Trainees' self‐evaluation of their development as psychotherapists: An Italian contribution to an international collaborative study on psychotherapy training

Abstract

This study presents a pilot contribution to the new collaborative, multinational study of psychotherapy trainee development that was undertaken by the Society for Psychotherapy Research Interest Section on Therapist Training and Development (see Orlinsky, Strauss, Rønnestad, et al., ). Although the main project is longitudinal in design, this preliminary study investigated cross-sectional differences between trainees in different years of training and explored the influence of core training experiences-including supervision and personal therapy-on their perceived development as therapists. Using the trainee current-progress report that was designed for the Society for Psychotherapy Research Interest Section on Therapist Training and Development project, 90 trainees at 4 different 4-year training programs in Italy provided self-evaluations of their development and of their therapeutic work experiences. Perceived development included overall change, progress, deterioration, overcoming past limitations, and realization of potential as a therapist. Therapeutic work experiences were assessed using scales of healing and stressful involvement (Orlinsky & Rønnestad, ). Year in training and support in supervision predicted perceived development and healing involvement, whereas experiencing criticism in supervision was associated with stressful involvement. Having had personal therapy, and especially ratings of benefit from personal therapy, was also associated with perceived development and healing involvement. Results are discussed with regard of their implications for psychotherapy training.

Personal background, motivation and interpersonal style of psychotherapy trainees having different theoretical orientations: An Italian contribution to an international collaborative study on psychotherapy training

“…With regard to the practical implication of these results for psychotherapy trainings programmes, it has been hypothesised that individuals arriving at training programmes with a certain personality may possibly be more receptive to teaching in particular therapeutic orientations than others (Poznanski & McLennan, ; Scragg, Bor & Watts, ), suggesting that a mismatching between approach espoused by a training course and that to which an individual is predisposed could negatively influence trainees’ development. This should be considered in future studies in relation to the longitudinal evaluation of therapist development (for early cross‐sectional results of SPRISTAD study see Messina et al., ).…”

Early reflections on becoming a therapist: Development of reflective practice in clinical training programmes in an Australian context

“…These findings were also similar to those reported by Hill et al (), who described student experiences as they attempted to overcome clinical training challenges, such as feelings about self in the role of psychotherapist, learning and using helping skills, reactions to supervision, awareness of reactions to clients and experiences that fostered growth. Students highlighted the significance of support in supervision (Messina et al, ) and also their difficulty in integrating their theoretical knowledge into practice, as identified by others (e.g., Scanlon & Baillie, ). Like previous studies, the current research identifies the experience of emotional pain associated with becoming a therapist (e.g., Folkes‐Skinner et al, ; Truell, ), with a number of students referring to methods of self‐protection or needing to find a way to stay “afloat”.…”

“…Like previous studies, the current research identifies the experience of emotional pain associated with becoming a therapist (e.g., Folkes‐Skinner et al, ; Truell, ), with a number of students referring to methods of self‐protection or needing to find a way to stay “afloat”. The findings draw attention to the commonalities in the training experience of students undertaking programmes of training, whether in counselling, psychotherapy or clinical psychology, with common references to the importance of experiences in training programmes, regardless of discipline, as helpful to their development as therapists (Hill et al, ) and the role of supervisors in the management of emotional experiences related to this development (Folkes‐Skinner et al, ; Messina et al, ).…”

An overview of the Italian contribution to the international multisite SPRISTAD study on psychotherapy training

“…and their impact; xiv) Actual life (stress, satisfaction and emotional functioning). Among these numerous variables considered by the questionnaire, early investigations have been focused on Perceived Development since the starting of the training and several aspects of the experience of therapeutic work at the present evaluated as part of two dimensions: healing involvement and stressful involvement (for psychometric characteristic of these dimension see Messina et al, 2017 ; Kolinsky et al, 2005). Healing involvement include the following factors: clinical skills (10 items),constructive coping with difficulties in doing therapy (6 items), flow during therapy sessions (3 items, in-session experiences inspired , stimulated , e ngrossed , and challenged ), and agency (3 itemsn-session experiences skilful , effective , and wise ) and warmth (4 items, in-session experiences warm , accepting , friendly , and tolerant ) as aspects of relational manner with patients.…”