The role of supervision in preventing burnout among psychotherapists: a pilot study
Chiara Caruso, Mariapaola Costantini, Clarice Mezzaluna
About 2-6% of psychotherapists show burnout symptoms. According to literature, those mainly prone to
this risk are inexperienced therapists and those who work in public facilities. The main source of stress.
among psychotherapists is the negative outcome of therapies, but the most predisposing factor to
burnout is related to difficulties in the therapeutic relationship. A protective factor is essential in order
to prevent burnout syndrome.
The aim of our study is to evaluate the role of supervision in preventing burnout among
psychotherapists. In a group of 44 psychotherapists from public and private facilities and with different
levels of professional experience, burnout and stress were measured by means of the Maslach Burnout
Inventory (MBI) and the Perceived Stress Scales (PSS). The sample was divided into two groups: a group
that participated in clinical supervision activities and a group that did not.
Results indicate that, at the same perceived stress level, the perception of competence increases in
the group of supervised therapists, as shown by the highest score in the personal accomplishment (PA)
subscale of MBI. This result is not influenced by clinical experience.
Keywords
Burnout, Stress, Psychotherapy, Supervision.
