A pilot study of self-care education for psychotherapists

Zhong Nan Da Xue Xue Bao Yi Xue Ban. 2024 Aug 28;49(8):1301-1308. doi: 10.11817/j.issn.1672-7347.2024.240185.
[Article in English, Chinese]

Abstract

Objectives: Existing research shows that psychotherapists may experience secondary trauma and burnout, often neglecting self-care. This study aims to examine the effectiveness of self-care education in enhancing self-care efficacy among psychotherapists and explore factors affecting improvements in their self-care abilities.

Methods: A self-care workshop was conducted for 159 psychotherapists from various fields. Participants' demographic information and self-care ability data were collected. The Exercise of Self-Care Agency Scale (ESCA) was used to assess the participant's self-care levels before and after the workshop.

Results: Post-workshop, ESCA total scores and subscale scores of participants showed significant increases (all P<0.001). Notably, score improvement levels differed by gender and years of practice, with female therapists showing greater improvement than male therapists (t=2.069, P=0.040) and those with longer work experience showing greater improvement than those with shorter experience (F=2.537, P=0.042).

Conclusions: Providing self-care education for psychotherapists is essential. Future self-care education programs or interventions for psychotherapists should consider gender and work experience factors to better support their self-care enhancement.

目的: 现有研究表明,心理治疗师可能会经历继发性创伤(二次创伤)和职业倦怠,并忽略自我照顾。本研究旨在检验自我照顾教育对提高心理治疗师自我照顾效能的效果,并探讨影响心理治疗师自我照顾能力提升的相关因素。方法: 对159名来自不同行业的心理治疗师开展自我照顾讲座。收集参与者的人口统计学信息和自我照顾能力数据。采用自我护理能力量表(Exercise of Self-Care Agency Scale,ESCA)评估心理治疗师听讲座前后的自我照顾能力水平。结果: 讲座结束后,参与者的ESCA总分与各维度得分均显著提高(均P<0.001)。其中,ESCA总分的提高程度在性别和工作年限维度的差异有统计学意义,具体来说,女性治疗师的分数提高程度显著大于男性治疗师(t=2.069,P=0.040),工作年限较长的治疗师分数提高程度显著大于工作年限较短的治疗师(F=2.537,P=0.042)。结论: 为心理治疗师提供自我照顾教育十分必要。在未来为心理治疗师规划自我照顾教育或其他干预措施时,应考虑性别和工作年限因素,以帮助他们更好地提高自我照顾水平。.

Keywords: burnout; education; psychotherapist; secondary trauma; self-care.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Burnout, Professional / prevention & control
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Pilot Projects
  • Psychotherapists* / education
  • Psychotherapy / education
  • Psychotherapy / methods
  • Self Care*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires