Why do people say psychologists are crazy?

It is interesting to reflect on how we students and psychologists change throughout graduation. You must have already come across some speeches from people saying things like: “wow, how you changed after you started doing psychology” or “you couldn’t talk that way, you do psychology!”

To better understand this supposed “madness” they talk about, I suggest reading chapter 12 of the book Psychodrama: theory and practice (DIAS, 1987). I relied on him to write this text.

Dias (1987) shows what he calls the basic training of a therapist to succeed in the profession. He states that the student should not only invest in theories and techniques, but also in his deep personal analysis.

He makes it clear that to be a good professional, it is necessary to have some characteristics that many young therapists still do not have, such as life experience, having direct contact with certain experiences for a better understanding, and having an idea of ​​how the client feels. With these qualities, the therapist has the capacity for acceptance, protection and continence with the client. The author also shows the importance of psychotherapy: the greater his personal analysis, the more understanding of the client he will have, as it is fundamental not to confuse the client’s experiences with his own.

It is clear in the reading that the therapist can only identify the core of a certain feeling of the client if he himself has already managed to identify its core. In the author’s opinion, otherwise, at most it is possible to indicate and not to cure.

Theoretical training is obviously important to have a deep understanding of a certain line of psychotherapy. Therapists often end up knowing many theories of various lines, becoming knowledgeable, but having great difficulty in being coherent and efficient.

Dias mentions that psychodrama is the fundamental approach to deal with most situations. He tells how after having contact with other lines, he ended up systematizing and putting a personal stamp on his work. Thus, he can adjust the needs of each client, managing to work intuitively.

When all this happens there is a cycle where: treating, the therapist treats himself; by teaching, the therapist learns; supervising, the therapist theorizes his own experience.

Dias also mentions the maturation of therapists: he states that this profession is extremely fascinating and at the same time painful. In everyday life, the therapist will be constantly “bombarded” by his clients, having to accept, protect and salute them.

Even those who have already been in therapy end up not supporting the tensions, thus needing the help of some colleagues. However, this mobilization ends up increasing the healthy part of the therapist to withstand tension. In this way, a rapid and intense maturation is created.

One of the most magnificent parts of the chapter:

“Because to the extent that the therapist comes into intimate contact with his client’s experience, he ends up living many lives in a few years. I usually say, then, in a joking tone, but that I feel with a grain of truth, that I must currently be around 150 years old.”

Thus, the therapist ends up becoming well prepared and willing to face any situation in life, leaving aside his illusions and confronting himself more and more with reality as it is.

For this reason, he can end up suffering immense loneliness, when he is able to identify people’s intentions more deeply, and sometimes he begins to be more frank and sincere and can be considered inappropriate. He starts to listen to people, starts to help, and, consequently, there is little space left for dialogue without social hypocrisy. In this, the therapist can isolate himself, and only be able to maintain a dialogue with other therapists or with those who have already undergone some type of analysis.

I believe in this part that not only the therapist, but the psychology student goes through this process during graduation.

And from that moment on, we are trapped in a trap where we are emotionally prepared and increasingly open to relationships with people in general, but the difficulty of talking to them grows more and more. This can therefore lead to isolation and labels such as crazy, crazy, indifferent, rude, etc.

Victor also mentions the madness of therapists. The therapist who stays in his territory for a long time – protected by its rules and norms, where frankness and sincerity are fundamental qualities – ends up not being able to adapt to the broader social environment, which can bring great complications in normal life.

REFERENCE:

DIAS, Victor RC Silva, Victor. Psychodrama: theory and practice. São Paulo: Agora: 1987.

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