Results of a study of attitudes towards individual psychotherapy among Ukrainians
- Алексей Виноградов
- Mar 22
- 19 min read
Updated: Apr 2
Content
Introduction
After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the number and variety of stressors experienced by Ukrainians have increased significantly. Fighting, shelling, loss of loved ones, forced emigration, a difficult economic situation, uncertainty about the future, restrictions on freedom under martial law, and polarization of society are just a small list of the difficulties that the Ukrainian nation faces every day.
In addition to the significant number of stress factors, it is important to note their long duration - the acute phase of the war lasts three years.
As a result, the above factors create extreme conditions of stress on the psyche. And this means that the risks of a wide range of mental problems increase significantly. In this situation, psychotherapeutic assistance becomes especially important - both for the treatment of psychological difficulties, for emotional support, and for increasing mental resilience to life's challenges.
In Ukraine, various formats of psychotherapeutic care are presented - private specialists, charitable foundations, psychotherapeutic centers, etc. In particular, according to a study of the working conditions of Gestalt therapists, psychotherapeutic services can be found at any price, including preferential and free consultations.
But do Ukrainians realize the importance of taking care of their psychological state? How do they feel about psychotherapy? Do they turn to a specialist when necessary, and if they do, are they satisfied with the results?
This study is devoted to attempting to answer these questions.
How the research was conducted
Between November 20, 2024 and January 5, 2025, 1,021 people were surveyed. The survey was conducted via Google Form, in Ukrainian. The survey took 7 to 10 minutes to complete.
The questions in the survey were structured to explore the perceptions of individual psychotherapy in three categories of people:
- those who have no experience in psychotherapy (for convenience, we will call them “without therapy experience”) ;
- those who have experience in psychotherapy (for convenience, we will call them “clients”) ;
- psychotherapists who have experience in psychotherapy (we will call them simply “ psychotherapists ”).
The research was conducted by the following specialists:
Oleksii Vinohradov - conducting research (organizing the process, conducting a survey, writing a final article).
Svitlana Bolman - assistance in creating a survey, data processing
Anna Dekabrova - data processing and analysis
Violeta Vinogradova - data processing and analysis
The survey was distributed via social networks: Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, as well as via email.
The invitation to take the survey was distributed on the following platforms:
in specialized psychotherapeutic and psychological facilities
in various Ukrainian non-psychological thematic groups (for example: a group for car enthusiasts, for gardening enthusiasts, “women's groups”, etc.)
on the pages of media personalities (musicians, bloggers, designers, etc.)
through individual messages and reposts
via email newsletter from organizations that supported the research
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to the people and organizations who actively participated in the distributed surveys, involving their media resources:
Tetyana Stanislavskaya ( Psychotrauma of War channel )
Sasha Skladno , soloist of the bands “ Zwyntar ” and “ Folkulaka ” (on personal channel)
Rostislav Burlaka (online store “ U Freuda ”)
Igor Lukyanenko ( UpPro School online training school )
Elena Cherepanova
And other people and organizations that directly or indirectly helped recruit respondents.
Description of general information about respondents
1021 people participated in the survey.
Sex | Men's | 119 | 11.7% |
| Young age | 884 | 86.8% |
| I don't want to answer. | 15 | 1.5% |
Age group | Young age | 52 | 5.1% |
| Early adulthood | 683 | 66.9% |
| Average age | 266 | 26.1% |
| Advanced age | 20 | 2.0% |
Education | Medium | 41 | 4.0% |
| Medium-special | 91 | 8.9% |
| Higher | 836 | 81.9% |
| Academic degree | 53 | 5.2% |
Place of residence | In Ukraine | 838 | 82.1% |
| Abroad | 183 | 17.9% |
Locality | City | 1004 | 98.3% |
| Village | 17 | 1.7% |
Marital status | Married | 515 | 50.4% |
| In a relationship, but single/unmarried | 223 | 21.8% |
| Not in a relationship | 229 | 22.4% |
| Widow/widower | 8 | 0.8% |
| Divorced/divorced | 10 | 1.0% |
| It's hard to answer. | 35 | 3.4% |
| Other | 1 | 0.1% |
Are there children? | Yes | 606 | 59.4% |
| No | 415 | 40.6% |
Among those living in Ukraine, the majority of people indicated that they live in Kyiv – 305 people (36%), the rest – in different regions of Ukraine. The most represented regions are: Kyiv (10.2%), Dnipropetrovsk (9.7%), Ivano-Frankivsk (6.3%), Odessa (5.4%), Lviv (5.1%), Kharkiv (3.8%).
