Psychotherapy training in postgraduate psychiatry training in Nigeria – Are we doing enough?

Abstract

Introduction: Nigeria, with an estimated 40 million people living with mental disorders, faces a critical shortage of psychiatrists to address the significant burden. Despite psychotherapy being integral to psychiatric training, it lacks structure, consistency and adequate supervision. This is alarming, particularly given the substantial demand for specialized psychotherapeutic support among those with mental illness. Methodology: A cross-sectional study utilised an online survey targeting early career psychiatrists recruited from the Early Career Psychiatrists section of the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria. Results:The questionnaire was distributed to 252 early career psychiatrists across Nigeria, with a 42.9% response rate, of which 50% were male, with 73.2% trainees and 26.8% early career psychiatrists. While 52.8% had received some psychotherapy training, only 2.8% were qualified psychotherapists. Notably, only 27.6% of those with psychotherapy training had over 100 hours of training. Factors such as receiving psychotherapy training during postgraduate training and having supervised psychotherapy training were found significant for having independent psychotherapy training. Conclusions: There is little emphasis on psychotherapy training in the postgraduate training in Nigeria. Those who had full training in psychotherapy were self-sponsored. Structured, supervised and mandatory psychotherapy within psychiatry training curriculum is recommended. Impact statement Global best practices promote the training of psychiatry trainees in various techniques of psychotherapy and its incorporation into the training curriculum, hence the need to assess the extent and factors associated with the completion of psychotherapy training among early career psychiatrists (ECPs). Almost half of the ECPs in Nigeria had some form of psychotherapy training, however, only a few had full psychotherapy training. This study reveals the need for the inclusion of mandatory psychotherapy in the current psychiatry training curriculum, which will consequently improve psychiatric practice and decrease the treatment gap in mental healthcare. This inclusion will go a long way in improving the quality of holistic care delivered to mental health patients by ECPs.