Abstract
Positive and negative effects that impact clinical psychologists who provide psychotherapy and counseling are subjects of recent debate. In this study, 204 clinical psychologists determined the most impactful cases in their clinical history, and their sense of personal growth resulting from these experiences was examined in relation to distress felt due to these cases. Factor analysis determined parameters representing clinical psychologist's distress and personal growth and scales measuring distress and growth were developed to assess the relationship between these two concepts. A positive correlation between distress and growth was found, which along with multiple regression analysis results showing that distress promotes growth, indicates that distress and growth can coexist and that growth can emerge during processing of the impact of client interaction. In terms of individual subfactors, change in behavior associated with relationships in the growth scale was positively correlated with distress, and fatigue, while anxiety in the distress scale was positively correlated with growth. Dislike of clients had no significant correlations. In terms of attributional variables, length of time from therapy termination promoted growth, while client age inhibited growth. However, a low coefficient of determination indicates further study into the subjective elements that influence growth is warranted.