As for the participants living abroad , a total of 38 different countries of residence were indicated. Among them, the two most popular countries were Poland (23.6%) and Germany (20.9%). Third place is shared by several countries - the USA, Great Britain, Spain and Portugal, where 4.4% of respondents (8 people each) live.
Participants were also asked whether they belonged to any of the following groups (more than one answer could be selected):
Military - 2.4% (24 people)
Close relative of a military person - 24.6% (251 people)
IDP (internally displaced person – a person who moved within Ukraine due to military actions) - 11.7% (119 people)
Refugee (a person who moved outside Ukraine due to military operations) - 12.1% (124 people)
Volunteer - 15.7% (160 people)
I do not belong to any of the listed groups - 47.7% (487 people)
Three categories of participants
Survey participants were divided into three categories:
Those who have no experience with psychotherapy - 34.2% (349 people)
Those who have experience with psychotherapy - 34.6% (353 people)
Psychotherapists with psychotherapy experience 31.2% (319 people)
The figures show that the number of respondents in these three categories is almost the same, which is convenient for comparison.
It is important to note that in the survey, to the question “Do you have experience receiving individual psychotherapeutic consultations?” one could choose one of three answer options:
No, I didn't have one.
Yes, I had 1-2 individual psychotherapy consultations
Yes, I have had more than 3 individual psychotherapy consultations
We decided to classify all people who chose the second answer as those who had no experience of psychotherapy. In our opinion, attending 1-2 sessions with a psychotherapist is not enough to form an impression of the psychotherapy process.
People who have no experience with psychotherapy
Among those who did not see a psychotherapist, 57% noted that they had psychological difficulties that they found difficult to cope with on their own. At the same time, 71.3% indicated that they had a desire to seek help from a psychotherapist.
How would you look for a psychotherapist?
79.2% of these people noted that, if necessary, they would look for a psychotherapist among their acquaintances, 37% on specialized platforms and websites, 31% on social networks, 21% on Google or search engines (there you could choose several answer options, so the total percentage is more than one hundred).
But when choosing a psychotherapist, 70% indicated that they would pay attention to the availability of specialized education, 68% - the availability of recommendations or reviews, 57% - experience working with a certain topic, 53% - intuitively liked it. Among the least popular options (but still often chosen) were the answers: “preferred psychotherapeutic direction” 48%, the number of years of practice 44% and the ability to see the specialist in a photo or video 31%. Interestingly, the option “The presence of a website and/or social networks of the specialist” was not chosen by any respondent (0%).
What would you pay attention to when choosing a psychotherapist?
Based on these data, we can conclude that when seeking a psychotherapist, people who have not had such experience rely most on recommendations from acquaintances (79,2%). And they will pay quite close attention to information about the therapist - his education, work experience, photo, and general attractiveness ("I intuitively liked him").
Clients with psychotherapy experience
54.5% of people who have experienced psychotherapy are currently seeing a therapist or have done so in the last three months. Accordingly, 45.5% have seen a therapist in the past.
Regarding the number of consultations received (in total, for the entire psychotherapy experience), the majority of people received 11-50 consultations, namely 36.5%.
Most often, they visit a psychotherapist once a week, 71.4%
So 11-50 meetings is about 3 months to 1 year of continuous attendance. However, attending a therapist is not always continuous. Most people went from 3 months to a year (22.4%) or from a year to two years (22.1%).
