- The concept of psychological assistance: what is it like?
- Who can a psychologist help?
- How to help yourself?
- Types and methods of psychological assistance
Sooner or later, we all need psychological support, because life’s difficulties that we cannot cope with on our own can overtake us at any moment. Moreover, difficult situations and our reactions to them tend to repeat themselves, and then the root cause of the disorders must be dealt with once and for all.
Let's take a closer look at the methods of psychological assistance and think about who needs it and when.
The concept of psychological assistance: what is it like?
Psychological assistance involves giving a person information about his psycho-emotional state, identifying the causes and mechanisms of occurrence of certain psychological reactions based on diagnosis and symptoms, and also actively influencing the psyche in order to harmonize the psyche and health and improve the quality of life.
Such assistance is provided by professional psychotherapists who have certain knowledge and personal qualities.
Psychological assistance depends on the specific case and can be:
- urgent (for acute panic states, danger of suicide, shock, violence, irreparable grief) or delayed (for long-term difficulties of a chronic nature);
- short-term or long-term (depending on the nature of stress, depression and the patient’s crisis state);
- individual or group (depending on the initial problem and final tasks).
Who can a psychologist help?
Scientific psychologists say that the symptoms of crises depend on the severity of the event experienced, but their nature is identical and implies a change in the human psyche, regardless of whether he suffered an irreparable catastrophe or lost the meaning of life. In any case, rehabilitation begins with understanding the root cause of the problem and stabilizing the emotional state.
Psychological help is required for people with various nervous, anxiety and mental disorders and healthy people who are currently experiencing difficult life circumstances or are in a crisis, shock, stress or conflict situation.
History of origin
Brief therapy began to gain attention in the 1950s, following the rise in popularity of behavioral and family therapy.
Behavior therapy emphasizes the correction of immediate problem behaviors and uses numerous behavioral techniques to facilitate personality changes.
Family therapy emphasizes the individual within the context of the family. In both cases, the therapist is directive and active.
These two types of therapy differ from the earlier dominant therapies based on psychoanalytic thinking, which focused on the individual's insight and past, and in which the therapist is non-directive and completely passive.
Thus, behavioral and family psychotherapy laid the foundation for the adoption of active short-term therapeutic approaches.
The popularity of brief therapy increased in the 1980s following empirical research into the process and outcome of psychotherapy.
The researchers used meta-analysis, a statistical method that compares the results of many studies, to reach the following conclusions about psychotherapy:
- most clients remained in therapy for six to eight sessions,
- 75% of clients reporting improvement saw results within the first 6 months of therapy, and
- time-limited psychotherapy produced results similar to long-term long-term therapy.
In addition to these research findings, social changes in the world have increased the need and demand for quick ways to get psychological help:
- Insurance companies and Health Care Organizations usually place limits on the number of sessions a person can attend under their health insurance.
- Some people, not wanting to pay insurance, prefer to pay for their psychotherapy outright.
- And the vast majority of people have neither the time nor the appropriate personal income for long-term psychotherapy.
- Also, the demand for therapy has increased while the supply of therapists (in the face of declining fees and increasing workloads) has decreased.
- Therefore, many community and university counseling centers simply do not have enough therapists to accept clients for long-term courses of therapy!
Brief therapy has become an attractive method to meet the increased demand for counseling services in a timely and cost-effective manner. In addition, the results of meta-studies showed that there is simply no difference in effectiveness between short-term and long-term therapy.
How to help yourself?
If you feel that you are able to get out of a difficult psychological situation on your own, you can make some efforts and help yourself. We tell you how to do this.
- Using literature on psychology, study your psyche, identify strengths and weaknesses.
- Don’t forget to observe yourself, control your thoughts and behavior to current life events, and analyze your reactions.
- Remember that reading a few articles to learn how to adjust your emotional background is not enough. It is necessary to apply the information received to your case, only then will you achieve results.
- Our training course will give you a real chance not only to cope with a crisis situation yourself, but also the opportunity to get a new profession and help other people in their difficulties by working as a psychological consultant.
The path of self-exploration is fascinating and interesting, makes you see your personality in a new light, teaches you to better understand both yourself and other people.
There are situations in which help and support are needed right now, regardless of holidays, calendar dates and time of day.
The Philanthropist material contains a selection of hotlines with current telephone numbers.
There are several hundred such phones in the country .
