Who are our Psychotherapists?
The Present-Day Psychotherapists in Algeria; Part One: With Nesrine
What is mental health treatment, and how is it professionally practiced in Algeria?
Nesrine is a trained NLP coach, hypnotherapist, psych-energy therapist, and specialist in brief psychotherapy. Her career path with psychology started a decade ago, but only recently — five years ago — did she begin helping people to heal. In 2021, she opened her own office cabinet. In this interview we will get to know more about her experiences and own thoughts on the field.
Who are you? What is your background?
I am Nesrine Khalfi 28 years old, a clinical psychologist by training, I have a degree in Clinical Psychology that I obtained in 2017, specialist in brief psychotherapy, trained in sexotherapy and psychotherapy- EFT practitioner, coach in neurolinguistic programming and hypnotherapy. I started in 2018, and I opened my own consulting office in 2021.
What sparked your interest in this field of study?
Becoming a psychologist is a childhood dream, when I was 10 years old this profession inspired me, helping people to be happy for me was more than a profession, it’s weird but what inspired me was a psychologist I met and who disappointed me so I decided to become a different psychologist.
Can you describe the atmosphere at your workplace? What aspect of your work as a psychologist do you find most enjoyable?
I have created a rather soothing atmosphere for my consultants and myself, I do my work with a lot of love; and I love it when my patients manage to do it with a beautiful smile and a lot of hope in their eyes.
How would you define the role of a psychologist?
For me the role of the psychologist is to help others to understand themselves, to free themselves and to find their own path to happiness.
Could you please provide us with an overview of mental health and mental disorder?
Mental health is a state of psychological, emotional and cognitive well-being that allows one to learn well, work well, manage, and cope with the stress of life.
Mental disorder is a change that affects the thinking, mood or behaviour of a person and disturbs his or her functioning.
Can you go into more details about the services, the approaches, and methods you apply on your patient?
I am a specialist in brief therapy so my approach is based on the how rather than the why, in my session we release the beliefs of the past (traumas or other) and we build the present for a better future (of course everything depends on the request of the consultant and sometimes the orientation to a psychiatrist is essential).
In your perspectives and from your psychiatric experience, what is the relation between emotional, spiritual, and physical health?
I will summarize it by saying that emotional health is the balance between physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being, if one of these aspects is affected all the other aspects are also affected.
What is the most difficult part of your job?
The most difficult thing is when I discover a psychiatric pathology in a child or adolescent (psychosis or other).
What characteristics must a psychologist acquire to have an impact?
Empathy, open-mindedness, never judging a patient, ability to listen, neutral and objective, analytical ability.
What is the average number of patients you get per month?
It all depends, I work 4 days a week and I limit my consultations to five a day so it is about 10 to 15 per month.
How much do you think the internet and social media have an influence on people’s psychology?
Phew! Enormously there is no degree that I can give, I have not done any research but according to my consultations up to 80%.
Who are your most frequent patients? What psychological issues do you treat the most?
Women and men between 22 and 32 years old with average to good social status, the most recurrent is anxiety disorders.
What are the typical root causes of mental illness in Algeria, in your personal professional observation?
Dysfunctional families, stress and pressure of life, lack of entertainments and leisure.
Mental health problems are becoming more prevalent almost everywhere in the world. What are your thoughts about that?
Indeed! Cases of depression and anxiety are on the rise and even more During and after the COVID19, we are of course talking about multiple stress factors, the media, social networks, negativity, disaster scenarios that have taken over in our news feed and also of course the gaps in the psychological care.
Some patients are embarrassed about what they could be perceived as, thus they are reluctant to visit any mental clinic. What do you think of that, and how would you advise those individuals?
Honestly, this is not really the case anymore, on the contrary, people are looking to learn more about mental health, there is more awareness; and this is the positive side of social networks, which have allowed people to see mental health as a priority.
Have you ever been in a position where you could not help your patients? If yes, how did it go?
On one occasion, the parents of an 11-year-old child had difficulty accepting that I would have to take the child to the psychiatric hospital in an emergency.
Like teachers, doctors, and nurses; your work appears to be incredibly rewarding. How does it feel to serve others and make a difference in their lives?
It is an exceptional satisfaction, nothing can replace it, to give back the taste of life to someone is to give him life, and to give meaning to our life too; for me there is no more beautiful to help people to find happiness.
What advice would you offer to students who are interested in psychology but are unsure what steps they need to take?
If you really love this field knowing that you will succeed and you will create miracles, do it for love, train, and challenge yourself.
