Looking within: self-perceived professional strengths and limitations of psychotherapists in India

Abstract

Practice as a psychotherapist can be both rewarding and challenging, generating a need for therapists to reflect on their professional strengths and vulnerabilities. As part of a larger international study of psychotherapists, information was gathered from 250 therapists in India using the Development of Psychotherapists Common Core Questionnaire (DPCCQ). One specific part of the DPCCQ asked for narrative answers to two questions: ‘What do you feel is your greatest strength as a therapist?’ and ‘What do you feel is your most problematic limitation as a therapist?’. Using the consensual qualitative research method, qualitative analysis of therapists' written responses identified several core themes. Three themes accounted for 82% of responses about therapists' perceived strengths: therapeutic relationship skills (32%), therapeutic professional expertise (28%), and therapist personal qualities and experiences (22%). Four themes accounted for therapists' views of their limitations: inadequate therapeutic competence (22%), professional stress and burnout (20%), inadequate professional knowledge and experience (19%) and therapist personal qualities and difficult experiences (19%). Themes relevant to the challenges and realities of therapeutic work in the Indian context also emerged. Implications of these narrative themes of therapist development are discussed.