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

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.