Qualified therapists’ experience of personal therapy

Recent work shows that the majority of therapists strongly value personal therapy for what it can bring to their professional practice, and for personal development. The aim of this study was to explore qualified therapists’ experiences of personal therapy. Of the 220 qualified therapists who were contacted via post and asked to take part in a questionnaire study, 48 returned the completed questionnaire, which consisted of a series of closed and open questions. Two‐thirds of respondents had engaged in personal therapy. The two most frequently cited reasons for engaging in personal therapy were personal growth and personal distress. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) identified two broad domains: impact on the person and impact on the professional. Results show that those surveyed recognised the value of personal therapy to themselves as a form of self‐care and personal development. Personal therapy was valued in professional practice as a form of experiential learning from being in the client role. The limitations of this research included a relatively low response rate, raising the question of whether those most likely to have had positive experiences of personal therapy were more likely to participate. Future research might deliberately seek to understand negative experiences of personal therapy. Other avenues for future research include the need to understand how experiences of therapy relate to gender, profession, and therapeutic orientation.     

The sociology of regulation: the case of psychotherapy and counselling and the experience of the arts therapies

ABSTRACT

This article draws on insights from the sociology of professions to explore the regulatory debate in the psychotherapy and counselling field contrasted with the regulation of arts therapists (art, drama and music therapists). A partial explanation is offered, illustrating the applicability of theory to these groups, but with adaptations to reflect the modern context in which professions and regulation now exist.     

Psychodynamic therapists' dilemmas in providing personal therapy to therapists in training: An exploratory study

Aim: This study explores dilemmas facing psychodynamic therapists who provide personal therapy to therapists in training. Method: Eight experienced psychodynamic psychotherapists were interviewed using a semi‐structured interview format during which they were asked about the importance of personal therapy, if they encountered any dilemmas and, if so, how they resolved those dilemmas. Their responses were analysed using a qualitative form of content analysis. Findings: Two categories of dilemma emerged: clinical and personal. Clinical dilemmas arose out of the mandatory requirement for therapy, boundaries, fitness to practice and the suitability of trainees. Personal dilemmas included pressure to model, sense of responsibility, therapeutic narcissism, countertransference reactions, over‐use of self and stressful involvement. The therapists' strategies for resolving the dilemmas are described. Conclusion: The results show participants considered personal therapy to be essential for trainees and thought it should be mandatory even though it led to difficulties in the therapy. Questions arose about the suitability of some trainees, the person of the therapist and stressful involvement. Further research into these important areas is recommended.     

Public perception of the professional titles used within psychological services

Background and aim: There have been several calls for adopting an empirical approach investigating public opinion concerning the differentiation between the professional titles ‘counsellor’ and ‘psychotherapist’. The present research makes a first step to addressing this issue. Method: Sixteen interviewers, recruited across the UK, interviewed 450 members of the public in 57 UK district codes. Age, gender and education were monitored for sampling purposes. Results: The findings indicated that around two thirds of the public perceive the professional title ‘counsellor’ to be distinct from the professional titles ‘psychotherapist’ and ‘psychological therapist’ and for these latter two titles to be almost identical. About one third of the public perceive the opposite trend, and one tenth is undecided whether these professional titles are distinct or indistinct. Conclusion: These results have implications for the debate concerning the structure of the Health Professions Council (HPC) Register in the regulation of counsellors and psychotherapists.     

The prevalence of stalking of psychological therapists working in primary care by current or former clients

The prevalence of being a victim of harassment or stalking among the general population of the UK is held to be 11.8 per cent. There has been speculation that the prevalence rate would be higher for psychological therapists, as they could be at risk from their own clients. This study analysed the prevalence of job‐related experiences of harassment or stalking in a postal survey of psychological therapists who worked in primary care. The results showed a prevalence rate of more than twice the national average at 24 per cent. The stalkers, who were equally male or female, fell into three broad categories: those clients who were needy and made early attachments to their therapists; those experiencing erotic transference; and those with personality disorders. The implications of these findings for training and practice are discussed.     

Exploring counsellor perceptions of the impact of counselling supervision on clients

This qualitative study explores counsellors’ experiences and perceptions of how counselling supervision impacts upon their clients. Data collection combined open‐ended questionnaires (n = 13) and semi‐structured interviews (n = 6). The findings indicate that supervision impacts client work both helpfully and unhelpfully. Areas that emerged as having the most direct impact on client work were the counselling relationship dynamics and self‐awareness, professional development, emotional support, clients not discussed in supervision and the quality of the supervisory relationship. Congruence and confidence were the most direct link between supervision and client work.     

The Moral Imperative

Abstract

Given recent evidence concerning the prevalence of impairment in practitioners and its deleterious effects upon clients, therapist self-care must be viewed as a moral imperative. Despite the perception that self-care is especially problematic for women psychotherapists, research indicates that we are less ambivalent about practicing self-care and engaging in personal therapy than men practitioners (Mahoney, 1997). We propose a classification system based upon the dimensions of awareness of impairment and commitment to self-care and offer practical suggestions in order to create a climate more amenable for women therapists to engage in self-care activities.     

