Trainee psychotherapists’ development in self-rated professional qualities in training.

Abstract

This study investigated changes in trainees' self-rated experience as a therapist over the course of one practicum treatment case in basic psychotherapy education in Sweden. Undergraduate students (n = 76) provided longitudinal information on their healing involvement and stressful work involvement. The results of the Development of Psychotherapists Common Core Questionnaire (DPCCQ) demonstrated that trainees' basic relational skills, technical skills, perceived difficulties, and constructive coping strategies changed linearly, with an increasing slope. Technical expertise changed the most, and relational skills developed moderately. In-session feelings of anxiety and boredom did not change. The individualized reliable change scores show that the process during training is different for different students. Most students did not change at all, and some students even changed negatively. Investigation of how pedagogic variables affect therapists' development is necessary to support the professional growth of trainees in their involvement with different types of psychotherapy.