Emotions, virtue, and meaning in therapeutic practice: Why psychotherapists choose to leave or stay in their profession

January 2025 – December 2026

Supervisors

• Main supervisor: Professor Anne Austad, VID Specialized University
• Co-supervisor: Associate Professor Hege Sjølie, VID Specialized University

About the project

This doctoral project focuses on psychotherapists who have either chosen to leave their clinical profession due to occupational burdens, or who have chosen to stay despite the challenges they face. Practicing psychotherapy involves daily exposure to suffering and significant individual responsibility for the treatment one provides. This can be deeply meaningful and personally enriching when it leads to positive outcomes, but also disillusioning and burdensome when it does not.

Where previous research has typically examined similar phenomena from a health perspective, emphasizing concepts such as burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary traumatization, my project aims to illuminate emotional and ethical issues that may threaten therapists’ sense of meaning in their work. The study will also explore how different therapeutic ideals may influence the subjective experience of inadequacy in the therapist role.

My project has an interdisciplinary theoretical framework informed by psychology, existential philosophy, and virtue ethics. By analyzing qualitative in-depth interviews from a phenomenological perspective, I will explore the interplay between values, ideals, perceived meaning, and professional practice in therapeutic work.

On a broader level, the purpose of the project is to shed light on work-related burdens in a way that may be helpful for new or aspiring psychotherapists, as well as educators, supervisors, educational institutions, and employers working in the mental health field.

Background

• Clinical psychology degree (UiO)
• Bachelor’s degree in philosophy (UiO)

Research group

Existential perspectives in research and practice (EXIST)