engleski

Attitudes and Knowledge about Psychotherapy Shaped Through the University Education

False understanding of psychotherapy can result in negative attitudes towards it, which can make it difficult for the people in need to seek the adequate professional help. The results of a relatively recent study in Croatia indicated that the vague perceptions about psychotherapy were dominantly based on the information acquired through media, and that the individuals who had never had experience with psychotherapy considered seeking psychotherapists’ help a sign of a personal inability to deal with problems or of the lack of social support. The professionals in the field of mental health significantly contribute to shaping the general population’s perceptions of psychotherapy, overtly or covertly. On the other hand, the knowledge and attitudes of mental health professionals about psychotherapy are supposed to be largely shaped through formal university education. To test this assumption we examined the knowledge and att! itudes of a sample of university students in the field of mental help, and in other professions. The results of our study showed that the examined group was overall prone to seeking psychological help, was not very sensitive to stigma, and was psychologically open. On average, the students in the field of mental health were even more prone to seek psychological help, and were psychologically more open than the students of other professions. They were also better informed about psychotherapy, which improved with higher levels of their education. However, the education in mental health professions did not guarantee the understanding of all aspects of psychotherapy as it was defined by the professionals that promoted psychotherapy as an independent profession. In order to develop the adequate university educational programs and to systematically form positive attitudes towards psychotherapy in general public it is first necessary to reach the “metaprofessional” consensus a! bout what psychotherapy is, who can provide such services, and! who can benefit from it.

Students; help-seeking behaviour; psychotherapy

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