Psychological well-being in therapists who are members of the UK Complex Trauma Institute

Article type: Research Article

Authors:

Alison Kelly-Delaney

Affiliation: Independent Clinical Practice, United Kingdom

Dzmitry Karpuk

Affiliation: Complex Trauma Institute, United Kingdom

Jonathan Egan

Affiliation: Independent Researcher, Ireland

Abstract

Therapists working within the role of professional care-giving for survivors of trauma

can experience an impact to their health and well-being. The emotionally demanding

nature of the role can lead to implications on professional quality of life and the

manifestation of body-centred countertransference (BCT). These implications may

be exacerbated when the therapist has personal experiences of childhood trauma

and an insecure attachment style. The aim of the present study was to examine the

relationship between childhood trauma and therapist outcomes of burnout and BCT.

A cross-sectional survey of 192 trauma therapists was carried out online wherein

participants completed a number of self-report measures. Hierarchical regression

analyses were conducted. Results indicated that psychological distress and insecure

attachment styles predicted trauma therapists’ reported scores of burnout as

measured by the Professional Quality of Life Questionnaire. BCT was significantly

predicted by anxiety, psychoform and somatoform dissociation, and childhood

emotional abuse. The study findings and clinical implications are discussed, and

suggestions for future research are indicated.

Keywords: body-centred countertransference, attachment, childhood trauma,

burnout

Published by the Complex Trauma Institute under the Creative Commons

Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Published in: Perspectives on Complex Trauma

Volume 6, Issue 1 (2025)

ISSN 2635-0807

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