The Influence of Growth Mindset of Therapists on the Adoption of Online Technologies for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Abstract

In a quest to narrow down my research on the topic of mindset, I decided to focus on those kinds of people who help others with their mindset and mental health but rarely receive attention on their own state of mind: psychologists. I selected 10 therapists and coaches and asked them questions about their business and career to assess how their growth mindset had impacted one of the most challenging two years we have faced in the past decades. Carol Dweck’s concept of mindset builds the basis for this thesis and how the questions were selected. I found important differences between those who worked for someone else during the past two years and those who are self-employed. The latter group of people usually had a much more defined internal thought management system. Those who worked as employees, often relied on their colleagues and peer group – so external feedback and help – to succeed in their work and manage the new online environment successfully. Whereas the employed psychologists would here and there cancel sessions if they did not feel fit enough, that almost did not seem to be an option for those who are self-employed. In fact, they did not just view it as a job, but they had incorporated well-being and good mindset practices into their whole life. They saw this as an accelerator to how they show up for their clients and how well they could get their work done. While their responses do not give a final answer to the topic of mindset, they lay a foundation for further work.