Personal development groups during psychotherapy training: Irish students’ expectations and experiences of vulnerability, safety and growth

ABSTRACT

Personal development groups (PDGs) are a common part of counselling, psychotherapy and psychology training programmes, and are believed to facilitate both personal and professional growth. This article reviews the available research evidence for this belief, and reports the findings of a longitudinal study of the expectations and experiences of 32 Irish integrative psychotherapy students during an academic year’s attendance at a PDG. A small but significant increase was found in the students’ ratings of their own interpersonal awareness and skills at the end of the year, students reporting greater ease in sharing their personal thoughts and feelings with others and greater confidence in offering feedback to others. While students reported moderately high levels of safety in their PDGs, they also experienced vulnerability and were concerned about dual relationships and judgement from others. Thematic analysis of the students’ written reflections on the impact of their PDGs indicated that they experienced “personal and professional growth,” felt the “risk and potential in being vulnerable,” and that they were left “wanting more.” The findings from this study and the research review highlight both the benefits and challenges of PDG participation for students; the implications for ethical training practice are also discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Personal development groups
• training
• psychotherapy
• counselling
• psychology
• research review

Acknowledgements

Grateful thanks to the study participants who generously shared their experiences and to the psychotherapy programme staff who supported data collection.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Research assistance for this project was funded by the Dublin City University undergraduate summer internship scheme in 2017.

Notes on contributors

Aisling McMahon

Aisling McMahon is an Assistant Professor in Psychotherapy at Dublin City University, a Chartered Clinical Psychologist with the Psychological Society of Ireland, and an accredited psychotherapist and supervisor with the Irish Association of Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy.

Rhea Rose Rodillas

Rhea Rose Rodillas is a final year BSc in Psychology student at Dublin City University.