Professional psychology: Research and practice. (Journal file).

Dlugos, R. F., & Friedlander, M. L. (2001).

Passionately committed psychotherapists: A qualitative study of their experiences Vol. 32(3), 298-304

The authors performed a qualitative study on a group of 12 peer nominated psychotherapists who were known as having a long lasting, high level of commitment. They defined passionate commitment as the characteristic associated with people being invigorated by their work, instead of being drained by it. Diugos and Friedlander discovered common themes for the psychotherapists in their study. Among the common themes were firm boundaries separating professional and personal life, leisure activities outside of the realm of psychotherapy, and a strong sense of spirituality. Other themes mentioned were strong use of supervision and taking on social responsibility. An overall stance influenced by a strong personal, spiritual life seems to be a major factor in developing a balance between maintaining a passionate psychotherapy practice and a personal life.

The qualitative analyses of the psychotherapists' narratives were categorized into four major categories: Balance, Adaptiveness and Openness, Transcendence and Humility, and Intentional Learning. Balance seems to have been achieved primarily by allowing for personal endeavors outside of work including non-professional activities. Moreover, the importance of relaxation, including vacations, tends to be a crucial component of balanced practices. Certainly, a spiritual component of humans is to allow oneself to be cared for in order to care for others.

Adaptiveness and Openness most directly speak to a mindset that allows for challenges and using creativity to overcome these challenges. This is in contrast to many who find themselves overwhelmed by professional and personal circumstances. These findings show that the psychotherapists in this study had a strong awareness of how their own spiritual life contributed to their clinical work. Also, the subjects had awareness of just how "spiritual" psychotherapy is. This spiritual emphasis seems to have contributed to individual practices, as well as a greater awareness of societal and cultural plights of humans. This social awareness played a major role in the psychotherapists' activities in impacting societal concerns as a part of their practice.

Finally, this study shows that supervision is very important in maintaining the above factors. Proper use of supervision reinforces the fascination with human development and change. This fascination fuels continued, meaningful work in the field of psychology.

The authors close the article with a summary of how this particular study can impact other psychotherapists. Among the many points of impact noted, they note how it is important to focus on "developing interests in activities unrelated to work as a therapist and paying attention to one's spiritual discipline and development" (p. 304). Further, this spiritual perspective is "as crucial, if nor more crucial, than pursuing professional avenues of achievement" (p. 304).