Psychotherapy: What does it bring to the therapist?

Psychotherapy: What does it bring to the therapist?

Most psychotherapy articles focus on the benefits of therapy for our clients, and this seems entirely appropriate. However, it may be useful to briefly reflect on the benefits that therapists derive from the process.

1. Job satisfaction

Few professions offer the kind of satisfaction that comes from using techniques developed through experience and professional training to promote mental health and help clients more successfully overcome the challenges they face. Despite the frustration we sometimes feel about the length of time it takes for change to occur, we are deeply satisfied when a client experiences a breakthrough or a sense of peace after a long period of therapy work.

2. Learning through teaching

As therapists, we may know more than we think. When addressing a customer's needs, we often say words we've never spoken before. A customer's question can cause us to look at a problem from a different perspective, or lead us to read or re-read a book or article that asks us to put ideas together in a new way.

3. Advantages of countertransference

Countertransference, a term derived from Freudian analysis, refers to the therapist's emotional response to a client. The therapist's unconscious feelings can certainly interfere with the therapeutic process, but a mindful therapist acknowledges that they are triggered by a client. Sometimes countertransference requires the support of a supervisor or colleague, but the steps one takes in response to this triggering usually result in emotional growth for the therapist.

4. Do as I say

A therapist's words to clients take many forms, one of which can be described as advice. Unlike Alice, who said, "I give myself such good advice but rarely take it," a therapist who gives good advice to a client may find that saying the words out loud also has a positive effect on the therapist. One of my clients has a tendency to put everyone else's needs before her own, to the point that her needs are sometimes left off the "to do" list entirely. As I help her find ways to care for her own well-being, I have compiled advice that resonates in my own ears when I find my life full of responsibilities.

As therapists, we direct our efforts toward promoting our clients' mental health and well-being, but the process often works to our own advantage.

Alternative practitioner psychotherapy

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