If we take the two highest indicators from the data on the number of meetings and duration of therapy, we can conclude that the vast majority of respondents visited a psychotherapist from 11 to 100 meetings (56.3%) and this lasted from 3 months to 2 years (44.5%).
Psychotherapy for up to three months, or up to 10 meetings, is considered only the beginning of the psychotherapeutic process, and some colleagues believe that this is not enough for such work to be considered psychotherapy in the full sense of the term. Therefore, we can assume that we see approximately 31% of those who went to psychotherapy but did not continue it for one reason or another (namely, 14.4% of those who went to 10 meetings and 16.7% of those who went to 3 months).
Interestingly, only 4.4% of people who have experienced psychotherapy do not plan to see a therapist in the future. In contrast, 60.6% of people plan to do so, and 35% had difficulty answering this question.
83.5% of clients indicated that they know in which direction their psychotherapist works , 6.3% did not know, and 10.2% found it difficult to answer.
Who do clients go to?
In the next question, we asked clients to mark the areas of psychotherapy in which their psychotherapists worked. If there were several, more than one area could be marked.
Gestalt therapy is the most frequently chosen approach (58.8%), followed by cognitive-behavioral therapy (44.9%) and psychoanalysis (29.4%). A notable proportion of clients also turned to the multimodal approach (25.7%). Less commonly chosen were body-oriented therapy (12.1%), client-centered therapy (9.3%), transactional analysis (8%), and positive psychotherapy (7.1%). Other modalities, including schema therapy, EMDR, psychodrama, emotionally focused therapy, and existential therapy, were selected by fewer participants (ranging from 6.2% to 5.3%). Only 4.3% of respondents indicated they were unsure, and 2.5% chose the "other" category. These results highlight the clear dominance of Gestalt therapy among clients compared to other approaches.
Most often, clients consulted from 1 to 4 specialists, and on average, they have experience consulting 2 psychotherapists.
How much does psychotherapy cost with Ukrainian psychotherapists?
50% of respondents who indicated a cost pay an average of $30 per therapy session. 25% pay up to $20, and another 25% pay between $40 and $300.
At the same time, 1.2% indicated that they go to psychotherapy for free, 0.2% have their psychotherapy paid for by a company, and 34.6% refused to indicate the price of psychotherapy.
How is the outcome of psychotherapy evaluated?
The questionnaire had three questions, where respondents were asked to provide an answer in the form of a rating from 1 to 5, where 1 is the most dissatisfied and 5 is the most satisfied.
The questions were formulated as follows:
Rate your satisfaction with your experience of individual psychotherapeutic counseling on a 5-point scale.
Rate on a 5-point scale how much the experience of individual psychotherapeutic counseling helped you resolve your difficulties.
Rate on a 5-point scale how much your experience of individual psychotherapeutic counseling met your expectations.
All answers were presented for all three questions - from 1 to 5, and the median score was 4.
That is, on average, those people who have had psychotherapy experience are satisfied with the result, this experience helped them and met their expectations.
How did you find a psychotherapist?
There were several options to choose from in this question. The most common influences were the availability of recommendations or reviews (60.0%), the therapist's specialized education (58.0%), and a positive intuitive impression (57.7%). A significant number also considered experience with a specific issue (42.9%), a preferred therapeutic orientation (35.4%), and the opportunity to meet the therapist beforehand (29.9%). Years of practice (23.5%) and an online presence (15.1%) were also cited. Less frequent but notable factors included other reasons (7.2%), LGBTQ+ friendliness (2.0%), price (1.7%), convenient location/time (1.4%), and difficulty answering (0.6%). These results reflect the multifactorial nature of how clients approach therapist selection, with both professional credentials and interpersonal comfort playing central roles.
Psychotherapists with experience in psychotherapy
Psychotherapists themselves also shared their perception of individual psychotherapy.
General information about psychotherapists
Most psychotherapists have an academic (basic) psychological education (78.7%) or are in the process of obtaining it (14.4%), but there are also those who do not have it (6.9%).
