How trainees develop an initial theory of practice: A process model of tentative identifications

Abstract

Aim: The increasing importance of integrative practice highlights the need to explore how trainees develop their theoretical stance. This investigation explored the experiences of trainees to elaborate a model of how they developed their personal theories of practice. Method: Seventeen Masters level trainee counsellors kept weekly journals recording how they developed a working theory of practice. Grounded theory analysis of the journals was used to develop a model of the process. Findings: The resulting Process Model of Tentative Identifications illustrates how a personal theory developed through trainees' tentative identifications with theories of practice, and how factors such as reading, personal philosophy, practice, and supervision interact to produce the identifications. A diagram of the model highlights the relationships among a variety of personal and professional factors that ranged from highly abstract to concrete and practice‐based. Discussion: The model is consistent with several factors identified in previous research and highlights how trainees develop working theories of practice.

The reported impact of psychotherapy training: Undergraduate disclosures after a course in experiential psychotherapy

“…Learning how to be a therapist The reported changes in skills and professional development were largely expected and consistent with existing literature (i.e., Fitzpatrick et al, 2010;Folkes-Skinner 164 A. Pascual-Leone et al et al, 2010;Hill & Lent, 2006;Hill, Sullivan, et al, 2007;Hilsenroth et al, 2006).…”

“…One study, for example, explored how trainees go about formulating their own models of psychotherapy (Fitzpatrick, Kovalak, & Weaver, 2010). While another inquiry has forayed more directly into one trainee's ''lived'' experiences through a case study of her personal account of training (Folkes-Skinner, Elliott, & Wheeler, 2010).…”

Whatelseare psychotherapy trainees learning? A qualitative model of students' personal experiences based on two populations

“…Recent work has explored how student trainees go about formulating their own personally integrative models of psychotherapy (Fitzpatrick, Kovalak, & Weaver, 2010), or offered a detailed case study of one trainee's personal account (Folkes-Skinner et al, 2010). The general argument for this line of study is that relatively little is actually known about the personal and covert experiences of novice therapists in training.…”

How beginning counselors learn: The interaction of personal and professional experiences in counselors with an experiential orientation

“…According to Najavits, implicit theory of therapy might be reflected to various degrees and may differ more or less from the explicit theory. Fitzpatrick, Kovalak, and Weaver (2010) found that counselor trainees develop their initial theories of practice in a process of tentative identification with various existing theories. In their study, Howard, Inman, and Altman (2006) described that building a conceptual framework or philosophy of counseling might also be influenced by a trainee's personality.…”