Any opposition of positions, interests, views is called confrontation.
In a general sense, confrontation is a clash of inconsistent trends in social systems. These may be class disagreements, friction in matters of ideological and political views, etc. However, this term is also called one of the most complex and, at the same time, effective techniques in
psychological counseling. Consider what techniques are still used in the consultative session, and how confrontation stands out among them.
Consultation with a psychologist is not just a "confession"
A person comes to a specialist with a specific problem, which he himself has repeatedly tried to solve, turned to relatives, friends, and possibly even psychics. But the problem remained, and a great responsibility rests with the psychologist. He must unravel the tangle of complex thoughts, prejudices, get to the bottom of the truth and show it to the client. Therefore, a specialist in the field of the human soul should not only listen to the client, but be able to correctly pose questions, give a correct interpretation of what he heard, put forward hypotheses, sometimes even come into confrontation with the client in order to show him the essence of his problem so that the client himself sees and understands what saw a psychologist.
Technicians in psychological counseling
Briefly outline the main techniques used by the psychologist:
- Setting questions - they can be clarifying and suggestive.
- Calming and reassuring as a manifestation of empathy and acceptance of the client.
- Techniques for reflecting the feelings and content of a client’s story.
- Pauses of silence - give the client the opportunity to digest the information received, and the psychologist to think.
- Hypothesis and interpretation.
- Confrontation is a technique that requires the psychologist special skills, confidence and a certain activity.
Confrontation in Psychology and Psychotherapy
When a client tells the psychologist about his problem, he cannot look at it from the side. Since the client’s story is a situation on one side only, the story inevitably contains contradictions in judgments, statements, feelings of a person. The client does not even notice this, then the consultant's task is to point out these contradictions to him. In general, confrontation is any reaction of a psychologist that contradicts the behavior or opinions of a client. The consultant enters into a kind of confrontation with a person, a struggle to point out all his tricks, evasions, etc. Using these tricks, the client does not realize that he is deceiving himself; it is a kind of protection from information, which may indicate that he is to blame for his problem. It should be noted that confrontation is not a way to humiliate a client, but a
technique designed to help him. Confrontation is used in three cases:
- When it is required to draw the attention of the client to the contradiction of his judgments, feelings, thoughts, his behavior and intentions.
- When a client cannot see the situation objectively due to his own prejudices and needs.
- When a client unconsciously shies away from discussing specific situations and problems.
Using confrontation in his work, the psychologist must understand his responsibility, have the skills of delicate work, in no case use it as a punishment or a way to destroy the client’s defense mechanisms.