Many exist not only at the expense of state budgets , but also with money from charitable foundations . Launching such lines costs hundreds of thousands of rubles , and the people at the saving end of the line - psychologists , doctors , volunteers , “peer consultants” - often work pro bono, trying to support the person and, possibly, save his life .
Hotline on family issues “Children in the Family” and psychological support for families
Telephone
Opening hours: from 10:00 to 20:00 and from 1:00 to 10:00
Project of the “Volunteers to help orphans” foundation. Specialists provide legal, psychological, and informational assistance to both families who are just preparing to raise an orphan child, and established adoptive parents. You can call the line for those who want to adopt a child, but do not know where to start, for those who have encountered difficulties in the process of collecting documents, do not know how and where to look for children for adoption, for families who have problems adapting their adopted child child and family members, as well as to clarify what payments and benefits are due to adoptive parents. Advisory assistance on family issues can be provided to residents of any region of the Russian Federation (all calls are free).
On average, fund specialists receive about 400 requests per month. Most often, candidates for foster parents and established foster families call; in second place are the natural parents and relatives of the child; in third place are guardianship workers and orphans.
Since April 2021, the line has also been operating as a psychological help line for families experiencing anxiety and fears due to the epidemic and quarantine. If you are anxious and difficult and feel the need to talk to a psychologist, call us. Calls from anywhere in the country are free.
Psychological support
Phone: 8
(495) 025 15 35
Opening hours: open every day, you can sign up for a conversation with a psychologist via voicemail
A free psychological help hotline staffed by experienced clinical psychologists. The line was opened by the Just People charity foundation, the line is free and anonymous, psychological assistance is offered to all people suffering from mental problems (anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and other disorders), their relatives and loved ones.
Help for victims of violence
Helpline ROO "Sisters"
Phone:
8
Sisters Center for Survivors of Sexual Violence provides support to women who have experienced abuse, as well as relatives of people who have been subjected to violence, and anyone who urgently needs help. You can call the helpline if trouble happens, to talk it out, ask for advice, get the necessary legal and medical information, psychological support, and also to sign up for a face-to-face consultation with specialists.
Support service of Charitable Foundation "Safe Home"
Telephone:
8
The Safe Home Foundation works to prevent violence and exploitation among vulnerable groups of children and adults (graduates of boarding schools, single and young mothers, visitors from near and far abroad and other risk groups), and also provides assistance to victims. Here you can get psychological advice and other necessary help and information.
Questions about the COVID-19 pandemic
Telephone
You can ask Moscow hotline specialists all questions related to the spread of coronavirus infection. They also receive calls from elderly and chronically ill Muscovites who are in self-isolation. They can receive social and psychological assistance, as well as obtain sick leave. The hotline is open daily from 08:00 to 21:00. Calls are processed by operators of two call centers - about 370 specialists.
Pain relief hotline
Hotline to help terminally ill people of the Vera Foundation
Telephone: 8-800-700-84-36
The fund’s line can be used 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by the patient, his friends or relatives, doctors and employees of specialized non-profit organizations. Line operators will explain in detail and clearly what palliative care is and how to get it, where and at what stage you need to go to get quality care for a terminally ill patient, how to get to a hospice and where the nearest branch is located, how to get pain relief and what to do, if the required medicine is not prescribed or is not available at the pharmacy, what to do if pain relief does not help, and how to properly care for the patient. In addition, operators will help you get advice from a doctor, lawyer and social worker, support from a psychologist or clergyman.
Caps of the world: how ordinary trash turns into good deeds
Hotline for pain relief of Roszdravnadzor
Telephone: 8-800-550-99-03
Working hours:
At night, on weekends or holidays, you need to record your message on an answering machine, report a problem with receiving painkillers - and wait for feedback. It is important that during non-working hours, urgent advice and assistance in solving the problem can be obtained from a hotline in your region.
A list of all regional hotline telephone numbers is published on the Roszdravnadzor website: https://amp.gs/RbiM.
Health care
Help hotline for people with hepatitis and their loved ones
Telephone: 8-800-775-92-00
Supported by the public organization “Together against hepatitis”.
Stroke Hotline
Telephone: 8-800-707-52-29
Social and psychological assistance to patients with stroke and their loved ones. The line operates every day from 9:00 to 21:00 Moscow time.
The free anonymous telephone line of the ORBI Foundation opened on October 29, 2021 and works for stroke survivors, their loved ones, and anyone who is faced with the problem of stroke or is interested in this topic.
