Belastungserleben bei Psychotherapeuten -Unterschiede zwischen Therapieverfahren und Berufsgruppen-

Main question: Are there gender differences and differences between therapy methods in the experience of chronic stress (psychoanalysis, depth psychology, behavioural therapy) among psychological psychotherapists (N=227)? Primary measurement tool: Trier Inventory for Chronic Stress (TICS), (Schulz, Schlotz&Becker, 2004). Secondary questions: Are there differences within these groups with regard to occupationally-specific burnout (MBI, Heimerl, 2004), occupationally-specific job satisfaction (BZF, Jungo, 1998) and quality of life (SF-12, Bullinger&Kirchberger, 1998)? Further question: Are there differences in these respects between clinical and psychological depth psychologists (N=130)? Differences were analysed using multivariate variance analysis. The study was conducted in April 2007. Findings: Behavioural therapists experience chronic stress induced by exterior working conditions to a greater extent than depth psychologists do. Female psychotherapists show stronger traits of chronic worrying than male psychotherapists do. Clinical psychotherapists experience stress induced not only by external working conditions, but also by the framework within which their profession is practised, to a greater extent than their psychological colleagues do. Conclusion: Chronic stress among psychological psychotherapists is more likely to be caused extrinsically by the working conditions under which psychotherapy financed by sickness funds is practised than intrinsically by the psychotherapeutic work itself. These findings are relevant for the improvement of quality assurance systems, for the training curriculum for psychotherapists, for the main foci of supervision and for future research, e.g. on the impact of chronic worrying on therapeutic interactions.