CoSMI - 1.0.1.10 - Authenticity - Know Yourself - psychology
Psalm 32:8
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
I have to be careful here. I have to point out that I'm neither a psychiatrist, a psychologist, nor do I have certification as a counselor, nor do I even pretend to be a life coach. I do have quite a bit of background in courses in psychology. If you are in college or university, I would highly recommend that, whatever other course of study you are taking, you take courses in psychology. Studying psychology will be a benefit to you regardless of what other career you plan to pursue. Whatever you are going to be working on, you are going to be working with people, and understanding how people work is going to be very useful to you.
Particularly if you want to know how *you* work.
That said, a bit of background on various aspects of psychology and psychological counseling.
Psychology, as a field, is only a little bit over a century old. It got its start with psychiatry. Psychiatry is based on a number of theories which a number of people now feel are rather suspect, and which don't appear to be particularly effective as compared to other kinds of therapies. It is where this all started. Psychiatrists also have to be trained as medical doctors, and psychiatrists are the ones who can prescribe certain psychiatric medications. Psychologists do not have to be medical doctors. Psychological counselors, generally speaking, have at least a master's degree in the study of psychology, as well as certification as psychological counselors. There are some who have less formal education, but still have certification as counselors. There are those who advertise themselves as life coaches, and there is no requirement for any formal study at all. Life coaches are just people who set themselves up as life coaches. Caveat emptor.
Generally speaking, if your family doctor says that you need some kind of psychological counselling, he will refer you to either a psychiatrist or a psychological counsellor. In this case, part of the cost of the counselling sessions will be covered by medical insurance. Otherwise, if you just wish to talk to a psychological counsellor yourself, you are going to have to pay for the counselling. Even if you are referred by your family doctor, psychological counselling, in actual practice, tends to cost more than medical insurance is willing to cover. Certainly, if you are paying for the psychological counselling yourself, that can be quite expensive. Unfortunately, there is very little to say that the quality of the counselling that you receive is going to match what you pay for it. Psychological counsellors, although they tend to take similar training, still will have preferences in terms of the way that they think psychological problems should be addressed. This may or may not be consistent with what you want to do with regard to psychological counselling. Once again, let the buyer beware.
Having pointed out all the possible problems with psychological counseling, you may be wondering why on earth I am even bothering to recommend it. Counseling can provide you with insights. Psychology can provide you with insights. I have taken many courses of study in a variety of fields of psychology over the course of my career. Over the course of a lifetime with depression, I have also had a lot of experience with a lot of different varieties of psychological counseling. Sometimes I have simply found out that I am, basically, an unhappy person. Sometimes I have found out things that helped me in a variety of ways. Sometimes I have done my own psychological research and study and found out some very useful tools and techniques.
There is value in psychological counseling, but there are, unfortunately, no guarantees.
CoSMI series:
Introduction and ToC: https://fibrecookery.blogspot.com/2026/05/cosmi-00100-introduction-and-table-of.html
Next: TBA
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