Psychologists Help You Interpret Your Thoughts And Feelings

The job of psychologists is to study human behavior. They help people understand their own problems by interpreting their thoughts and feelings. They listen to what patients are telling them, as well as what they mean and importance.

French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan put forward the idea that unconsciousness has the structure of language. The unconscious is a place where we retain desires, fears and feelings. According to some schools, psychologists give their patients the resources to make the unconscious conscious. Let’s find out more…

Features that help psychologists interpret thoughts and feelings

Psychologists have certain qualities that help them interpret the thoughts and feelings of their patients. They are also able to speak in words that are easy for patients to understand. Here are some of these special abilities:

• Empathy. This means the ability to put ourselves in the situation or “shoes” of others. It is easier for psychologists to understand how and why a patient’s problems affect them when they step on a patient’s shoes.
• Communication .  Austrian psychologist Paul Watzawick believes that communication is the foundation of human relationships. Therefore, psychologists are able to interpret what a patient thinks and feels.
• Ability to listen. Psychologists need to pay attention to what their patients are saying so that nothing important is left out of them.
• Self-awareness.  Psychologists need to distinguish patients ’problems from their own problems. Otherwise, they may ruin the communication between themselves and their patient.

Non-verbal communication

Gestures, expressions, tones, and posture say a lot about what happens in a person’s life. They can provide valuable information about our feelings that we are not aware of. And because we are not aware of them, we do not express them verbally.

Thoughts and feelings are not always easy to put into words. To interpret them, psychologists monitor their patients really closely. For example, they observe the expressions on their faces as they talk about their problems. Psychologists may also observe the patient’s way of sitting, as well as where they are looking.

Tone is another revealing factor. For example, does a patient’s tone of voice change as he or she talks about a particular topic? Are there breaks in his speech? Is he quiet? Is he out of breath? Is his speech speeding up or slowing down? How loud is he talking?

The aspects we just listed are important because they help psychology understand the whole situation. They give the psychologist clues about the patient’s thoughts, descriptions of reality, and feelings.

What are the psychologist’s favorite techniques?

Here is a list of techniques that psychologists most often use in their work:

• Cognitive techniques.  American psychologist Aaron Beck suggested that there is a connection between our feelings and thoughts. Beck believed we could rebuild these thoughts and feelings. And psychologists can help us in this task.
• Drawing or painting. The process of drawing or painting makes the unconscious visible. Here, the Psychotherapist helps to express the patient’s thoughts and feelings when they themselves find it difficult to put the feelings and thoughts into words. They are then interpreted by a psychotherapist.

• Through speech. The therapist recognizes people’s thoughts and feelings as they speak.

• Through behavior. Therapists monitor how patients behave during therapy. They also listen to patient descriptions of how they behave outside of therapy. For example, are they aggressive, apathetic, motivated, tense?
• Non-verbal communication. In many cases, psychologists can help their patients interpret their thoughts and feelings as they pay a lot of attention to how they express themselves without words. They listen to the content of the speech but at the same time pay attention to their way of telling. In other words, they pay attention to gestures, facial expressions, and posture.

• Bringing out the unconscious. Most psychologists who believe in the existence of the unconscious think it manifests itself in different ways. It may manifest itself through art, in the mistakes we make, or in oblivion. Psychologists pay attention to these problems and show them to their patients / clients. They give them meaning (if they even have any meaning).
• Psychodrama. This technique is created by Jacob Levy Moreno, where patients act out what is happening. Afterwards, the psychologist helps the patient to interpret their own acting, realizing that some things about unconsciousness may come up.

Often psychologists act as a kind of mirror. They reflect the patient’s modes of expression so that the patient can interpret them for themselves. Psychologists can also help organize patients ’speech and thoughts. They do this by allowing the patient to speak freely, acting as a kind of crutch or support so that the process does not lose its continuity.