Intuition plays a key role in our lives — from deciding which route to the office will have less traffic, to judging a new colleague’s personality. Intuition for psychotherapists is more important than ever: for interacting with clients, understanding their troubles and deciding how to move forward with them. With a deep understanding of human intuition, you will, therefore, make better judgements and create genuine progress with clients.
#1 A PSYCHOTHERAPIST’S INTUITION WILL BOOST EFFICIENCY
“Following your heart” has such a bad rep because we favour logic. However, when valued at appropriate moments, intuition will help you make accurate, quick decisions.
Humans are actually fairly accurate in using their intuition to judge character. Psychologist Nalini Ambady proved this. In an experiment, participants watched a clip of professors and rated each professor’s overall effectiveness. A separate group wrote down their mental processes before judging each instructor. Ultimately, the group that decided based on intuition over deliberation were more accurate!
Deliberation makes us focus on misleading cues instead of forming a holistic impression. Therefore, as a therapist, it’s essential to balance facts with your gut feeling when dealing with new clients.
#2 INTUITION FOR PSYCHOTHERAPY INVOLVES READING BETWEEN THE LINES
Clients may suppress their emotions due to insecurity, guilt, or any other reason. For instance, a client diagnosed with anger-management struggles might say that he is feeling calm most days, but non-verbal cues will say otherwise. Trust your gut and dig deeper!
#3 INTUITION FOR PSYCHOTHERAPIST REQUIRES FOCUS
Intuition is not a lazy judgement-call. Instead, it is a skill involving observing various factors and forming a judgement in seconds. The more focused you are, the more accurate your intuition will be. Eliminate office distractors like timers, phones, or buzzers. To keep track of time, try using an unobtrusive time-tracking tool like a Timeqube instead. This will ultimately give you the head-space to make the best judgement calls.
#4 A PSYCHOTHERAPIST’S INTUITION CAN BE HONED
Intuition can be improved. All it requires is an internal acknowledgement about whether your intuition was right. As a psychotherapist, your gut might guide you towards an inaccurate condition diagnosis or gauge of patient progress. Don’t be hard on yourself if this happens! It’ll take years of experience to improve your judgement and gut feel.
TRUST YOUR GUT!
A healthy mix of intuition and rationality could help you make real progress with clients! Trust your gut and give it a go today!
