Belief systems of psychotherapists

The frequently discussed question of ideological influences on psychotherapy clients is treated in a differentiated way. We constructed a questionnaire in order to investigate "beliefs" of psychotherapists, not only in the restricted sense of religious attitudes, and their effects in a therapeutic context. For practical reasons we confined ourselves to all persons who were registered in the directory of Munich as practising psychotherapists. We dispatched 232 questionnaires, approximately 31% of them came back and could be evaluated. Some important points our of the varied results are worth mentioning: 93,2 percent of our sample stated that they believed in something going beyond the results of empirical sciences. Roughly 74% were convinced of a transcendental reality either personal or otherwise; approximately two thirds conceded its significance with respect to therapeutic activities. - Comparing the responses themselves reveals inconstistencies, some of them impressive. Finally the results were discussed regarding the general importance of "beliefs" in psychotherapy.