Sense of Coherence (SOC) Among Psychotherapists in Austria, Differentiated According to Number of Individually Completed Training Therapy Sessions

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The sense of coherence (according Aaron Antonovsky, 1923—1994, when a persons sense that his/her own life and the world are sufficiently comprehensible, manageable, and meaningful) of Austrian psychotherapists was assessed and compared with a standard sample, as well as with the sense of coherence (SOC) of members of other professions. In addition, the question as to whether psychotherapists who had completed more extensive individual training therapy/self-awareness sessions had a higher SOC than do those with fewer, was addressed. Forty psychotherapists who worked in private practices and various psychosocial health care institutions in Styria, Austria took part in the study. The investigation was conducted in the form of a questionnaire assessment. The evaluation showed that the overall SOC value of the professional group in question was significantly higher than that of the standard sample (162.3 vs. 145.7), as well as other samples (physicians: SOC = 153.8; teachers: SOC = 156.1; physiotherapists SOC = 158.1). Concerning whether psychotherapists who had completed more individual training therapy/self-awareness sessions had higher SOC values than did those with fewer, we found no difference in regard to the overall SOC score or SOC scores for individual components. The SOC of psychotherapists did not seem to depend on the number of additional training therapy/self-awareness sessions.