Does your therapist have a therapist?
Short answer… I hope so! More than 80% of therapists across disciplines have experienced therapy themselves at some point, whether this is during their training or during their practice. I believe it’s very beneficial, sometimes crucial, for therapists to have their own therapist. It can really impact their clinical effectiveness, self-awareness and emotional regulation. Let’s unpack this…
How do you predict how effective a therapist will be?
Experience?
Training?
Age?
Surprisingly, none of these are shown to be consistent measures of therapist success. The biggest factors that influence how effective a therapist is are actually…
Their own experience of therapy
The rapport/relationship they build with the client (this is the biggest one)
People who have had therapy are more aware of their personal triggers, biases and emotional reactions. This greater self-awareness helps therapists manage countertransference.
Countertransference is when their own unresolved emotions influence the therapeutic relationship or process.
Therapists in therapy are able to stay more present with the client, without being flooded by their own emotions. They could be dealing with stress, a break-up, grief, but regardless, still need to show up for their client in a mindset of empathy and genuine warmth. There is evidence that therapists who have had personal therapy report higher levels of these interpersonal qualities believed to facilitate change.
By actually being a client, therapists gain insight into what it feels like to struggle with change, be vulnerable, how to navigate the therapeutic relationship and ultimately, how a good therapist feels versus a less helpful one.
In more fancy words, research highlights that therapists report personal therapy helps them internalize the experience of being a client and understand relational dynamics more deeply, which they then bring into their work.
Therapists often struggle with compassion fatigue, burnout and second-hand trauma. If these are not addressed, it will impact the alliance/relationship with their client. Which we know is the strongest predictor of success in therapy!
Simply having more years of clinical experience does not reliably result in better client outcomes.
Who the therapist is (their personal experiences, skills, relational capacity and self-reflection) matters more than how long they’ve been practicing. Therefore, personal development experiences like therapy could matter more than time in being a therapist themselves.
Personally, I can deeply relate to this. Over the years I have been in…
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Sex Therapy
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Integrative Counselling
Solution Focused Hypnotherapy
Couples Therapy
Through every experience of therapy I have learnt more about myself, my beliefs, boundaries, reactions, how I process and grow. I’ve been with my current therapist Dan for over 16 months now, and I love how he challenges my thoughts and builds self-compassion. I check in with him every 3-4 weeks, in addition to group supervision sessions with the hypnotherapists who trained me.
In conclusion, don’t be afraid to ask your therapist if they have a therapist, or what their personal experience of therapy is. It might be more important than their years in practice.
