Why practical learning is basic before working in psychotherapy

Let's look at the most important aspects of practical learning to become a psychotherapist.

From the surface and appearances, psychotherapy, or rather, the stereotypical image of what psychotherapy is, may seem to be a fundamentally intellectual, theoretical activity: two people talking in a room. However, the reality is quite the opposite: psychotherapy is fundamentally practical, especially from the therapist's point of view.

Ultimately, what is offered in a psychological therapy process is a training program: training to learn to regulate one's emotions, to detect self-sabotaging thoughts in time, to repress impulses when necessary, etc.

With that in mind, it is not surprising that those who want to dedicate themselves to work offering psychotherapy must go through a very complete process of practical learning..

• Article related: "12 professional exits of the Psychology".

The 4 reasons why practice is essential to know how to give therapy

These are the aspects for which to work giving psychotherapy the practice and the fluency in the day to day with patients is something crucial beyond the practical knowledge.

1. The therapeutic bond is very fluid and dynamic.

A good part of the probability of success or failure of a psychotherapy process depends on whether an adequate psychologist-patient therapeutic bond can be established; a balance between professionalism and empathy (but without falling into friendship), and between assertiveness and listening skills.. Knowing how to master this facet of therapy requires practice and active participation in psychotherapy processes.

2. It is necessary to know the bureaucratic, administrative and material aspects.

The profession of psychotherapist is not limited only to what happens during sessions with patients; it is necessary to know everything that surrounds it and makes it possible, that is, the management of material resources and assets that allow us to work with guarantees and legally. Practice makes it possible to avoid unpleasant surprises from the very first day, caused by "silly mistakes".

3. Having contact with other therapists is very valuable.

Through practice contacts and problem-solving skills are gained in the context of teamwork.Even if there is only one professional attending to a patient, for example, it is common to seek direct or indirect help from other professionals in the field.

4. It is not enough to know what works; you have to know how to apply it.

There is a big difference between seeing a therapeutic procedure described in a book, and to apply it in a real work context. When trying to apply these ideas to the real world, new problems arise, new questions, and also new solutions that had not been thought of.

How to learn clinical practice in psychotherapy?

Here are several key ideas when specializing in the field of psychotherapy.

1. University training is a must

If you have a university degree in psychology or medicine you will not be able to train in the field of clinical and health psychology, so if you are reading this, you want to work in psychotherapy and you have not gone through these years of training, your first goal should be to introduce you to this world by learning the basics.

Being a professional psychotherapist is complex and possible mistakes can lead to many problems for the patients.Therefore, it is normal that before you can propose to start the internship you should spend some time familiarizing yourself with the concepts, techniques, objectives, etc.

2. Make sure you are trained in psychotherapy.

Not all forms of care for patients or people seeking help for emotional or behavioral problems can be considered psychotherapy. Keep in mind that psychological therapy is usually a months-long intervention process, is a process of intervention that lasts for monthsIt has several phases, structured towards reaching the final goal after several sessions. For example, offering occasional telephone support for people who feel distress at a particular time is not, technically, psychotherapy.

3. Look for referents in those who offer therapy in their day-to-day work.

Within the field of psychology there are a wide variety of specializations and professional profiles.and not all of them are dedicated to attending patients through psychotherapeutic processes. Therefore, it is important to make sure that when it comes to training through Masters and postgraduate courses, you have teaching teams with many psychotherapy professionals (duly accredited and trained for this purpose) and who have been dedicated primarily to this activity during the last few years.

4. Learn a variety of therapeutic resources

The most effective forms of psychotherapy vary depending on the problem or disorder the patient has, as revealed by scientific research. Therefore, it is a good idea to learn to master the most effective forms of psychotherapy, it is positive that you learn to master a relatively Wide range of therapeutic resources..

Are you interested in training in the clinical practice of psychotherapy?

If you have completed a university degree in Psychology or Medicine and you are thinking of becoming a professional in the field of psychotherapy, you may be interested in the Master in Integrative Psychotherapy developed by Institut Mensalus..

This is a training and specialization program taught at Mensalus facilities (although it has an online option with live classes via the Internet, and another mixed option in which online and face-to-face classes are combined), lasting one academic year, and in which you learn the theoretical and practical aspects of psychological therapy from professionals, in their work context. At the end of the program, a University Degree is awarded by the Nebrija University of Madrid.

Starting from an integrative theoretical position in which various techniques and methods are combined to emphasize flexibility in dealing with the problems to be treated, students become familiar with clinical practice and observe real therapy cases. The groups are small, and their dynamics are supported by constant feedback from the teaching team.

You can find more information about Mensalus training programs on this page.

Bibliographical references:

• American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Fifth edition. DSM-5. Masson, Barcelona.
• Beidas, R.S. & Kendall, P.C. (2010). Training Therapists in Evidence-Based Practice: A Critical Review of Studies From a Systems-Contextual Perspective, Journal of Clinical Psychology, 17(1): 1 - 30.
• Fairburn, C.G. & Cooper, Z. (2011). Therapist competence, therapy quality, and therapist training. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 49(6-7): pp. 373 - 378.
• Feixas, G. & Miró, M.T. (1998). Approaches to psychotherapy. An introduction to psychological treatments. Barcelona: Paidós.