Comments on the Professional Life of the Psychotherapist

IN THESE COMMENTS I shall refer briefly to some aspects of the professional life of the psychotherapist that may become so intertwined with his personal life that occasionally may seem to become indistinguishable from it. I shall refer to what I consider to be some of the hazards of this profession, certain of its more satisfying attributes, and a few of the routes that may lead to it. The focus will be on "coping, " which is not to disregard the often creative function of that process.

The word coping means to engage in a contest or combat, successfully, or at least on even terms, or more generally, to overcome problems and difficulties. In the dictionary are listed other meanings: to meet or encounter (archaic) and to come in contact with (obsolete). All of these meanings are applicable to our work. We encounter, and come in contact with, not only the known aspects of our patients, but with distorted and hitherto hidden parts of their personalities; and in turn further revelations of ourselves are produced. Therapy is a journey of meetings, each one different from the other in many respects, and leading to further explorations of which there may seem to be no end. Some of what we do suggests, at times a combat or contest, in that there may be the arousal of anxiety, anger, fear, doubt, a wish to retreat and abandon the field, and a determination to conquer—strange emotions to be associated with what, from one point of view, is thought of as the application of treatment to someone who is sick. More commonly we use the word to denote our meeting with the vicissitudes of existence, and dealing with them adequately to gain some understanding of them, to maintain a degree of separateness and objectivity while involved with them, and to be able to evaluate our own capacities and talents