The stresses of psychotherapeutic work: a replication and extension

Abstract

The present study represents a replication and extension of a recent investigation of the patterns of stresses in psychotherapeutic work. A sample of 227 licensed psychologists who were practicing in Northern California were administered two Likert-type rating scales, which were expanded versions of questionnaires originally developed by Farber and Heifitz (1981). Factor analysis of the data revealed that the stressful aspects of therapeutic work include maintaining the therapeutic relationship, scheduling difficulties, professional doubt, work overinvolvement, and feeling personally depleted. In addition, stressful patient behaviors were found to cluster into five distinct categories: Expressions of negative affect, resistances, psychopathological symptoms, suicidal threats, and passive-aggressive behaviors. Demonstration of the empirical generalizability of the factor structure and of the relative importance of stressful therapeutic events argues for the usefulness of the extended versions of The Therapeutic Stresses and Stressful Patient Behaviors rating scales.