Self-evaluation of psychotherapeutic competence.

The authors investigated the process of change of self-evaluation of therapeutic competence in psychotherapists enrolled in a postgraduate training programme of psychotherapy. An analysis of the relationships between self-evaluated therapeutic skills and level or stage of formal training was performed. The results of this study suggest that a higher level of self-evaluated therapeutic skill among applicants was followed by a decline in self-evaluation as the training progressed, and a gradual increase in self-evaluation towards the end of formal training. The findings reveal a curvilinear pattern of change which suggests specific internal cognitive/emotional processes leading to the formation of a professional self-image as a psychotherapist.