start from whether we can carry out that case or not, that is to say, to refer to another professional.

Although it is becoming more and more accepted to go to a psychologist, there are still those who think that going to psychotherapy is a sign of weakness. Have you noticed this?

I see this less and less. People are normalizing this whole process more and more, and they are trying not to suffer so much and to catch the problems in time. A psychologist gives you guidelines and makes you see the good side of things, and many times we suffer and prolong the suffering unnecessarily.

What problems or disorders do you deal with most frequently?

Anxiety and depression are the most recurrent cases in my practice, but there are also many cases of OCD, low self-esteem, eating disorders, chronic pain....

What do you think is the obstacle for a person to go to a psychologist's office for help?

Some people tend to see the need for consistency in therapy as a problem, they think they will not be able to follow guidelines and want very fast results. Once in therapy I always tell them that I don't leave them alone, and the process of wellness is the next thing that comes.

In your experience, have you ever gone to another specialist to support a patient's recovery process?

Many times I have to refer patients, but the problem is that I am left with weeks of waiting to take more people and due to lack of space in my schedule I usually refer to other professionals. Also, when the patient needs it, we work as a team with Psychiatry.

When do you think it is time to seek the help of a psychologist?

When you see that your life is not what you expected, when everything becomes dark and especially when you see that for a long time something is not going well in you, that is the moment. We were born to live life, not to be always in continuous survival.