54.5% have a psychotherapeutic education, 38.9% are in the process of obtaining it. Interestingly, 6.6% indicated that they do not have a psychotherapeutic education, but consider themselves psychotherapists.
The work experience of psychotherapists is as follows: 20.4% have up to 2 years of practice, 36.4% from 2 to 5 years, 25.4% from 5 to 10 years, 20.4% more than 10 years.
The diagram below shows which psychotherapeutic areas the psychotherapists surveyed belong to:
These data show that the vast majority of respondents belong to either Gestalt therapists or to the multimodal approach (these could also be Gestalt therapists who additionally use other methods of psychotherapy). This is due to the fact that the survey was more widely distributed in Gestalt therapeutic communities than in other places. And also because Gestalt therapists were more actively involved in the survey. Therefore, these data cannot represent the real ratio of Ukrainian psychotherapists. However, they may indicate trends in the perception of individual psychotherapy by Gestalt therapists.
Psychotherapists without psychotherapy education
21 respondents (6.6%) in the survey indicated that they were psychotherapists, but noted that they did not have a psychotherapeutic education. We decided to consider this category separately.
These are women (100%), who have higher education (100%). 57.1% of them practice a multimodal approach, 28.6% - Gestalt therapy, 4.8% (one person) practices cognitive-behavioral therapy. Also, one person (4.8%) indicated that it is difficult for her to answer in which main direction of psychotherapy she works.
So how do psychotherapists attend psychotherapy themselves?
78.7% of psychotherapists are seeing a psychotherapist now or in the last three months, 21.3% are not.
88.2% plan to see a psychotherapist in the future (2.9% do not plan to, 8.8% find it difficult to answer this question).
The median number of specialists consulted by psychotherapists was three.
Comparing these results with clients' experiences, it is clear that psychotherapists attend their own therapy sessions for longer, have a greater number of meetings, and are more likely to attend once a week.
How much does Ukraine psychotherapy cost?
Psychotherapists pay about a quarter more for their own consultations than clients.
50% of therapists charge an average of $36 per therapy session. 25% charge up to $26, and another 25% charge between $50 and $208.
It should be noted that although psychotherapists most often charge more for their own psychotherapy, the maximum stated cost of a consultation is higher for clients ($300) than for therapists ($208).
How is the outcome of psychotherapy evaluated?
The median rating of psychotherapy (from 1 to 5 points) among psychotherapists is generally higher than among clients.
Satisfaction with individual psychotherapy is rated at 5 points out of a maximum of five.
The extent to which psychotherapy helped resolve difficulties is also a median score of 5 points.
The extent to which the psychotherapy experience met expectations is rated on a 4-point scale.
How did you find a psychotherapist?
Group comparison
Let's compare different categories of survey participants - people without psychotherapy experience, clients (those with psychotherapy experience), and therapists (who also have experience).
I would like to note that the number of respondents in these three categories is almost the same, 34, 35, and 32 percent, so they are very easy to compare.
Who goes to psychotherapy?
To begin, we compared two groups of people - those who have experience in psychotherapy and those who do not (the comparison did not include the category of people who are psychotherapists).
|
| Total people | Have experience in therapy |
Age | Young age 18-24 | 50 | 50% |
| Early adulthood age 25-44 | 480 | 57% |
| Average age 45-60 | 160 | 34% |
| Elderly 60+ | 12 | 8% |
Sex | Men's | 106 | 53% |
| Women's | 582 | 50% |
| I don't want to answer. | 11 | 55% |
Education | Medium | 41 | 46% |
| Medium-special | 87 | 32% |
| Higher | 541 | 53% |
| Academic degree | 33 | 58% |
Residence | In Ukraine | 591 | 47% |
| Abroad | 111 | 70% |
Marital status | Married | 338 | 41% |
| In a relationship, but single/unmarried | 156 | 62% |
| Not in a relationship | 168 | 60% |
| Widow/widower | 4 | 0% |
| Divorced/divorced | 8 | 25% |
| It's hard to answer. | 27 | 56% |
| Other | 1 | 0% |
Having children | There are children | 379 | 40% |
| No children | 323 | 63% |
This table shows that young and early adult people are much more likely to go to therapy, while older people, on the contrary, rarely go to therapy.
