Themes in Therapist and Counselor Development

Abstract

This study focused on therapist-counselor development. In-depth, semistructured interviews with 100 participants served as the data-gathering method. Data from this study were first used to develop a stage model. Then, 20 themes of therapist-counselor development were extracted from the 120 pages of narrative stage data. The themes were extracted jointly by the two authors through a set of qualitative research procedures. These themes are described within the categories of primary characteristic themes, process descriptor themes, source of influence themes, and secondary characteristic themes. Professional development topics addressed include professional individuation, methods of renewal, conceptual orientation, measures of success, learning processes, boundary regulation, and impact of professional elders.

When the shoe is on the other foot: A qualitative study of intern-level trainees’ perceived learning from clients.

“…Other qualitative accounts of therapist development (e.g. Farber, 1983;Freeman & Hayes, 2002;Goldfried, 2001;Skovholt & McCarthy, 1988;Skovholt & Rønnestad, 1992) have also highlighted the importance of clients as primary teachers of therapists.…”

The Heart of the School Counselor: Understanding Passion over the Span of a Career

“…Other studies (Henderson et al, 2006;Skovholt, 1992) conducted in similar fashion to this one, indicated that successful school counselors demonstrate a dedication to serving students in their innate environment that is strengthened by a "passion for the work school counselors perform" (Henderson et al, 2006, p. 141). Liston (2000, p. 82) argued for a "transformed, enlarged love," where educators are reopening themselves to the pain, burnout, and rejection in school counseling and uses this concept to regain love for the profession in order to combat this sense of despair that often engulfs the professional school counselor.…”

“…Many high school counselors have expressed a lack of personal growth and knowledge in key areas and they struggle with motivation issues, burnout, and frustration at a perceived lack of support from administration regarding professional development (Skovholt, 1992). Moles (1997) found that counselors attend on average three in-service programs annually across all counseling domains.…”

“…Counselor burnout is at an all-time high (O'Brien & Casado-Kehoe, 2006) and counselors are continuing to have more responsibilities given to them. Understanding the variety of attributes needed to produce exemplary counselors (Littrell & Peterson, 2005;Skovholt, 1992), and how they obtain and grow in passion, might possibly increase the effectiveness, spirit, and atmosphere of not only counselors, but the school environment.…”

Does teaching a solution‐focused model of counselling work? A follow‐up of graduates

“…While the shortfalls in Trait and Factor approaches have given way to constructivist approaches, most literature on the career development of counsellors follows a stage-theory approach (Rønnestad & Skovholt, 2003). Skovholt and Rønnestad (1992) interviewed 100 American counsellors/therapists at all experience levels to construct an eight-stage model encompassing what could be described as a life-long process of professional development. In 2003, they responded to critical discussions about their model, re-read their data and collapsed the 8 stages into 6 phases.…”