Self-Criticism, Self-Compassion and Associated Factors of Psychotherapists

Abstract

Becoming a psychotherapist includes having to deal with issues related to training, profession, and personal issues. Characteristics such as self-criticism and self-compassion may influence how psychotherapists perceive their clinical practice. To this end, the purpose of the present study lies in examining the levels of self-criticism, self-compassion, and associated factors in a sample of psychotherapists. This is a quantitative, descriptive, and correlational cross-sectional survey conducted on a sample of 105 psychotherapists who are in training in Cognitive-behavioral, Psychoanalytic, and Systemic approaches. The collection was online, included personal and professional information, and self-report measures of self-criticism and self-compassion. Results indicate that personal variables such as age and having children, and professional variables such as clinical experience showed association with self-compassion, while less emotional and life experience are associated with higher rates of self-criticism. It is concluded that self-criticism and self-compassion in psychotherapists in training are related to personal and professional characteristics, bringing possible impacts to their clinical practice. The findings suggest that the creation of training, supervision and clinical improvement programs based on the compassionate mind of the psychotherapist may be relevant thinking in the development of these professionals.