On Becoming a Therapist: A Narrative Inquiry of Personal–Professional Development and the Training of Clinical Psychologists

Abstract

Objective: Contemporary-training of clinical-psychologists in Australia is competency-based, aiming to develop highly-skilled scientist-practitioners. Little is known, however, about their experiences of personal-professional development over time, as they are faced with the challenges of a life as therapists. This study aims to explore personal-professional development and the role played by clinical training programs. Method: The present study employed a narrative inquiry research design to investigate the personal-professional development and identitytransformation experiences of 11-clinical psychologists from four Australian Universities, who had graduated between 3 and 10 years prior to interview. Results: The majority of participants developed skills-based professional identities as trainees, adhering to the structure of the cognitivebehavioural-model. Some struggled, however, to manage the emotional-impact of therapeutic-work, given training programs focussed little on personal development or reflective practice. Over time three main processes occurred in terms of the interplay between the personal and professional. Clinicians learned to use models of practice that were congruent with their personal values, they developed a quality of genuineness in the therapy room, and they learned to listen to their own internal experiences during therapy. Clinicians were dissatisfied with the limited role of training programs in terms of personal development. Conclusion: Further research is required on the personal-professional development of clinical psychologists, including the exploration of pedagogical reform related to personal development.

Transformation of professional identity: an exploration of psychologists and psychiatrists implementing Open Dialogue

“…This polyphony (Seikkula, 2008) appeared to be in a continuous state of motion and recreation, both at a broader level across people’s careers and within the interviews. Participants used rhetorical devices to reflect on the changes to their identities across time, possibly consistent with findings suggesting that therapist identity formation is an evolving process (Friedman and Kaslow, 1986; Gibson, Dollarhide and Moss, 2010; Rønnestad and Skovholt, 2003; Salter and Rhodes, 2018). Psychologists diverged from adhering to distinctions between the professional and personal self, with the two becoming increasingly synthesised as described in previous research (Friedman and Kaslow, 1986; Salter and Rhodes, 2018).…”

“…Psychologists diverged from adhering to distinctions between the professional and personal self, with the two becoming increasingly synthesised as described in previous research (Friedman and Kaslow, 1986; Salter and Rhodes, 2018). Similar to findings by Salter and Rhodes (2018), psychologists appeared to be increasingly guided by their own internal dialogues. Expanding these findings, our results suggest that whilst identities change over time, this change is not towards a homogenisation of therapist internal dialogues, but towards a sensibility and coherence of multiple voices.…”

“…Limited research exists exploring the professional identity or ‘self’ of therapists and these concepts remain debated. The few existing studies have investigated the professional identity of counsellors (Moss, Gibson and Dollarhide, 2014), psychologists (Rønnestad and Skovholt, 2003; Salter and Rhodes, 2018; Skovholt and Rønnestad, 1995), family therapists (Rober, 1999, 2005; Rober et al ., 2008) and psychiatrists (Borchers, 2014). Consistent findings include the fluid nature of professional identity over time with a tendency to shift from a reliance on technical expertise to one’s own experience, values and knowledge that integrates professional and personal identities.…”

The relationship between psychology practice and complementary medicine in Australia: Psychologists’ demographics and practice characteristics regarding type of engagement across a range of complementary medicine modalities

“…Perhaps there is something unique to clinical psychology training and supervisory programs that influences clinical practice orientations and subsequently reduces engagement with CM. For example, it has been suggested there is risk of a narrowing of the field of psychology, where clinical psychology tertiary programs focus too much on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) [ 99 ], and not enough on broader social and cultural influences on mental health, as well as the role of client preference and values that might include CM approaches [ 100 – 102 ]. The literature also reinforces CBT as the gold standard therapeutic approach for psychologists, and that any drift away from CBT, such as engaging with CM approaches, would be ineffective and potentially harmful to clients [ 103 , 104 ].…”

Functions of peer mentoring, satisfaction and the “real” relationship in postgraduate psychology education

“…The next most prevalent hindering theme, “lack of structure,” was divisive in that it was identified by just over a third of mentors and only a small minority of mentees. This may reflect the personal preferences of mentors, who were comprised of early-career psychologists, to work within more structured therapeutic and mentoring models (Salter and Rhodes, 2018). Although mentors had extensive training in professional psychology, and were provided with resources and a mentoring framework, the frequency by which this theme emerged suggests a need for a structured framework specific to the nuances of mentoring provisional psychologists.…”