‘She's not going to leave me' – counsellors' feelings on ending therapy with children

This study sought to explore the impact of ending therapy on counsellors working with children in schools. Five counsellors were interviewed and their responses were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Four master themes emerged, one of which, empathic identification, is the focus of this paper. The findings of this study suggest that the counsellor's experience of ending therapy can evoke long-term powerful emotions.     

Turning towards a bio-psycho-social way of thinking

This paper considers the impact being made on child and adolescent mental health services by the ‘neuroscience revolution’. It outlines some of the important developments that form part of that revolution and considers some of the challenges they present to the thinking of psychoanalytic child psychotherapists within the British Object Relations tradition. After considering a case example and Guntrip's formulation of some core principles of that tradition, it argues that its psycho-social thinking now needs to be stretched so as to become bio-psychosocial.     

Women counsellors' experiences of personal therapy: A thematic analysis

Background: Following recent moves to relax the requirements for clinical mental health trainees to undergo personal therapy, this qualitative project explored the effects of personal therapy on volunteer counsellors. Method: Interviews were conducted with 19 volunteer counsellors at a women's community centre, and the data were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings: Emerging themes included the importance of personal therapy for trainee development, key elements of personal therapy and the idea that personal therapy is ‘a double‐edged sword’. Discussion: Allowing for evident methodological difficulties in evaluating the impact of personal therapy on trainees, this study suggests that close consideration should be given to the potentially adverse effects of reducing requirements for personal therapy in clinical trainings.     

The impact of yoga on the professional and personal life of the psychotherapist

This study explored the impact of a regular practice of yoga in the personal and professional lives of psychotherapists. Six licensed psychotherapists were interviewed about their perceptions regarding the influence of their yoga training on their personal and professional lives. These effects were then categorized into common patterns that emerged as four themes addressing professional growth and the self care of the therapist. These themes are: internal/self awareness, balance, acceptance of self and others, and yoga as a way of life.     

Exploring Confluence

Healthy coupling, defined as coupling which supports the growth of the personhood of both partners, is explored herin. Healthy coupling is viewed as being based on a rhythm of confluence (formation of a "We" from the "I" and the "Thou") and difluence (clear differentiation of an "I" and a "Thou" from the "We"). Criteria for the recognition of natural, flexible confluence and difluence are contrasted with those of an unnatural, rigid pattern.     

Exploring Connections of the Supervisors in Supervision

Four therapists have worked closely in a professional support group. More recently attention has been given to the group processes and internal experiences of the group itself. An observation of the four members of this group is that the group process has allowed for peer validation, fortuitously resulting in their professional identities shifting and evolving. They have become curious about the interface between and the integration of personal and professional facets of the therapist's self. A resulting discovery has been that the very mechanisms which disconnect the therapist out there may serve to promote connection in the support group.     

A Case Study Exploring the Influence of a Gardening Therapy Group on Well-Being

In a climate of improving health-care quality and understanding, this study explored how participation in a gardening group, facilitated through a mental health service in Ireland, influenced well-being. A case study used semi-structured interviews and participant observation to explore explicit and tacit aspects of group participation. Thematic analysis clarified that gardening group participation had a positive influence on well-being for all gardeners and group facilitators. This was through promoting coping, facilitating change, and developing skills. The setting, site ethos and tasks were important in assisting people to make lifestyle changes and to develop skills in order to experience well-being.     

Sources of influence on the professional development of psychologists and psychiatrists in Norway and Germany

Background: There are many professional psychotherapists, but no psychotherapy profession. The psychotherapists’ professions vary between countries, the most frequent being psychiatry and clinical psychology.

Aim: As these professions have different basic training and also may be impacted differently by other factors, we wanted to study potential differences as to perceived influences on their development as psychotherapists across career level, theoretical orientation, and gender.

Methods: More than 2500 Norwegian and German psychiatrists and psychologists reported data on their professional development in the DPCCQ/2000, a lengthy multi-part survey instrument developed within the ‘Collaborative Research Network’ of the Society for Psychotherapy Research. The four groups were compared for differences, and a series of multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the impact of profession on a variety of aspects of therapist experiences.

Results: Although a few therapist experiences (e.g. teaching, treating patients, institutional conditions) had a significantly different impact between the two professions, as a main effect, they only accounted for less than 1% or the variance.

Conclusion: Profession seems to have little influence on perceived development as a psychotherapist, and it is reasonable to conclude that other therapist qualities, often personal qualities, are more important for therapeutic processes and outcomes.     

Scaling questions: asking and answering them in counselling1

Solution-focused counsellors use “scaling questions” to construct understandings of clients’ concerns and solutions to them. We examine how these questions are asked and answered, offering evidence of what is constructed from within counselling discourse. Also, clients and counsellors offer their retrospective accounts of their participation in question and answer sequences in their dialogues. We conclude by speaking to the implications we see from this research as it relates to collaborative and resourceful dialogue between counsellors and clients.