Is your T in therapy?

My T is a seasoned professional and a supervisor. He had many years of psychoanalysis and said it is imperative a therapist should do their own work before/during working with others. He has had a thirty-year relationship with his analyst, private and professional, and I think he does consult him if need be.

My former T told me she was currently in therapy. Unfortunately it didn't help the whole thing to blow up but I suspect that I triggered something and that normally she's a good therapist. The current one is a psychoanalyst and, though I didn't ask him if he's currently seeing a therapist, it seems like he really does manage to keep his own problems out of the room.

I asked my T. He was in therapy, but not at the moment. However, I know when he's had 'supervision' as he seems just slightly different. He laughs at me when I point it out to him! I was right on the two occasions that I pointed it out to him. We aren't daft are we!!!

I have no idea and don't really care if she is/was or not. My T really seems to have her crap together - even my pdoc commented on it. He once said that he really likes my T and thinks she's very effective because she has her own stuff in order and lots of T's don't.

I do know that she has a weekly consulting group of other therapists in the area. She meets with 3 other T's to discuss cases and their work. Since my T is in private practice, she does not have a supervisor.

My T goes to a T on and off, thankfully. I can't imagine a T not seeing a T of their own. They are human of course, plus, they carry a lot of feelings and emotions from us patients/clients (well, the good ones do at least).

No, but sometimes i tell her need to be because she is as crazy as they come.

Too funny!

No clue. But she should be because she has to deal with me on a weekly basis.

I have no idea if my T has been in therapy. My pdoc once told me that everyone in the field has issues and that's why they choose the field. So that leads me to assume he may have had therapy at some point. I think he may have had some marriage counseling too. Either way it doesn't matter to me at all. I think it's a huge plus though, since I think it's important to know what it's like to sit on both sides of the chair, so to speak.

Regarding it being a requirement, in Massachusetts supervision is required in Psychology counseling programs, but therapy is not. I do know psychoanalysts have to be in analysis themselves as part of the training. But that's a separate certification that isn't even offered at any universities in my state.

I have two friends with a practice. One was NOT in therapy and it mattered. He often had his personal issues manifest in counter-transference with his clients.
It was clear to all his colleagues that his personal stuff was interfering with his practice. My friend called him out on it and he quit talking to her for a while. He finally admitted later her needed a therapist himself.

Thing is, people in the field know and respect that everyone in this profession needs someone to talk to themselves. Nobody is totally together in this world and many people who are drawn tip Psychology are drawn because of their own issues or their family issues, etc.

If a therapist is any good at their job, they will know what it's like too deal with some of the same stuff their clients are going through, they Will CARE about their clients. They will be emotionally affected to some degree and need something to keep their own stuff out of that space.

I would commend a T who also sees one. If you really think about their job, they listen to peoples problems all day long, and hear some pretty horrific stories. How could this not affect them even a little bit? They are also trained to handle it, but I'm sure it's still not easy. So I would bet, even if just to confide in a colleague (speaking in general terms, of course), it wouldn't be all that unrealistic for a T to also have one. I know my T is taking her child to a T, so I'm guessing she's probably going with her for that. I can see how a T surely can't try to treat their own child/family member. So I would think highly of a T who consults with a T of their own as needed. Aside from her child, I don't know if my T has a T or not, but I imagine by the time she's done with me, she'll need one! LOL

My t told me once that one of the reasons she's got her own t is to make sure she keeps "her stuff" out of "my stuff". I said "That sounds like it could be crazy-hard!" She replied "Crazy fun!" lol

The healthiest and best therapist I saw had never been in therapy and had a pretty normal upbringing and didn't have mental health issues. He helped me more than anyone ever has in my life. I don't need a therapist who has overcome major issues or gone through therapy. It just doesn't mean anything to me. I prefer that a therapist lives a balanced life and uses healthy coping skills instead of seeing someone.

I also think there are many professions who deal with much worse situations who probably would benefit from therapy, but we rarely talk about that in society. ER staff and police officers and EMS workers actually see trauma and deal with horrible things in real time. I think it would be much easier to deal with clients whose traumas are in the past. I worked in a psychiatric hospital for a year and hearing about trauma didn't really affect me negatively. I felt bad for people, but it wasn't something I let myself dwell on.

My therapist is of the opinion that it would be impossible to work as a T if they had not been through therapy themselves, if only to know from the inside what it is like to be in the client's chair. That sounds like too much of a generalisation to me, and I'm sure that it is possible to be a great T without that experience (as well as a crappy T with that experience), but all the same I'm glad that he does know what it is like. Where I live it is required that therapists in training go through therapy themselves, in order to get a licence, so it's not actually an issue whether they have done it or not.

I don't know whether he is currently in therapy, but he has never given any indication of having unresolved issues of his own that impact on my therapy.

I don't know, and I don't need to know. She has good coping and self-care strategies, which we discuss frequently both as mothers to young children and medical professionals. But whether she developed those in her own therapy or elsewhere, I don't know.

I do know that she did go through a full Mindfulness Based Sress Reduction program a few years ago.

Fairly sure that T only see's her now for "maintenance doses", but I do know that she has one. We also suffer with similar problems (she doesn't go into detail), so I think that, as someone prior mentioned, that being on both sides of the fence does seem to make her more patient and effective at what she does.

I know mine wasn't in therapy and hadn't been since her training...

My T has supervision and I know has done therapy as part of his licensing. I know he also went after a client died. He doesn't have a mental health issue though so I don't think he does therapy like he "needs" to do therapy.

That being said, I personally would rather not see a therapist who has to have regular therapy themselves. Supervision is one thing. Idk. Just my hang up I think.

I am the same way. I don't want a therapist who is in therapy. Just my personal preference.

Yeah. I think it very much depends upon the individual. I would not want to see a T who currently needed to be in therapy. I preferred a T who had been through the process as a way of developing deep self-knowledge, rather than because of past MI issues. That said, when exposed to or involved in a crisis, I think it would be wise for any T to seek a consult. And I think all Ts should be involved in some sort of supervision as long as they are in practice, whether that is a peer-to-peer consulting group, an employment based group, an occasional as needed peer or supervisory consult, or full on supervisory work. I think it's particularly important for Ts in their first few years of practice. But supervision is not therapy--the two have different goals and are not interchangeable; but both offer a layer of protection for clients.

I don't know if he is. Maybe I'll ask sometime? If so, I'd be fine with it and probably even relieved. I think 90% of the population could use some form of counseling. How many people actually grew up in a loving, nurturing, functional environment without having faced real problems?

She was but not anymore.

I don't know. My T did mention that she was in a very bad place once when her husband passed away but she wasn't aware of getting help. I can imagine though that she got counselling at some point.

As a therapist I feel much safer being in therapy. It keeps me and my mind healthy and therefore is of great benefit to my clients. It's a tough job as we have to manage so many (unconscious) projections. I stand a better chance of knowing what belongs to me and what is the clients. We can never stop learning about ourselves so the work is never done. I would personally never see a therapist who had never had their own transferential therapy.
I also have supervision - it is compulsory here.
Moon

I highly doubt mine is. My T served as other people's supervisor and he is now on the cusp of retirement. It doesn't matter to me as I know he has a lot of experience and he keeps himself out of the therapy room. He's always put me first.