Men and women are equally likely to seek psychotherapy.
The higher the level of education, the more often a person consults a therapist. Those who have children go to therapy somewhat less often than those without children.
Psychotherapy in the military
This table shows what percentage of different categories of people have experience with psychotherapy (in the survey, one person could select several categories at the same time).
Category | Number of respondents | % of those with psychotherapy experience |
Military | 21 | 29% |
Close relative of a military person | 171 | 43% |
IDP (internally displaced person – a person who has moved within Ukraine due to military action) | 85 | 47% |
Refugee (a person who has moved outside Ukraine due to military operations) | 67 | 76% |
Volunteer | 101 | 60% |
I do not belong to any of the listed groups. | 348 | 51% |
The data shows that military personnel are less likely than others to have experience with psychotherapy.
When asked “How do you deal with psychological difficulties in your life?” only 16.7% of servicemen indicated that they consult a psychotherapist. This is the lowest rate among all categories. At the same time, 29.2% of servicemen indicated that they use alcohol or drugs - and this is the highest rate among all categories. More often than all others (8.3%) servicemen indicated that they do not have psychological difficulties.
In addition, the smallest percentage of military personnel compared to other categories indicated the following answers:
I solve problems on my own.
I turn to my loved ones (relatives, acquaintances)
I turn to non-psychotherapist consultants
I am going to the doctor.
I discuss the situation with people I respect.
I get distracted by other things (I take on extra work or work more, do sports, have sex, etc.)
At the same time, the largest percentage of military personnel , compared to other categories, indicated the following answers:
I ignore my difficulties, I avoid them.
psychological self-help
difficult to answer
How are psychological difficulties solved?
| No experience | Clients | Therapists |
Independently | 87.6% | 88.0% | 78.4% |
I appeal to my loved ones (relatives, friends) | 43.2% | 56.7% | 54.5% |
I turn to consultants (not psychotherapists) - astrologers, numerologists, tarot, coaches, mentors, etc. | 3.7% | 11.4% | 12.2% |
I am turning to a psychotherapist. | 0.0% | 71.8% | 95.0% |
I go to church or seek help in my faith. | 15.0% | 12.5% | 12.9% |
I use alcohol or drugs. | 11.5% | 16.8% | 8.8% |
I am contacting a doctor (psychiatrist, neurologist, therapist, etc.) | 9.8% | 37.0% | 30.4% |
I discuss the situation with people who are authoritative for me (boss, older relatives, idols, etc.) | 17.6% | 14.0% | 17.6% |
I get distracted by other things (I take on extra work or work more, do sports, have sex, etc.) | 45.0% | 43.3% | 34.8% |
I ignore my difficulties, I avoid them. | 17.6% | 24.8% | 10.0% |
I don't have any psychological difficulties. | 3.2% | 0.6% | 1.3% |
Sport | 0.0% | 1.7% | 0.6% |
Psychological self-help | 1.7% | 2.0% | 0.3% |
It's hard to answer. | 1.2% | 2.3% | 0.6% |
Other | 1.2% | 3.7% | 1.3% |
The answers show that all categories of people are primarily inclined to solve psychological difficulties on their own.
Almost all psychotherapists are more likely to seek psychological help when they have psychological difficulties. They are also less likely than others to report using alcohol or drugs, distracting themselves with other activities, or ignoring their difficulties as ways to cope with psychological problems. This indicates that the profession of psychotherapist itself improves self-regulation skills and seeking appropriate psychological help.
Those who have experience with psychotherapy are often more likely to continue to see a therapist or doctor if psychological difficulties arise. Almost no one in this category believes that they do not have psychological difficulties. However, this category has the highest percentage of those who ignore their difficulties, use alcohol or drugs, engage in sports, self-help, find it difficult to answer this question, or choose the option “other”.
