Published 2025-06-11
Keywords
- Wellness therapists, Lifestyle, Awareness, Quality of life.
How to Cite
Copyright (c) 2025 Nino Geniola, Alessandro Cini, Sara Ballotti, Stefano Roti, Giorgio Gabriele, Angela Verardo
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Scientific research has historically focused on examining patient well-being, dedicating relatively little attention to that of therapists. This gap is particularly significant, as psychotherapists’ well-being is not only essential for their personal quality of life but also for their ability to deliver high-quality therapeutic care. The literature highlights a strong connection between therapists’ mental health and the effectiveness of therapy, influencing both treatment outcomes and patients’ perceptions of care. However, most existing studies have been conducted in Northern Europe and North America, leaving a gap in understanding how these dynamics apply in other contexts.
This study, using a cross-sectional observational research design, aims to explore the factors influencing the perceived well-being of psychotherapists in Italy.
An iterative mixed-methods approach, combining both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, will be employed. This will include a semi-structured questionnaire, an adapted well-being assessment scale tailored to the Italian population, and a survey examining socio-demographic variables. The final sample will consist of 100 therapists representing the main psychotherapy orientations practiced in Italy. The study seeks to identify key factors that shape the perceived well-being of Italian psychotherapists.
References
- McCormack, H. M., MacIntyre, T. E., O'shea, D., Herring, M. P., & Campbell, M. J. (2018). The prevalence and cause (s) of burnout among applied psychologists: A systematic review. Frontiers in psychology, 9, 1897.
- Simionato, G. K., & Simpson, S. (2018). Personal risk factors associated with burnout among psychotherapists: A systematic review of the literature. Journal of clinical psychology, 74(9), 1431-1456.
- Van Hoy, A., & Rzeszutek, M. (2022). Burnout and psychological wellbeing among psychotherapists: A systematic review. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 928191.
- Lee, M. K., Kim, E., Paik, I. S., Chung, J., & Lee, S. M. (2020). Relationship between environmental factors and burnout of psychotherapists: Meta‐analytic approach. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 20(1), 164-172.
- Jimenez, R. R., Andersen, S., Song, H., & Townsend, C. (2021). Vicarious trauma in mental health care providers. Journal of Interprofessional Education & Practice, 24, 100451.
- Heinonen, E., Orlinsky, D. E., Willutzki, U., Rønnestad, M. H., Schröder, T., Messina, I., ... & Hartmann, A. (2022). Psychotherapist trainees’ quality of life: Patterns and correlates. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 864691.
- Linley, P. A., & Joseph, S. (2007). Therapy work and therapists' positive and negative well– being. Journal of Social and clinical Psychology, 26(3), 385-403.
- Posluns, K., & Gall, T. L. (2020). Dear mental health practitioners, take care of yourselves: A literature review on self-care. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, 42(1), 1-20.
- Williams, K. E., & Chambless, D. L. (1990). The relationship between therapist characteristics and outcome of in vivo exposure treatment for agoraphobia. Behavior Therapy, 21(1), 111-116.
- Wogan, M., & Norcross, J. C. (1985). Dimensions of therapeutic skills and techniques: Empirical identification, therapist correlates, and predictive utility. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 22(1), 63.
- Laverdière, O., Kealy, D., Ogrodniczuk, J. S., & Morin, A. J. (2018). Psychological health profiles of Canadian psychotherapists: A wake up call on psychotherapists’ mental health. Canadian Psychology/psychologie canadienne, 59(4), 315.
- Tay, S., Alcock, K., & Scior, K. (2018). Mental health problems among clinical psychologists: Stigma and its impact on disclosure and help‐seeking. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 74(9), 1545-1555.
- Schaffler, Y., Kaltschik, S., Probst, T., Jesser, A., Pieh, C., & Humer, E. (2022). Mental health in Austrian psychotherapists during the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Public Health, 10, 1011539.
- Humer, E., Pammer, B., Schaffler, Y., Kothgassner, O. D., Felnhofer, A., Jesser, A., ... & Probst, T. (2023). Comparison of mental health indicators in clinical psychologists with the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 5050.
- Torcal, M., & Magalhães, P. C. (2009). Political culture in Southern Europe: searching for exceptionalism. Disponível para download em: http://pmdccm.googlepages. com/PoliticalCultureinSouthernEuropemarc.pdf.
- Dunne, C. (2011). The place of the literature review in grounded theory research. International journal of social research methodology, 14(2), 111-124.
- Cummins, R. A., & Lau, A. L. D. (2003, July). An introduction to the international wellbeing group and the international wellbeing index. In Fifth Conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, Frankfurt, Germany.
- Hyland, M. E., & Sodergren, S. C. (1996). Development of a new type of global quality of life scale, and comparison of performance and preference for 12 global scales. Quality of Life Research, 5, 469-480.
- World Health Organization. (1998). Regional Office for Europe Wellbeing measures in primary health care: the Depcare Project. In Report on a WHO Meeting.
- Ruini, C., Ottolini, F., Rafanelli, C., Ryff, C. D., & Fava, G. A. (2003). La validazione italiana delle Psychological Well-being Scales (PWB). Rivista di psichiatria, 38(3), 117-130.