Psychoanalysts, coaches, litagents... What professions are needed in a crisis

Alina Vitukhnovskaya, writer

I would like to talk about what is happening in the labor market in Russia in connection with a number of factors that make this market very unstable. In the global world, automation in the information sphere has already led to the disappearance of a huge number of professions. But this is the factor that practically did not affect Russia, which was excluded from world processes due to inadequate foreign and domestic policies. The bureaucratic system in Russia not only has not shrunk, it has adapted to modern conditions and, like a cancerous tumor, continues to consume national resources, thereby hindering their rational use.

The economic crisis, caused not only by the sanctions of the West, but also by the absolute unwillingness of the authorities to change the situation in the country in any way, has created a whole layer of “new beggars” (by analogy with the “new Russians”). These are people who once claimed to be middle class, or even to be.

The coronavirus pandemic has only exacerbated this crisis, because in the process it became clear that many workers may well work remotely. Accordingly, fewer offices are needed and it becomes possible to reduce unnecessary intermediate links, and therefore vacancies.

All this, of course, psychologically affected those who were fired, as well as those who are under constant threat of dismissal due to optimization of work processes. And as you know - the threat of dismissal is one of the most significant factors leading to neuroses.

My recent article on psychoanalysis has elicited reactions ever since. Both supporters of my position and those who consider psychoanalysis to be a necessary and important factor in psychological correction write to me. Even coaches began to write to me, whose pride was hurt, because for some reason they put themselves on a par with psychoanalysts. I became interested in the topic of domestic coaching in order to understand what we are dealing with in the newly activated market of related professions, which literally filled the space freed up as a result of superimposed systemic crises.

At first, my survey about coaches drew the expected skepticism. The poet Anastasia Lukomskaya writes:

“I have many friends, coaches, since people walk around and are satisfied, this is probably honestly earned bread, I am glad when my friends are doing well with their finances. I don't go myself, because I am skeptical. I have a friend who once broke her leg against her man during a quarrel, and the next day, right in a cast, flew into the taiga at one end. So, she is a coach for harmonizing family relationships, feminine energies and all that. And I somehow accidentally got into a business training on how to make money on cashback. And then I went to Burger King and got the cheapest burger for 50 rubles. And then I look - that business coach comes in and also takes the cheapest burger. Everything you need to know about such trainings".

Another subscriber of my Facebook notes already in a positive way:

“I watched the lectures of coaches on personal relationships. I liked it very much! Before lectures, she did not know at all and was never interested in manipulative narcissists. I had to face it. After the lectures, the coaches immediately figured out how to act and what to do to remove the unpleasant personality from my matrix. I liked life coach Ekaterina Vasilieva very much. In general, coaching helps to quickly understand the essence of a situation, how to get out of it and what to do next. Even now, sometimes I go and look. There must be something in common with psychoanalysis".

Well-known coach Yuri Muradyan - MCC ICF coach (certified master coach of the International Coaching Federation) answered the question about the prospects of this area of activity as follows:

“The prospects for coaching are very serious. Global trends show that the demand for coaching services is growing from year to year. This year it has grown by more than twenty percent. That is, not the general demand for various areas related to personal development and business consulting, but specifically for coaching".

When asked if coaching has anything in common with psychoanalysis, Yuri said:

"Of course have. Both here and there the center of attention is the person, his life, thoughts and mental attitudes. But psychoanalysis is usually more about researching and analyzing past experiences. And coaching is about the future. We do not investigate the causes of the emergence of certain cognitive factors, but talk about what a person wants to come to and support in achieving these goals. That is, the activity of a coach is aimed at unlocking the potential for solving current and future problems".

As a total skeptic, I, nevertheless, reserve the right to work with the mass unconscious for psychoanalysts and coaches, although I’m unlikely to resort to their help myself. Because this kind of work is both more useful and better than the work of the same priests, psychics and all kinds of other esoteric charlatans. In a period of instability, and now it is such a period, people need communication and psychological support. The knowledge of psychoanalysts and coaches can certainly be useful to many people. If they do not solve the current problems, then at least they will become the basis for further already meaningful, and not spontaneous actions. At the same time, I draw special attention to the fact that this information should be treated with particular caution and, above all, critically.

The activity of litagents is a similarly related and somewhat unusual activity for Russia. When my book "Schwarze Ikone" was published in Germany, DuMont and literary agents literally predicted its success. It was a city tour, TV appearances, press conferences, and meetings with readers. The entire edition was sold in a couple of months. The fact is that in Germany such work has been put on a decent technological level. She is well paid and respected. Sometimes I get the impression that the Germans need Russian literature much more than the Russians. They make this a classic of the genius Sorokin, and by no means Russian publishers and even more so critics, who seem to have forgotten about him at all. And no wonder. After all, from now on in Russia socialist realism, village prose and pseudo-heroic epic a la Zakhar Prilepin triumphs.

What does the famous critic, writer and, more recently, literary agent Natalya Rubanova think about litagents:

“A poet in Russia is less than a poet, a writer is less than a writer, a litagent is less than a litagent, if we compare the statuses with Europe and the USA, where without a litagent the author is not an author. There the publisher will not communicate with him: there is a "clipboard" for negotiations. The institute of literary agency in the long-suffering fatherland is not developed, professions are not taught anywhere. Qualified specialists of the unit. Above all, being a writer - now I have a new book “Carlson Dancing Flamenco” coming out at Limbus Press - I split myself into other people's projects. This is a job, nothing more: and I would not do it, just as I would not conduct my special course for authors "Music of the Word as the Practice of Literary Writing", if everything were useless. Not everything is useless - it is necessary to break the ice of censorship and inertia. In general, the situation is as follows: whether the author is at least a hundred times Borges, the literary and administrative goblins will not allow him to go to the Eden circulation and imputed fees. The ball is run by artisans who are comfortable for literary functionaries with boring texts. For the most part, biased premium lists are predictable. Living literature lives and breathes in other places".

In a period of uncertainty, especially, well, in principle, always and everywhere, the situation boils down to the professionalism and decency of individuals. They form the basis of what we call the system - society and state.