Use and characterization of personal psychotherapy by psychiatry residents

The authors evaluated psychiatry resident participation in and description of personal psychotherapy, reasons for being in psychotherapy, and barriers to personal psychotherapy.

All 14 program directors for programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware provided e-mail addresses for current categorical residents. The authors e-mailed a voluntary, anonymous, 10-min survey to residents through www.SurveyMonkey.com . The survey inquired about time spent in various aspects of training, value assigned to aspects of training, residents' involvement in their own psychotherapy, reasons for being in or not being in therapy, and overall resident wellness.

Of the 328 residents e-mailed, 133 (40.5 %) replied to the survey, of which 34 (26.5 %) were in personal psychotherapy. Most residents described their psychotherapy as psychodynamic, once weekly, and located in a private practice not affiliated with the resident's academic center. Approximately half (49 %) were in treatment with a social worker (MSW, LCSW) or psychologist (PhD or PsyD). "Self-awareness and understanding" was the most commonly reported primary and contributing reason for being in psychotherapy. Close to half of the respondents (44.5 %) listed personal stress, substance dependence, mood, anxiety, or other psychiatric symptoms as the primary reason for seeking personal psychotherapy. The most common reasons for not entering psychotherapy were time and finances. Residents who were in personal psychotherapy valued personal psychotherapy as more important to training than residents who were not in personal psychotherapy. Half of all respondents reported that their program recommends psychotherapy.

Far fewer residents responding to the survey reported being in psychotherapy than residents from some previous surveys. A continuing discussion of whether and how to accommodate personal psychotherapy in the training and education of psychiatry residents by psychiatry educators is warranted.