People who have no experience of psychotherapy are less likely than others to turn to loved ones or relatives, doctors, or non-psychological consultants for psychological difficulties. At the same time, they are more likely than others to go to church and believe that they do not have psychological difficulties.
Prejudices about psychotherapy
We compiled a list of common prejudices about psychotherapy and asked respondents to select the ones they agreed with.
It is important to note that the highest percentage of responses is disagreement with the listed prejudices, which indicates a fairly high level of awareness of why psychotherapy is needed.
People without experience in therapy are most prone to prejudice, and the most common prejudices are:
A psychotherapist knows better how to solve my problem.
A psychotherapist must solve all their own problems before helping others.
Psychotherapy lasts a long time specifically so that therapists can earn more.
It is also worth noting that these same prejudices, albeit to a lesser extent, are also popular among clients. And even, to a small extent, among psychotherapists.
Why is psychotherapy needed?
Regarding the understanding of why psychotherapy is needed, most respondents in all categories provided fairly sensible answers.
17% of people without psychotherapy experience believe that good therapy can solve any psychological difficulties - ignoring the limitations of psychotherapeutic assistance.
Although this percentage is not large, it nevertheless indicates the importance of conducting psychological education among broad segments of the population.
Do people in your close circle go to therapy?
Clients have the highest number of people in their close circle who go to psychotherapy (86.6%). Half of people without experience in therapy indicated that there are people in their close circle who go to a psychotherapist, while slightly less than half indicated that there are no such people in their circle. 24% of psychotherapists indicated that no one in their close circle goes to psychotherapy.
How often do you come across information about psychotherapy?
Information about psychotherapy is quite common among respondents - 68.2% of people without therapy experience, 82.4% of clients and 95% of therapists see mentions of therapy at least once a week. Advertising of psychotherapy is somewhat less common, but also quite common - 49.6% of people without experience, 57.2% of clients and 91.8% of therapists.
Since the distribution of this survey took place through social networks, including on psychological platforms, it is not surprising that such a large percentage of people see mentions of therapy, because they were the ones who could see this survey in the first place.
On the other hand, it is important to note that due to the complex psychological circumstances caused by the war, psychotherapy itself is gaining increasing importance in Ukrainian society, and accordingly, information about psychotherapy is becoming more and more available, And it is more often seen by people who do not have a direct connection to psychology.
What is your attitude towards psychotherapy?
Overall, in all categories, the positive attitude towards psychotherapy is at a high level. Even among people without experience of psychotherapy, the attitude towards it is quite positive (although less positive than in other categories). This may indicate a relatively high level of trust in psychological help among Ukrainians.
How much should therapy cost from the perspective of Ukrainians?
When asked how much psychotherapy should cost per session, the distribution is quite clear. Those who have no experience believe that therapy should cost the least, clients support higher prices, and psychotherapists support the highest prices.
No psychotherapist indicated that psychotherapy should be free. Only 0.8% of clients believe so, and 5.4% of people without experience.
Most often (28.4%) people without experience indicated that the therapy should cost from 12$ to 25$ . Almost a fifth (19.8%) believe that the cost should be less than 12$. The cost from 25$ to 37$. was indicated by 13.5%
Most clients (32%) believe that therapy should cost between 25$ and 37$ , 21.8% believe that the price should be between 12$ and 25$. Only 10.5% consider a price between 37$ and 50$ appropriate.
Most therapists (32.9%) consider a fair price between 37$ and 50$. And 27.3% consider it between 25$ and 37$. 11.9% are willing to pay between 50$ and 75$.
This question was difficult to answer for 25.8% of people without experience, 27.5% of clients, and 12.9% of therapists.
Let me remind you that according to the Study of Psychotherapist Working Conditions, the average cost of an individual psychotherapy session with a Gestalt therapist (excluding preferential seats) is 30$ (the average cost of a session is from 20$ to 37$).
