Trainee clinical psychologists' attitudes toward seeking psychotherapy: the influence of interpersonal perfectionism and perceived attitudes of others

Abstract

The first chapter of this thesis consists of a systematic literature review exploring the negative effects of personal therapy for psychotherapists. The review was necessary to redress bias within the literature to report and explore positive effects of personal therapy for psychotherapists. The review found that personal therapy can produce a number of negative effects, including placing emotional strain on the therapist, disruption to clinical work by reducing therapists’ ability to attend to their clients and negatively impacting upon therapist development. Variables relating to negative effects included client and therapist factors, and process issues within therapy. More primary research is needed to understand the impact of negative effects of personal therapy for psychotherapists, and to explore variables associated to these effects.

Due to research demonstrating that trainee clinical psychologists fail to access adequate support for their mental health difficulties, the empirical paper explored the role of interpersonal perfectionism and the perceived attitudes of others in influencing trainee clinical psychologists’ attitudes towards seeking psychotherapy. More than 60% of participants had lived experience of mental health difficulties. Perceiving others within the professional group to view experience of mental health difficulties and help-seeking as acceptable was related to trainees’ holding more positive attitudes towards seeking psychotherapy. A test of mediation showed that perceived attitudes of others also mediated the relationship between interpersonal perfectionism and trainees’ attitudes towards seeking help. Implications for the wider profession are discussed.

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ORCID for Nicholas Maguire: orcid.org/0000-0003-4295-8068

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