How is it possible to stand out from the crowd of professionals present in our area? How can I create an offer that differs from the others?
These questions today represent a real challenge for all psychologists, both because the statistical data are not encouraging, and because the tools of marketing, and therefore of (personal) promotion, are almost never properly mastered.
The National Council of the Order (references here) informs us that there are about 100,000 psychologists and more than 50,000 psychotherapists in Italy.
The sites that collect these professionals, in general, do not make a real differentiation, also because the public does not know in depth the differences between this or that other approach. Thus we end up in a huge cauldron where it is difficult to get noticed, especially for beginners.
In this sense, the Single Session Therapy offers a valid competence, which at the same time will allow us to “position ourselves” in a distinctive way, distinguishing ourselves from the crowd.
Not so much for the approach used which, as we have said, is poorly perceived by the public, but rather for a clear intervention modality, defined over time and therefore “measurable” in terms of commitment (personal, time, expense, etc. .).
In this article, we will not focus on the aspects related to competence; that is, on what training in Single Session Therapy can bring to each individual therapist, in terms of skills.
We will consider the aspects related to usefulness for people, for our customers, for those who come to our studio, since this is precisely what allows us to “position ourselves” in a distinctive way from the crowd.
5 proposals for people’s needs
 1 # Get answers in a short time
More and more people need and / or require “solutions”, support, support in the short term.
The whole of modern society is impregnated with the need for immediacy (here), and even if this does not always fit with the needs of care, understanding which way the wind is blowing is essential in order not to drift away, or remain immobilized by the calm.
Single Session Therapy responds to this need, showing itself extremely in step with the times and with the socio-cultural evolution of the moment.
2 # Offer a chance to those who would “never” go to a psychologist
In Italy the percentage of people who ask for help from a psychologist is very low. There are still many negative prejudices related to our profession that keep the other part of the population at a safe distance.
It is useless to deny that the lack of transparency linked to very long and “painful” paths contributed to the negative peak.
The possibility of having a single interview, in which a highly professional intervention is offered, whether it is “decisive or not”, can alleviate the skepticism or fear of those who usually would not turn to a psychologist.
The Single Session Therapy, on this front, is therefore proposed as a completely new intervention, clearly differentiating itself from the past and from most of the other interventions. We therefore think that many people, far from psychotherapy, can access it in this way.
3 # Get an idea of ​​the expense that will be addressed
We can practically know the price of everything with a simple click, whether it is a tool, a tool, a service or other. There are very few cases in which it is difficult to trace the expense to be faced: I am reminded of the negotiations reserved for the houses, the price of some works of art, the new releases of Bordeaux grand cru wines, before the quotation at the auction and psychotherapy courses.
On the contrary, through a TSS, anyone can imagine the expense (talking about it with the professional) to which they will meet and organize themselves accordingly. With the same principle, a brief therapy, defined on a temporal and objective level, offers the person the possibility of knowing the amount of money that he will have to pay out.
In addition to my personal ethical conviction, I believe today we cannot think of offering a service (moreover linked to the care and health of the other) in which the timing and expense are unknown.
4 # Psychotherapy as needed
Let’s think for a moment about how many possibilities for intervention must necessarily be resolved in a single meeting:
migrant people who disembark from another country, travelers who need advice away from home, needs related to an event that will take place tomorrow or in the short term (an exam, an important job interview, a sports competition) and more.
Usually in a “traditional” therapy these events will either not be accepted or will put the therapists involved in difficulty, not having the adequate preparation to respond to the moment.
It goes without saying that Single Session Therapy offers a possibility that is difficult to find, at least in Italy and in this historical moment.
5 # Greater possibility of intervention
The Single Session Therapy, for how it is structured and for how it acts on an individual level, can find many applications, even outside the clinic.
This gives us the opportunity to intercept many more requests and offer greater possibilities to those who contact us: targeted counseling interviews, job orientation, personal empowerment, motivational interviews, training for athletes and much more (for example, I have not taken into consideration the whole side of public interventions, to which we have dedicated various articles; here or here).
 These are just some of the possible alternatives that Single Session Therapy can offer a therapist to stand out from the crowd and respond to people’s needs. Ever-changing needs as we have seen.
Pier Paolo D’Alia
Psychologist
Italian Center team for Single Session Therapy