PROFESSIONAL QUALITIES OF A CHILD PSYCHOTHERAPIST: THEORETICAL ASPECT

Abstract

The article presents a theoretical analysis of the main professional qualities of a child psychotherapist, which are key to building an effective therapeutic process with children and teenagers. Given the peculiarities of child psychotherapy, such as the need to take into account the age and emotional characteristics of clients, as well as close communication with parents, the importance of a specific set of qualities, including sensitivity, tolerance, unconditional acceptance, empathy, the ability to create a safe space, skills in working with symbolic forms of expression (play, metaphors, fantasies), professional competence, self-reflection and the ability to self-development, the ability to cooperate with parents and other professionals, etc. is emphasised, defined by Ukrainian (G. Katolyk, S. Lytvynenko, etc.) and foreign (G. Landred, W. Oaklander, K. Fried, etc.) psychological practice. The article proposes additions to the identified professional qualities of a child psychotherapist. The attention is focused on the following qualities: first of all, the ability to establish good contact with one’s ‘inner child’, which helps the psychotherapist to remain sensitive, empathetic and open to the perception of children’s experience. The second important quality is flexibility and patience with various behavioural manifestations of the child, which allows not only to remain calm in difficult situations, but also to better understand, accept and adapt the approach to each client. In addition, the ability to provide feedback by explaining feelings and actions to the child in simple and accessible words helps to improve their emotional literacy and builds trust. Finally, the ability to understand the metaphors and symbols that manifest themselves in play and fantasy allows the therapist to penetrate deeper into the child’s inner world and work with his or her experiences on a symbolic level. Such an addition to the list of professional qualities expands the prospects for researching effective strategies of therapeutic intervention and increases the relevance of the formation of these skills in the process of professional training of child psychotherapists.