Clinical summary: Should Personal Therapy be Mandatory for Psychotherapy Trainees?

As early as 1937, Freud proposed that every psychoanalyst should enter into analysis without feeling shame in doing so. In some countries, such as Italy, it is relatively common for programs to require students to attend a certain number of hours of personal therapy during their training. The British Psychological Society requires participation in personal therapy as part of training for counselling psychologists. There are potential benefits for patients of trainees who receive personal therapy, including the trainees’ development of increased empathy, self-reflexivity, and insight into the therapeutic process and the self. However, in North America and other parts of the world, it is not common for training programs in psychology to require personal therapy for psychotherapy trainees. The relevance of personal therapy for psychology trainees has been a topic of hot debate within the field. However, with the current focus on self-care as an ethical responsibility of psychologists, there is renewed focus on therapists’ well-being as integral to competent practice. In this qualitative study, Raga and colleagues posed two key questions to psychologists with experience in personal therapy: What are their views on trainees engaging in their therapy, and should personal therapy be mandated for trainees? The researchers interviewed 20 licensed and practicing Australian psychologists who had engaged in personal psychotherapy. Most were women (65%), with an average age of 38.8 years, an average of 10 years of experience, and who, on average, received 2 to 3 years of personal therapy, most of which was during their training (80%). The psychologists described using CBT (80%) and/or psychodynamic (45%) approaches in their practices. The thematic analysis revealed four major themes in response to the first question. First, psychologists emphasized the importance of engaging in personal therapy during training as an opportunity for self-exploration and growth. Second, personal therapy goes beyond supervision in that it centers on the trainees’ personal development, whereas supervision focuses on the care of the client. Third, psychologists reported developing a greater capacity for compassion and empathy towards their clients from personal therapy. Fourth, personal therapy enhances the future sustainability of the profession by helping to manage stress and burnout. The thematic analysis also revealed three themes related to the question of whether personal therapy should be mandatory during training. First, the psychologists felt that educators play a crucial role in normalizing personal therapy and reducing stigma to foster greater openness. Second, cost and accessibility need to be considered so that programs must either subsidize or create systems to facilitate personal therapy for trainees. Third, psychologists had mixed views about mandating personal therapy. The majority (60%) supported it, but many thought that making it mandatory may undermine its utility.

Practice Implications

There are certainly benefits of personal therapy to trainees and practicing psychotherapy providers. Managing complex emotions with patients (countertransference), reducing stress and burnout, increasing job satisfaction, greater self-awareness, and improving empathy may be important outcomes. Although some cultures and countries welcome personal therapy for trainees and therapists, others either do not appear to value it as highly or do not wish to mandate it for trainees. Stigma remains a significant barrier to personal psychotherapy for therapists in general, as well as a financial burden for trainees.

 Raga, M. F., Jayant, N., Mohi, S. R., Quinlan, E., Riley Ward, J., Britz, M. S. E., & Ivey, G. (2025). Should personal therapy be mandatory for psychologist trainees? Perspectives from Australian practicing psychologists. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. Advance online publication. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pro0000625 

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