The Job Quality of Psychotherapists in the Polish Socio-Institutional Context: The Subjective Dimension

Justyna Zielińska

doi:10.18778/1733-8069.21.4.09

Authors

Justyna Zielińska Maria Grzegorzewska University, Warsaw, Poland https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6645-023X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8069.21.4.09

Keywords:

psychotherapists, work, job quality, coping strategies, mental health

Abstract

This article examines the job quality of psychotherapists from the perspective of the sociology of work. Given the increasing demand for mental health services, psychotherapists are classified as ‘essential workers’. The study explores the subjective dimension of job quality, the tensions and challenges that psychotherapists experience in their work, and the coping strategies they adopt to improve their job quality. The findings reveal a dual labor market, where subjective job quality in the private sector is significantly higher than in the public sector. Publicsector psychotherapists face excessive bureaucracy and control, relatively low wages, and high work intensity, which leads them to transition to the private sector.

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Author Biography

Justyna Zielińska, Maria Grzegorzewska University, Warsaw, Poland

PhD, Assistant Professor in the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Maria Grzegorzewska University. Her research interests include the sociology of work and organizations, social classes, social inequalities, and the sociology of social change.

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