Passionately committed psychotherapists: A qualitative study of their experiences

Twelve peer-nominated psychotherapists were interviewed to provide a rich u nderstanding of their sustained high levels of work commitment. Common them es included creating boundaries between professional and nonprofessional li fe, using leisure activities to provide relief, turning obstacles into chal lenges, finding diverse activities to provide freshness and energy, continu ally seeking feedback and supervision, taking on social responsibilities, a nd experiencing a strong sense of spirituality. Whereas participants did no t differ significantly from norm groups on measures of work salience, job s atisfaction, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization, they reported hig h levels of personal accomplishment and scored in the 99th percentile on op enness to experience.