Yes, psychologists dedicated to mental health intervention are one of those groups of professionals who, along with photographers, musicians and many others, are often challenged by this idea: “Will you work for me for free, please?

Of course, these kinds of requests are never raised in such a direct way; they are usually expressed in an implicit way, making the conversation continue to have the appearance of informal dialogue when a commitment at the professional level is basically proposed.

But no, the task of psychologists in the field of health is defined, precisely, as being a job, something for which, by default, a payment must be received , either from patients or from public entities. If this basic idea is not respected by many people it is, in part, due to two myths about psychology that we will see below.

The personal need to “make people happy”

One of the myths that most feeds the belief that psychologists can be expected to give free therapy is the idea that, because they have chosen that career, rather than workers they are pure souls who are happy simply by making others happy . That is, doing favors.

Of course, this view of what it means to “make others happy” is totally self-serving and short-sighted . How many people could benefit from a psychologist who has to spend a large part of the week practicing for free? For how long?

The same idealistic vision that leads to saying, for example, that culture is free in order to defend artists being able to see their work distributed without charging anything makes many people see psychologists as people who can afford to become an NGO themselves (although without the advantages that NGOs have).

Of course psychologists like to help others , and in many cases that feeling is what makes many decide to start a career in psychology. But that does not mean that by default and until the contrary is said the interests of others must come before those of the professional.

Anyone can give advice

Another myth that leads many people to expect free psychotherapy sessions is that what they do is basically give advice. Something that can be done at a bar, something that is easy and intuitive. Something that can even pass as leisure time for both parties.

Why don’t we offer free psychological therapy?

Why try to charge for something that can be done by everyone and is also a light entertainment? Besides, giving advice and seeing how the other person respects our point of view must be very good for self-esteem, right? Psychologists are very lucky.

Actually, there’s nothing in this reasoning that isn’t wrong. What health psychologists do is far from giving advice, and neither is light talk or a “talking cure” as quick as heating rice in the microwave. And, of course, the raison d’être of psychotherapy is not to exchange advice for a good portion of ego.

What is psychological intervention

What psychologists dedicated to intervening on individual people’s problems do is, among other things, schedule schedules with which they commit not to be doing other things when it comes time to attend to a client.

It is also about active listening and focusing your efforts for a long time on understanding the problem and the needs of the person being served. It is necessary to know where the specific characteristics of a person’s life end and where the generalities begin that allow one to compare that case with others and establish a diagnosis of the situation.

The information obtained in the consultation is also contrasted with other more theoretical information, the result of the work of many psychologists who are dedicated to research.

Psychotherapy also consists of making decisions that involve both parties , since estimating whether or not a symptom picture fits into a theoretical diagnostic category carries the risk of error, and the actions to be taken must be consistent with this decision.

Psychologists create intervention programmes that consist of much more than just talking : they can conduct sessions on exposure to phobias, biofeedback and even evaluate cognitive abilities in situ or through tests that need to be used in a very precise way, among other things.

And, of course, let’s not forget the formation . For psychologists to be able to render their services they must invest effort, time and money not only in a university career, but also in master’s degrees, specialized seminars and even readings of scientific articles, since the science of behavior and mental processes is constantly evolving. Intellectual stagnation is not an option.

Claiming the value of one’s work

All these activities that psychologists enhance would be impossible if they did not demand fair payment for their work. Not being paid on time is a valid option, but not what defines the profession .

The mistake is, perhaps, to believe that the work of psychologists, designers or computer scientists is so insignificant that it can happen as something that could be done without being paid but is normally paid to give it the appearance of professionalism. A belief that, coincidentally, always benefits the party asking for the favor, as if the odd thing is to receive a payment in exchange for the work.