The relationship between therapist experience and therapist effectiveness: A semi-qualitative survey of practitioners

A semi-qualitative online survey explored therapists’ views on the relationship between therapist experience and therapist effectiveness following a mixed methods research methodology

Key Information

Creators

Alistair McBeath & Giovanna Bucci

Editors

European Journal of Psychotherapy & Counselling

Date

11 Aug 2026

Subjects

Semi-Qualitative

Extract

A semi-qualitative online survey explored therapists’ views on the relationship between therapist experience and therapist effectiveness following a mixed methods research methodology

It may seem counter intuitive or perhaps rather disconcerting that there is no firm evidence that psychotherapists become more effective as they become more experienced (Tracey et al., 2024). In fact, there is some evidence that psychotherapists become less effective as they become more experienced (Erekson et al., 2017; Goldberg et al., 2016). This lack of a relationship between therapists’ experience and their effectiveness is especially challenging as it is well established that therapists tend to overestimate their clinical effectiveness through self-assessment bias (Walfish et al., 2012). Another relevant but problematic finding is that older, more experienced therapists tend to judge themselves as more effective than younger, less experienced practitioners (Orlinsky & Rønnestad, 2005; Parker & Waller, 2015).