Wellbeing in Psychological Therapy Trainees

Owen, Joel (2025) Wellbeing in Psychological Therapy Trainees. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

Psychological Therapy Trainees (PTTs) experience a range of stressors and are vulnerable to high stress, and low wellbeing. The implications of poor wellbeing in this population are significant, with negative consequences for service delivery, workforce sustainability, and practitioner mental health. There is therefore a significant case for better understanding and supporting wellbeing in this population.

The purpose of this thesis was to explore wellbeing in PTTs, and to develop an intervention designed to support it. A mixed-methods approach was used, and findings were integrated in an attempt to provide a comprehensive answer to the questions of the PhD as a whole. Chapter 3 reports a systematic review of psychological interventions to support wellbeing in trainees. Chapter 4 reports a qualitative interview study designed to explore the experience of wellbeing during training in depth. In Chapter 6, the process and outcome of collaborating with stakeholders in the design of a tailored wellbeing intervention are reported. Finally, in Chapter 7, a mixed-methods acceptability and feasibility evaluation of the developed intervention is reported.

Together, findings indicate that interventions designed to support trainee wellbeing are valued by trainees, and can be effective. However, the centrality of connecting with personal values to how trainees described experiencing wellbeing suggests that earlier research focussing exclusively on reducing negative correlates of wellbeing (e.g. stress/anxiety) may have missed important parts of the picture.

Preliminary evidence indicates that the intervention developed here was well-received, and showed signals of efficacy. Next steps should involve a formal pilot study designed to trial the intervention at a larger scale, across multiple sites, and testing the acceptability and feasibility of randomising trainees ahead of a full-scale trial. To understand the potential of the developed intervention to 4 address core policy goals around staff wellbeing, economic evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of the intervention is also required.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
Depositing User:	Amy Millward-Doherty
Date Deposited:	27 Aug 2026 08:57
Last Modified:	27 Aug 2026 08:57
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/104343
DOI:

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