By calling the hotline, you can get social and psychological help, as well as consult a doctor.
Search for missing people
Search team "Lisa Alert"
Phone: 8-800-700-54-52
The hotline of the famous search team receives calls every day about missing people from all regions of the country. Here everyone will be listened to, told how to behave in this situation, and instructed where to start searching for a person.
Legal assistance to patients
Hotline for legal assistance to citizens in protecting their rights to health care
Telephone: 8–800–500‑82‑66
Opening hours: from 7:00 to 10:00 and from 14:00 to 17:00 Moscow time on weekdays.
The All-Russian Patients' Union (VSP) launched the public project “Hotline for legal assistance to citizens in protecting their rights to health care.” Here you can get a free consultation on any issues related to the protection of health rights.
Practice shows that the most common questions that citizens ask on the VSP hotline are related to benefits for medicines, various aspects of receiving medical care: contacting a specialist, waiting for an appointment, the procedure for conducting necessary examinations. Very often, patients are faced with the problem of imposing paid services.
Helping people with cancer
Leukemia Foundation Hotline
Telephone:
8
The Leukemia Foundation provides comprehensive support to people with blood cancer, and is ready to answer any questions from the public even on holidays. Here you can get comprehensive information on the disease, consult on bureaucratic and legal aspects, learn everything about bone marrow donation, and also receive moral support, which is so often lacking for people who find themselves in difficult situations.
All-Russian hotline for psychological assistance to cancer patients and their loved ones “Clear Morning”
Phone: 8-800-100-01-91
The all-Russian hotline for psychological assistance for cancer patients and their loved ones, “Clear Morning,” operates free of charge and around the clock. By calling the line, patients and their loved ones can talk to a specially trained psychologist or medical law lawyer, and there is the opportunity to talk to a priest. Since 2007, hotline psychologists have provided assistance to more than 150 thousand subscribers who have been diagnosed with cancer. The service receives more than three thousand calls from all over Russia every month.
Hotline for pediatric oncology
Phone:
8-800-200-06-09
The hotline provides medical, legal and psychological consultations for loved ones of children suffering from cancer. Here you can get advice from oncologists, qualified psychologists, and lawyers on advanced medical technologies for the treatment of oncological/hematological diseases. The hotline provides information about the possibilities of hospitalization and about medical institutions that diagnose and treat oncological/hematological diseases, about patronage organizations, mechanisms for registering disability and benefits for free medical services and medicines. Hotline operators will tell you which charities and public organizations you can turn to for help, and are able to provide emergency psychological consultations. You can call the line daily from 10:00 to 20:00 Moscow time.
Help for children born prematurely
Hotline of the Right to Miracle charity foundation
Telephone: 8-800-555-29-24
The hotline of the fund for helping children born prematurely, “Right to a Miracle,” began operating a little less than a year ago. The number of requests is growing every day. Parents of premature babies, their relatives, as well as neonatologists call. Psychologists work on the line, ready to provide immediate support and build a long-term action plan.
Anti-slavery
Hotline of the "Alternative" movement
Phone: 8-800-550-71-40
The anti-slavery project started within the Alternative movement in 2012. Over several years of work, the “mafia of beggars” managed to rescue several hundred people from labor and sexual slavery. Service employees are ready to answer any questions related to a person’s being in slavery, provide guidance, and also provide real assistance in the release of friends or relatives.
Hotline of the Nevoli.net movement
Phone:
8-800-707-14-17
The Nevoli.net project works to prevent human trafficking. Here you can get psychological support and a set of practical solutions. If you find yourself in captivity or know people who are forcibly held in slavery, you will be helped here.
Blood donation
Blood service
Phone :
8-800-333-33-30
A single hotline for donating blood and its components - an opportunity to quickly find out everything about donation and the needs for blood and its components at the moment. The line operates around the clock and is waiting for new donors even on holidays, because on such days the number of active donors decreases, and the need for blood increases. Each caller will be able to find out where and how they can donate blood, as well as get advice about contraindications.
Drug and alcohol addiction
Hotline of the Charitable Foundation "Center for Healthy Youth"
Telephone: 8-800-333-20-07
You can call the line with any questions related to drug and alcohol use. In addition to psychological support, counselors will give advice on how to get rid of addiction, as well as suggest treatment options and ways to get help.
Most hotlines are supported by charitable donations . support NPO operational assistance projects on the website of each organization.
