Therapeutic Guidance: An Indispensable Tool

Psychologists have certain tools that enable them to help their patients with the various problems, discomforts or mental illnesses they may have. One of these tools is therapeutic counseling.

Therapeutic guidance is applied in the patient ‘s usual environment. This means that the psychologist takes his patient to, for example, a street, house or other place that arouses unpleasant feelings in him.

Psychologists only use them when other techniques prove inadequate or ineffective. The psychologist then realizes that he really has to step into his patient’s life in order to improve his condition.

Therapeutic Guidance Facilitates Progress

Therapeutic counseling helps people with different disabilities to overcome their barriers. For example, these barriers can prevent them from leaving their homes or visiting certain places.

This tool can help them regain their autonomy, develop their social skills and interact with their environment in a healthier way. This can be very effective for people who suffer from social anxiety, for example.

However, for therapeutic counseling to be truly successful, the psychologist must have the right attitude and qualities:

• Presence: the psychologist must be with the patient and share situations and moments with him.
• Active listening: it is essential for the patient to express himself and for the psychologist to give him the necessary time to do so.

• Respect: the psychologist must show respect and be open in all respects.
• Empathy: Understanding and a non-judgmental attitude are important.
• Sincerity: The psychologist must present himself as he is, although he must also remain professional at all times.

A case of psychosis

The study ‘Therapeutic Guidance: Practice and Clinic in a Psychiatric Hospital’ describes the case of a 66-year-old woman who spent seven years in a psychiatric hospital because she was diagnosed with postpartum manic-depressive psychosis.

Because pharmacological treatments did not help, psychologists eventually suggested therapeutic counseling. The patient was excited at first, but then her fears started to kick in. To help her, her psychiatrist began taking her on walks around the hospital.

In this case, the intervention of the family also proved to be important. After a while, the patient was even open to taking laps around the city, away from her safe environment, which to her was the hospital. At first she rejected the therapist, saying only, “I want to go home.” However, this changed after a few months.

She then began to make regular home visits and take on certain responsibilities. This included looking after her daughters and taking her medications. The process was gradual but yielded very good results.

This patient was admitted to the facility because she behaved aggressively towards her family and regularly suffered from uncontrollable manic attacks. However, therapeutic guidance allowed her to stabilize her symptoms and rejoin her family.

A tool for difficult situations

As you can see, therapeutic counseling is a tool that psychologists can turn to when other tools don’t seem to help.

In addition, people who suffer from agoraphobia, fear of walking down busy streets or fear of going to a supermarket can benefit greatly from therapeutic guidance.

The psychologist stays by their side, offers support, listens to how they feel, observes how they act and helps prevent them from running away from situations that are uncomfortable for them.

As you can see, this technique encourages many people to overcome their barriers. These barriers can often be very limiting in their daily lives. It enables people to make profound changes and improve their quality of life.