Use and characterization of personal psychotherapy by psychiatrists: Findings from a questionnaire survey in a sample of consultant and trainee psychiatrists in Ireland
Monday, 12 January, 2026
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Congratulations to UCD School of Medicine’s Dr Gráinne Donohue, and colleagues from the HSE, on their recently published research in the British Journal of Psychotherapy. The paper is titled ‘Use and characterization of personal psychotherapy by psychiatrists: Findings from a questionnaire survey in a sample of consultant and trainee psychiatrists in Ireland’. The paper relates to the use and characterisation of psychotherapy in a sample of trainee and consultant psychiatrists.
Abstract
Existing research suggests that personal therapy positively contributes to the continued personal well-being and ongoing professional development of mental health professionals, including psychiatrists. The aim of this research is to examine the use and characterization of personal therapy by consultant and trainee psychiatrists based in Ireland. This included an examination of participants who reported delivering psychotherapeutic interventions and their confidence in these skills. An anonymous survey was designed based on two existing questionnaires used in previous studies. Various recruitment strategies were employed to maximize response. A total of 139 psychiatrists responded to the survey; 44.6% reported having engaged in personal therapy at some point in their lives. Most respondents described their psychotherapy as short-term, supportive and once weekly. Burnout was listed among the top reasons for seeking therapy. By providing new insights into the status of psychotherapy within contemporary psychiatric practice, this study could thus be of interest to psychiatric educators and curriculum developers. For people who present to psychiatric services, psychotherapy still has a critical role in the treatment of mental distress. Psychiatrists therefore need sufficient exposure to and experience of the differing psychotherapy modalities to confidently treat or appropriately refer their patients. Concerningly, only a minority of the participants in this research had confidence in their psychotherapeutic technique, and many indicated only seeking personal psychotherapy when they had reached a crisis of burnout.
Conclusion
By asking a sample of trainee and consultant psychiatrists a series of questions about their self-reported engagement in personal therapy, the provision of psychotherapy to their patients, as well as their self-reported confidence in their psychotherapy skills, this survey is the first to provide important insights in these areas for this cohort of clinicians in Ireland.
Despite the advances in the development and application of pharmacological treatments for those who present to psychiatric services, psychotherapy still has a critical role in the treatment of mental distress. Psychiatrists therefore need sufficient exposure to and experience of the differing psychotherapy modalities to confidently treat or appropriately refer their patients. Concerningly, only a minority of the participants of this research (less than 30%) had confidence in their psychotherapeutic technique, and many indicated only seeking personal psychotherapy when they had reached a crisis of burnout. The authors of this research would suggest that some of the concerns identified in this study would not be as prominent if psychiatry trainees in Ireland had to participate in formal personal therapy and/or receive qualifications in evidence-based psychotherapy training as components of their training programmes.