Early reflections on becoming a therapist: Development of reflective practice in clinical training programmes in an Australian context

Abstract

The development of competent counsellors, psychotherapists and psychologists depends upon not only the clinical competencies, but also the development of the person as the psychotherapist. This qualitative study investigated the experiences of twenty provisional psychologists enrolled in a university-based clinical psychology training programme. Participants were requested to write reflective essays describing their experiences in relation to their first year of training. Utilising an interpretative phenomenological approach methodology, three superordinate themes were identified: beginning awareness and internalisation of the role of the therapist, therapy as an inter-subjective experience, and personal transformation. Themes encompassed a range of key areas identified by trainee therapists as central to their development as reflective practitioners. Findings from this study may contribute to the small but growing literature base explicating the early lived experience of being a therapist working from an integrative framework. The findings contribute to our knowledge of the critical elements involved in fostering the theoretical, practical and reflective processes involved in becoming a competent therapist. K E Y W O R D S psychotherapy, training, reflective practice, psychological practice, IPA | 389 ROBINSON et al.

Becoming existential counselors: Co/autoethnography of students’ identity formation

“…The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs requires the incorporation of self‐evaluation and personal reflection in preparing CIT to enter the profession (CACREP, 2016). Through reflective activities such as journaling and expressive arts, students can develop awareness of their values, the evolving counseling relationship, and broader sociocultural and developmental issues (Owens & Neale‐McFall, 2014; Robinson et al., 2019; Villarreal‐Davis et al., 2020). Creative methods for self‐reflection can also serve as a tool for evaluating overall growth when utilized at the end of a training program (Villarreal‐Davis et al., 2020).…”

“…Research has shown a notable relationship between self‐efficacy, the belief of one's ability to accomplish a goal (Bandura, 1995), and graduate student development (Moss et al., 2014; Mullen et al., 2015; Robinson et al., 2019). While low self‐efficacy can be part of the learning process, CIT often express increased doubts about their abilities, feelings of insecurity, anxiety, overwhelm, and loneliness (Moss et al., 2014; Pierce, 2016; Robinson et al., 2019), which are important for counselor educators and supervisors to understand. Self‐efficacy can increase as counselors move through their training program, with the greatest incremental growth being between new student orientation and practicum orientation (Mullen et al., 2015).…”

Working with the Waverley integrative framework (WIF). Exploring the experience of counsellors, trained in the WIF, in incorporating the framework into their therapeutic practice

“…In the latter, participants, struggling to tolerate 'theoretical tension', underwent 'an ambiguous and anxious process' (p169). Participants of Lowndes and Hanley's study held a different integration approach (Egan's 'Skilled Helper ', 1998) preventing exact comparison to this research project but other studies (Robinson, et al, 2019;Rønnestad, et al, 2019) corroberate a compound picture of vulnerability and uncertainty as a common experience among trainee integrative counsellors (Gold, 2005).…”

“…As Robinson et al (2019) suggest, the maturity of a therapist is not purely a matter of being clinically competent, it is wholly interrelated with personal development. This study revealed an experience of 'becoming' among participants that has strong resonance with the findings already mentioned in Armitage's study of WIF students (2018).…”

“…Further studies conducted with integrative practitioners are in demand, from those with trainee status (Robinson, et al, 2019), right through to mature therapists (Lampropoulos, et al, 2002;Rønnestad et al 2019). The ongoing SPRISTAD study (Society for Psychotherapy Research, 2011) has potential to deliver information on therapist ontogenesis that may inform and enable enhancement of therapist training and development for teachers, students and therapists working with the WIF.…”