Counselling psychologists' perceptions of the impact of mandatory personal therapy on professional development--an exploratory study

TLDR: In this paper, a qualitative study was carried out with recently qualified and trainee counselling psychologists to investigate their opinions as to the impact of mandatory personal therapy on their professional development, and the results indicate that mandatory personal therapists can lead to perceived positive outcomes in terms of professional development including a sense of the self as a professional through developing reflexivity as a result of being in the role of client.

Abstract: A qualitative study was carried out with recently qualified and trainee counselling psychologists to investigate their opinions as to the impact of mandatory personal therapy on their professional development. The methodology employed was grounded theory using data obtained from indvidual and group interviews. The results indicate that mandatory personal therapy can lead to perceived positive outcomes in terms of professional development including: a sense of the self as a professional through developing reflexivity as a result of being in the role of client; socialization into a professional role through validational and normative experiences such as the therapist modelling good and poor practice; support during times of personal difficulty; and, personal development that leads to a perceived improved ability for the participant to distinguish between personal issues and those of the client. An important effect for participants who did not have a previous substantial experience of personal therapy appear...