Who would study psychology if they didn't have some kind of problem?

Chapter 118 The Purpose of Judgment and Exercises
On the left is the information handwritten by Nan Zhuren, on the right is the scale that the visitor just completed, and in the middle is the scale score that I calculated myself.

After a long while, the teacher in charge of the center finally looked up, as if a rusty wind-up robot had stopped, and asked:
"How did you conduct this consultation, and how did you make your judgment?"

Nan Zhuren did not answer immediately.

He pulled out a chair and gestured for Xia Tian, ​​who had been standing to the side, to sit down first.

Only after receiving a bright, sunny smile did he approach the teacher in charge of the center.

He said, "The visitor's initial purpose was to consult about academic problems, which is correct; her recent emotional state is indeed caused by academic problems, which is also correct."

"If she came to us for counseling during her freshman year because she couldn't adapt to the changes in her academic environment, then your counseling approach is fine—soothing her emotions and providing a study plan—these are standard solutions."

Nan Zhuren looked at the face of the teacher in charge of the center: "But these solutions are too 'standard'."

The teacher in charge of the center's expression softened slightly.

……

standard.

In the past, when college students came to the mental health center for counseling, the problems were nothing more than these few: academic pressure, social anxiety, emotional problems (campus youth version), and conflicts in the relationship with their parents.

Moreover, these issues are not very large in scale.

Cases involving explicit content will be immediately forwarded to senior professors or external consultation rooms.

The counselors at the school had never encountered cases like Nan Zhuren's experiences with infidelity, such as being intent on cheating or wanting to kill someone after being cheated on.

Furthermore, although the teacher in charge of the center also provides counseling, their primary job is still that of a tenured "teacher," not a "counselor." This means that although they are physically present at the counseling center, their main job is not counseling. Consequently, they don't spend much time on counseling and subconsciously develop a path dependency when facing clients' questions.

When students say they are "not doing well in their studies," they tend to categorize it as an academic problem and then simply apply previous intervention programs in a crude and ineffective manner.

This leads to ignoring what's hidden behind academic problems.

This is “standardized” psychological counseling—it can’t even be called psychological counseling, but is merely “student intervention work.”

……

Nan Zhuren tapped on the notes he had written on the table: "After a year of college, the client's problems have shifted and deepened, and the focus has long since changed from simple academic problems to the emotional feelings caused by academic problems."

It's like breaking your arm. If you seek medical attention immediately, the bone will be set, medication will be applied, and a splint will be put on—no problem. But if you wait a week or two before seeking medical help, you may first have to deal with inflammation, infection, and other complications that are as fierce as a tiger. Direct treatment for the fracture will have to wait.

Nan Zhuren recalled: "When she first entered the consultation room, although the air conditioning was on, she was still huddled in her down jacket and scarf, and did not choose to take a short break even when her forehead started to sweat slightly."

"She rarely made eye contact with me, showed a strong indifference to external stimuli, and had very little interaction with me."

“In her complaints, her life has begun to enter a state of fatigue and declining energy, which is not a good sign.” “What I find most dangerous is that because of her studies, she has begun to feel bored with other things in life, and this has lasted for several months, even more than half a year—this is an even more ominous sign, and it is because of this that I began to explore the possibility of depression.”

"Then I analyzed more: social anxiety, feelings of unworthiness, and possibly some issues from my family of origin. I only touched on these superficially and did not go into depth, but they are all things that cannot be ignored."

"And most importantly—"

Nan Zhuren tapped his head with his hand: "Cognition."

People with poor cognition, much like those who are inherently weak in medicine and sports, or have other abnormal physical conditions, are far more prone to injury than other "standard people".

“Even if she manages to resolve her current academic issues, she may return to the counseling room for other reasons later,” Nan Zhuren said.

"Therefore, she needs follow-up counseling and intervention to change her perception."

This viewpoint is that of the Cognitivism school, one of the four major schools of psychology, and it is also the foundation of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

……

Summer looked at Nan Zhuren with stars in her eyes.

The teacher in charge of the center calmed himself down; Nan Zhuren's words had a great impact on him.

He unconsciously began to think in a learning manner, and started to follow the flow.

After a few breaths, he asked with difficulty, "Then why did you assign this student the homework?"

Nan Zhuren explained, "During the consultation, I didn't mention any words related to depression to her. When I did talk about related topics, I used words like 'frustration' and 'discomfort' to avoid her starting to make self-fulfilling prophecies."

[Self-fulfilling prophecy] refers to the phenomenon where people unconsciously act according to known prophecies, ultimately causing the prophecy to come true. "Prophecy" refers to a certain expectation one has about the future, such as "This exam is very difficult, I definitely won't pass."

This phenomenon is common in the field of depression: when some clients firmly believe that they are depressed, their thoughts, behaviors, etc. will involuntarily move in the direction that depressed patients should be, they will start to actively cut off social interaction, become subjectively exhausted, thus turning non-depressed people into depressed people, and mildly depressed people into severely depressed people.

This is why professionals in the psychology field exercise intellectual property rights over many things. Money is one aspect, but another is that no one knows what problems might arise if outsiders see internal information.

Because of this self-fulfilling prophecy, in the assessment and diagnosis of mental illness symptoms, counselors and clients tend to follow the principle of downplaying symptoms when communicating, describing severe depression as moderate depression, moderate depression as mild depression, and so on.

"Her current condition is probably in the category of mild depression. She still has a certain sense of strength and has not completely lost her expectations of the outside world, which is a good thing."

“Previously, she had stopped exploring the outside world because of anxiety about her studies. My approach was to replace her studies with my ‘homework’ in order to alleviate her anxiety and then let her purposefully turn her attention to the outside world instead of focusing on her own problems.”

Nan Zhuren sighed: "If she can change from this and get rid of her depression, that would be best; if not, at least our agreement on the 'next consultation' can serve as an expectation and an anchor point for her to move forward in life."

(End of this chapter)