Dear Trainees, Take Care of Yourselves: A Guide to Surviving Clinical Psychology

Abstract

The training system in clinical psychology in Spain is a process that will test the adaptability of trainees to the limit, especially if they do not have adequate supervision and institutional support. Aware of this issue, the present paper aims to normalize the complexity of training as a clinical psychologist in Spain, placing special emphasis on the first steps as a trainee in the Spanish National Health System and on the personal challenges involved. Moreover, it seeks to increase sensitivity and awareness about the importance of establishing measures that enable trainees to survive clinical psychology. Therefore, the state of the art on the topic of self-care within the field of clinical psychology and psychotherapy is discussed from the perspective that better trained specialists will improve the National Health System and mental health care for the most vulnerable people.