Abstract
The research literature has been virtually silent on the growth, changes and insights psychotherapists experience in their own lives through encounters with trauma and personal struggles. The aim of the present study is to explore and better understand the lessons learned, the growth undergone, and the meaning of life issues that have arisen for psychotherapists who have undergone traumatic experiences. This study is situated within a positive psychological framework which emphasizes a better understanding of what makes life worth living in the face of adversity and challenges. In 2007, eight personal case studies were published in Professional Psychology: Research and Practice in response to an open call for submissions on the challenges in the life of the psychotherapist. The collection of these cases studies presents powerful narratives of experiences about significant personal and transforming situations that have affected professional functioning. The researcher performed a content analysis on the eight case studies, which emerged with recurring themes around the professional and personal impact of trauma on these psychotherapists. This present exploratory qualitative study was conducted with a purposeful sample of three early career licensed clinical psychologists, two post doctoral clinical and counseling psychology trainees and five advanced clinical and counseling psychology pre-doctoral trainees. The participant criteria included clinical psychologists or supervised psychology doctoral trainees who had experienced significant personal trauma during the course of their professional career as a clinician or supervised clinician-in-training. Multiple interviews were conducted with each participant, with the use of a semi-structured interview guide. A semi-structured interview guide consisted of twenty three open ended questions derived from the salient themes which emerged of the previous eight case studies (2007). The interviews were audio taped and transcribed and a content analysis was conducted by two independent raters to find emergent themes. The research questions included, (1) how did the experience of trauma personally affect these therapists? and, (2) how did the experience of trauma professional affect these therapists? Although pain and suffering are typical reactions of unexpected significant, personal trauma, the present study supports the notion that in the aftermath of adversity, people often show and experience personal growth. It appears that the psychotherapists in the present study were impacted personally and professionally by their experience with trauma. Salient themes and patterns that emerged categorized under five groups: (1) emotional and cognitive reactions, (2) helpful coping factors, (3) barriers to coping with the trauma, (4) personal growth, and (5) professional impact. The findings suggest that psychotherapists' experience with personal trauma, if dealt with appropriately, can foster personal resiliency and increase a sense of client empathy and clinical effectiveness.