Comparing respondents from Ukraine and abroad, most often both categories chose from 25$ and 37$. (23.2% and 29% respectively). However, in general, respondents from abroad are somewhat more likely to believe that they should pay more for therapy. For example, from 37$ and 50$ - 14.8% from Ukraine and 19.1% from abroad, 50$ and 75$ - 4.5% and 8.2% respectively.
According to those people who have no experience with therapy, but have a desire to seek help, most often therapy should cost from 12$ to 25$ (32.1%). And those who have no desire to seek help from a therapist and those who find it difficult to answer, more often consider the correct price to be up to 12$ (20.3% and 29.3%, respectively).
Are you taking antidepressants?
Regarding taking antidepressants, survey participants answered as follows:
15% are taking them now, 19% have taken them in the past. That is, those who have taken them or are taking them together are 34%.
47% indicated that they did not accept, but were ready to accept if necessary
17% indicated that they were not ready to accept under any circumstances
2% were prescribed antidepressants by a doctor, but they did not take them.
People who have had psychotherapy experience are 3 times more likely to be currently taking antidepressants (24.1%) than those who have not (6%). Among therapists, 13.8% indicated that they are currently taking antidepressants, and 18.5% have taken them in the past.
Those who are most unwilling to take antidepressants are those who have no experience in psychotherapy (28.4%). Those who have experience but are not willing to take antidepressants - 11.3%. By the way, not all psychotherapists are willing to take pills either - 11.3%.
Other comparisons
Do you know what Gestalt therapy is?
52.4% of people without experience indicated that they either know it well (16.9%) or think they know it (35.5%), 35.2% have heard the word but are not sure what it means, only 12.3% indicated that they do not know and have not heard the word before.
Customers have better awareness - 85.8% know well or seem to know what it is, while 13.3% have heard the word but are not sure of its meaning, and less than a percent do not know at all.
The vast majority of psychotherapists know what it is (90.9%)
Do you know the difference between a psychiatrist and a psychotherapist?
Almost all respondents (94.7%) indicated that they knew this difference.
Results
The survey data shows an interesting cross-section and trends of public opinion regarding psychotherapy.
From the answers, we can conclude that the respondents have a fairly high level of psychological awareness : a low level of prejudices about psychotherapy and a high percentage of understanding why it is needed, a high level of positive attitude towards therapy, a high frequency of contact with psychological materials on the Internet, a subjective understanding of the difference between a psychotherapist and a psychiatrist, etc.
When seeking a psychotherapist, people who have not had such experience rely most on recommendations from acquaintances (two-thirds of respondents). And I will pay quite close attention to information about the therapist - his education, work experience, photo, and general attractiveness ("I intuitively liked him").
Those who have experience with psychotherapy (compared to people without experience) are more likely to acknowledge their psychological difficulties and are more likely to seek help to resolve them. This is even more evident among psychotherapists themselves.
34% of respondents are taking antidepressants or have taken them in the past, 47% are ready to take them if necessary.
The vast majority of people seeking psychotherapy are people aged 18-44 , while people over 60 rarely see a therapist .
Military personnel are less likely than others to have experience with psychotherapy . This may be due to the difficulty of undergoing psychotherapy while serving. People who have moved to other countries due to war, on the contrary, seek psychological help more often than other categories .
People with psychotherapy experience have, on average, seen 2 therapists. They most often pay $30 per therapy session and attend an average of 3 to 50 sessions (50.9%). Clients rate their psychotherapy experience as satisfactory (4 out of 5).
Most often, clients turn to Gestalt therapists (58.8%), Cognitive-Behavioral therapists (44.9%), Psychoanalysts (29.4%) and therapists in the Multimodal approach (25.7%)
Regarding psychotherapists, 54.5% have a psychotherapeutic education, 38.9% are in the process of obtaining it. Interestingly, 6.6% indicated that they do not have a psychotherapeutic education, but consider themselves psychotherapists.
Psychotherapists themselves use psychotherapy services more often than clients - they attend their own therapy for longer (on average 4 years), have a greater number of meetings (on average more than 200), and are more likely to attend once a week (81.5%).
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