The person treating you has been in your shoes. How long depends on the procedure.
The differences between the procedures are greater than most practice websites let on. And what happens during your studies has little to do with what you might expect.
Self-experience means that anyone who wants to provide psychotherapeutic treatment to others must first undergo therapy themselves. In psychodynamic training, this primarily takes the form of individual self-experience—also known as training therapy—supplemented by a set portion of group work.
The dictionary defines the term more broadly: it refers to any experience a person has with themselves. In the psychotherapy based on depth psychology It refers to something more specific, namely a prescribed portion of the training program measured in hours.
The Licensing Regulations, which have governed the degree program since September 1, 2020, do not use the term “self-awareness” even once. The term used there is “self-reflection”: integrated into the curriculum through seminars and practical exercises, with a minimum of two ECTS credits required during the master’s program.
Two ECTS credits represent just one module among many. If you want to know how much work your therapist has done on her own, ask about her continuing education. Your degree says little about that.
The practitioner's emotions are part of the process. The Psychotherapy Guidelines explicitly defines depth psychology-based psychotherapy as a form of treatment that takes into account transference, countertransference, and resistance. The therapist’s own reaction is thus the focus of the work, rather than a disruptive factor.
One's own feelings during treatment, which Countertransference, are inevitable and diagnostically valuable. The key is being able to distinguish between what comes from within and is part of one's own history, and what this patient triggers.
Those who are aware of their own patterns can purposefully use their own reactions in the therapeutic relationship as a source of information. This protects patients and, at the same time, provides insight into the other person’s internalized relationship patterns.
In my experience, that is exactly what I gain from my own therapy: the ability to distinguish between my own feelings and thoughts and those that may be triggered by the person I'm interacting with. It also helps me put myself in other people's shoes.
Between 100 and 330 sessions, depending on the approach. One session lasts 45 minutes. Unlike in many counseling professions, this is mandatory in psychotherapy.
| Procedure | Self-Awareness in Continuing Education |
|---|---|
| Analytical Psychotherapy | 250 individual sessions and 80 group sessions |
| Psychodynamic Psychotherapy | 125 units, 80 of which are in the group |
| behavioral therapy | 100 units, 80 of which are in the group |
| Systemic Therapy | 100 units, 80 of which are in the group |
The proportion of group sessions is the same for all four approaches. The entire difference lies in the individual setting: in terms of units, analytical psychotherapy accounts for 250, depth psychology-based psychotherapy for 45, and behavioral therapy for 20. This is exactly the order in which transference and countertransference play a role in the three approaches.
These figures apply to continuing education, which, since the reform of the Psychotherapist Act, follows a degree program and licensure. Those who completed the previous training program are subject to the 1998 Training and Examination Regulations: 120 hours for all methods alike.
It wasn't until the training program was updated that the breakdown by procedure was introduced. A direct comparison of the two figures is misleading because the old regulation refers to hours, while the new one refers to 45-minute units. The old training program will continue until September 1, 2032, and in exceptional cases until August 31, 2035.
Only recognized facilitators are permitted, and recognition is contingent upon independence. Even the old regulation excluded from leading self-awareness sessions anyone who is related to the candidate or to whom she is economically or professionally dependent. The Medical Licensing Regulations take the same approach regarding the degree program: the exam must be administered by someone who did not teach the module.
The reason is obvious. During therapy, people discuss things they wouldn't want to reveal to someone who will later have a say in whether they're admitted to the exam.
Less certainty than the numbers suggest. There has been no rigorous research into whether self-awareness improves treatment outcomes. The number of hours specified in a continuing education program indicates the amount of effort someone has put in—and nothing else.
Still, I think that the better a therapist understands herself, the better she can treat her patients. That's my position, and there isn't much research on the subject.
I find that therapists who have had little or no personal therapy themselves come across as disoriented and helpless. They often hide behind advice and theories. Their patterns of experience often remain unprocessed, and as a result, they are unable to cope with certain emotions that arise during therapy.
Feel free to ask. When it comes to how much therapy someone has undergone, it's not so much the number of hours or years that matters as the way the question is handled.
Yes, self-awareness training is mandatory in both the traditional training program and today's continuing education programs. The scope varies depending on the approach.
Yes, and most people answer that question without hesitation. Even those who dodge the question are, in a way, giving you an answer.
Because she works with patterns that have developed over the years, and because the experience of the space is part of it. Anyone who has gone through this process knows what she’s asking of you.
"Teaching analysis" is the term used in psychoanalysis, while "teaching therapy" is the term used in depth psychology. Both refer to individual self-exploration. The group component is included in both approaches.
