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ABSTRACT
The helping professions of psychotherapy and counselling involve a process of lifelong learning and professional development. Multiple influences may serve as pathways to professional development and growth. The study explored practitioner perceptions of a range of influences on their development as therapists. The Development of Psychotherapists Common Core Questionnaire-India (DPCCQ-I) was completed by 250 mental health practitioners with diverse professional backgrounds and experience levels, practising in India. A section assessed therapists’ ratings of ten potential influences, both positive and negative, on their professional development. Thse results indicated that experiences in therapy with clients, reading books and journals, therapists’ personal life experiences, and case discussions were perceived as having the most positive impact on development as a therapist. The most frequently reported negative influences were institutional conditions, experiences with clients, and personal life experiences.
The strength of influences in select domains varied according to therapist experience levels and professional background and was significantly associated with indices of therapist perceptions of their skills and growth in therapeutic work. These results are discussed in the context of unique practice realities in India. Implications for professional training and continuing development are outlined.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
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Notes on contributors
Shveta Kumaria
Shveta Kumaria is a postdoctoral clinical scholar fellow at The Family Institute at Northwestern University. She completed her PhD in Clinical Social Work from Loyola University Chicago. She holds an M.Phil degree in Clinical Psychology from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India. Shveta is also an adjunct assistant professor at the Smith College School of Social Work, Northampton, MA. Her research interests include psychotherapy research, psychotherapy integration, therapist development, and clinical wisdom.
Poornima Bhola
Poornima Bhola is an Additional Professor in Clinical Psychology at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India. She is deeply interested in understanding and enhancing the professional training and development of psychotherapists and is the joint coordinator for psychotherapy training in the department. Her clinical and research interests include personality disorders, psychotherapy processes, suicidality, and psychosocial rehabilitation.
David E. Orlinsky
David Orlinsky is Professor Emeritus of Comparative Human Development and Social Sciences at the University of Chicago, where he taught from 1960 to 2012. He has coordinated the 25-year old Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR) Collaborative Research Network which studies therapists’ experiences of therapeutic work and professional development. He has also founded and chaired the SPR Interest Section on Therapist Training and Development, involved in a multi-site, multi-nation longitudinal study of trainee development. David has numerous publications on psychotherapist development, psychotherapy processes and outcome and is also interested in the dynamics of love relationships over the life-course.