Abstract
In order to determine the residents’ perceptions toward their psychotherapy training, a questionnaire was distributed to 400 residents in the 16 Canadian psychiatric residency programs. The main areas studied were: i) the resident's demographic and educational characteristics; ii) the residency program characteristics; iii) the type of training available in different psychotherapeutic modalities; iv) the analysis of quality and quantity of attention given to different elements of psychotherapy supervision (patient assessment, diagnostic formulation of treatment approach and goals); v) the degree of importance attributed by the residents to the above mentioned elements of psychotherapy supervision; and vi) the residents’ perception of their supervisor's attributes (examples: teaching ability and rapport).
Forty-two percent of the residents completed the questionnaire. Residents mentioned that the most adequate supervision was for long-term individual psychotherapy cases and that behavioral and group therapy supervision was the least adequate. The three most essential qualities in a supervisor's profile were judged to be: a) capacity for the development of a good rapport with the trainee; b) ability to pinpoint residents’ psychotherapy shortcomings and his willingness to help residents to overcome them; c) ability to teach. Three factors that significantly influenced the trainees perception of their psychotherapy training were: i) resident's age, ii) a seminar in individual psychotherapy in the residency core program; iii) having received more than one hour weekly of psychotherapy supervision. The understanding of patient's psychodynamics was the most adequately taught element during psychotherapy supervision.
The authors discuss briefly some recommendations for the teaching of psychotherapy in Canadian residency programs.