Psychological counseling in English

This article is for those who came to Russia to build their lives, careers, or faced certain intercultural difficulties in search of happiness.
You might want to read this article in Russian: "Психологическое консультирование на английском языке"

More specifically, we will talk about the following aspects:

1. Why does a Russian psychologist consult in English, where can you learn it?
2. What requests do English-speaking clients have at the beginning of the session, and what problems does the client formulate at the end of the session?
3. How can a short-term session (1-2 meetings) in English with a Russian psychologist help?

The difficulties of adapting to Russian culture are just the tip of the iceberg. Often, requests for psychological assistance to a foreigner are the top 10 following words, all with the adjective "mysterious":

1) Russian language;
2) Russian soul;
3) Russian woman;
4) Russian man;
5) Russian humor;
6) Russian traditions;
7) Russian education/work a la russe;
8) Russian boss;
9) Russian friend;
10) Russian - style relaxation

I've already written a series of articles about what it is:
· psychological counseling for the first time,
· individual session,
· marital session and family session.
In this article, I will talk about the peculiarities of counseling foreign citizens in English, without reference to the above types of therapy.

It took me 15 years of practice, work, and study to consult in English. Conventionally, these are three periods of my life.

I started my practical career after graduating from university with a degree in “Translation & translation studies“. Wherever I trained, I often noticed that conflicts and problems occur not only due to misunderstanding of the culture, traditions, and mentality of the region by both sides, but also due to the peculiarities of mastering the material.

Immersing myself in staff coaching, I encountered the specifics of verbalizing needs and emotions. In practice, I have seen how personal psychological trauma has become the cause of bankruptcy, decline, and conflict even in successful companies.

That's how I got to the psychology of the individual, the couple, the family. At family sessions or business trainings, I have observed that the translation from emotional to constructive language smooths out rough edges and promotes dialogue. In pair sessions, it still seems to me that I am an interpreter and I translate only from emotionally inconsistent Russian (emotionally anxious, emotionally accusing, and so on) into emotionally stable-explanatory Russian. Therefore, for me, after receiving the second higher education at Ural Institute of Humanities and the corresponding qualifications, further work as a psychologist did not become a retraining, but rather a logical continuation with a deeper use of linguistic education.

To sum up. It took me 15 years of practice to work in psychological counseling for English-speaking clients and their families. I specialize in the communicative approach. In sessions with a bilingual couple, I am a psychologist, a translator, and a trainer. It's a long way to go. One profession reveals another: more and more interesting.

When psychologist speaks a foreign language, the request for an English-speaking client can be closed faster. In fact, by the end of the session, emotional requests are transferred to the category of constructive problems, the solution of which lies in the plane of psychological literacy and ways of adapting to a new life:

• personal intercultural request;
• couples and families who speak two or three languages (English and Russian);
• Adaptation of a foreign employee/student/tourist.

We live in a unique time when the pace is accelerating. Quick adaptation is the key to success to get to the beat.

If a linguistic problem can be solved with the help of an online translator for a while, then there remains a problem in communicating with the brave new world of Russia. The ethno-cultural task of getting used to the peculiar Russian cuisine (one "herring on a fur coat" is worth it!), to the peculiarities of leisure activities, different climatic conditions requires independence and responsibility to learn the new rules of society. Adaptation is easier when a foreigner is supported by a specialist, immersed in the specifics of intercultural features.

The problematic situations of foreign citizens are that in addition to knowledge of the Russian language, it is necessary to master the rules in various spheres of life: everyday life, work, society, culture, history. Stress, especially in the first period of adaptation, the feeling of being different, stranger, homesickness, the need to assimilate a huge amount of information in a short time lead to sadness, sorrow, increased anxiety, and a wide range of fears of any "size".

For newly arrived foreigners, the psychological burden is in the area of different perceptions of reality. Let me describe this effect by the way two people look at the picture. One person has completed the 5th grade, the other has completed the 5th year of university. You will agree that the perception will be different, because a student still needs to learn a lot to look at the picture through the eyes of a university graduate.

Emotional burnout is typical for foreigners who are in need of rapid self-education. These are students, exchange specialists, and individuals.

The reasons for foreigners' appeals during the adaptation period may be the problems of a particular person:

• apathy, shyness, fear of contact, anger, aggression, resentment;
• problems due to the lack of skills to express and control emotions, self-reflection;
• dependence, codependency;

But there can also be quite objective problems:

• a new job,
• unusual food,
• weather conditions,
• traditions.

An English-speaking psychologist is often associated with a caring parent, a friend who supports and accepts without criticism or ridicule during setbacks, sets you up, and helps you find the resources that will help you overcome the intercultural crisis.

Nowadays, spouses of different nationalities, bilingual children, international companies are not new. In the next article, we will look at how a bilingual psychologist can help in long-term sessions if a couple or group has difficulties.

Any consultation in person in the office or online, in English or Russian, begins with a discussion of the PROBLEMS that have arisen in the form of an interview, a conversation. This is the first step to setting yourself in the right mood.

Take care, questions and suggestions can also be sent by e-mail: go2behappy@davletovatv.com