SELF-EVALUATION OF PSYCHOTHERAPEUTIC COMPETENCE

The authors investigated the process of change of self-evaluation of t herapeutic competence in psychotherapists enrolled in a postgraduate t raining programme of psychotherapy. An analysis of the relationships b etween self-evaluated therapeutic skills and level or stage of formal training was performed. The results of this study suggest that a highe r level of self-evaluated therapeutic skill among applicants was follo wed by a decline in self-evaluation as the training progressed, and a gradual increase in self-evaluation towards the end of formal training . The findings reveal a curvilinear pattern of change which suggests s pecific internal cognitive/emotional processes leading to the formatio n of a professional self-image as a psychotherapist.