title: How does practicing psychotherapy affect the personal life of the therapist? A qualitative inquiry of senior therapists' experiences.
abstract: To investigate how psychotherapists' lives and relationships are influenced by their work.
  
  
  
  Twelve senior psychotherapists took part in qualitative interviews.
  
  
  
  Thematic analysis yielded four significant themes: (i) it has been a privilege to know and contribute, and to be allowed to grow personally; (ii) facing suffering and destructiveness has been a burden; (iii) being a therapist has had an impact on my personal relationships-for better and worse; and (iv) I have needed to construct a way of living that allowed me to continue to do the work.
  
  
  
  Working as a therapist seem to imply a potential for developing openness, tolerance, and creativity, while being vulnerable to becoming overwhelmed with responsibility and feelings of inadequacy, isolation, and despair.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of Oslo , Oslo , Norway.
authors.forename: Marit
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Råbu
authors.affiliation: b Department of Psychiatry , District General Hospital of Førde , Førde , Norway.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Moltu
authors.affiliation: c Department of Clinical Psychology , University of Bergen , Bergen , Norway.
authors.forename: Per-Einar
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Binder
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of Oslo , Oslo , Norway.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McLeod
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011613:Psychotherapy; D036301:Qualitative Research
keywords: experienced psychotherapists; qualitative inquiry; self-care; therapist development