FAMILY IDEAL AND FAMILY REALITY OF PSYCHOTHERAPISTS

Psychotherapists live in a conflicting area between the image of a fam ily ideal and family reality which is marked by actual and previous ex periences. The role and function in one's own family of origin quite o ften influence the choice of profession and personal life career. Alth ough the psychotherapeutic profession leaves much scope to find a comp romise between professional and family life it is not as easy for fema le psychotherapists to realize a family model which equally fits for b oth spouses. Three kinds of family models are presented. Furthermore, the positive and negative implications of the psychotherapeutic profes sion on the marital and family relationships are discussed. Psychother apists should pay attention to their personal relationships as much as to the therapeutic relationship of their patients during their profes sional training.