Michael Helge Rønnestad

The Journey of the Counselor and Therapist: Research Findings and Perspectives on Professional Development:

This article summarizes a reformulation of the main findings and perspectives from a cross-sectional and longitudinal qualitative study of the development of 100 counselors and therapists. The results are presented as a phase model and as a formulation of 14 themes of counselor/therapist development. The following six phases are described: The phases of the lay helper, the beginning student, the advanced student, the novice professional, the experienced professional, and the senior professional. The themes describe central processes of counselor/therapist development. The themes are addressing different issues such as shifts in attentional focus and emotional functioning, the importance of continuous reflection for professional growth, and a life-long personal/profession integration process. Sources of influence for professional functioning and development are described. The results show consistently that interpersonal experiences in the personal life domain (early family life and adult personal life) and the professional life domain (interacting with clients, professional elders, and peers) are significant sources of influence for professional development.

How Psychotherapists Develop: A Study of Therapeutic Work and Professional Growth

The authors and their collaborators present in this book data on the formative experience, practices, and development of psychotherapists at all career levels across national borders. Includes over 50 tables compiled in appendices.

Struggles of the Novice Counselor and Therapist

The novice journey can be arduous. This article draws from empirical and conceptual literature on counselor and therapist development to describe seven stressors of the novice practitioner. The ambiguity of professional work is the major catalyst for novice stress. The elements are: acute performance anxiety, the illuminated scrutiny of professional gatekeepers, porous or rigid emotional boundaries, the fragile and incomplete practitioner-self, inadequate conceptual maps, glamorized expectations, and an acute need for positive mentors.

Searching for Expertise in Counseling, Psychotherapy, and Professional Psychology

The expertise literature within cognitive science has provided a rich series of ideas which can be used to improve applied practice. The authors of the articles in this special issue have taken many of these ideas and made useful elaborations and extensions. In reaction to the articles, we suggest five blocks to a full utilization of the expertise literature and other constructs in practitioner development. These blocks are: (a) the need to go beyond the cognitive realm to the working alliance for the fundamental construct in the domain; (b) the need to realize that the novice-to-expert path takes a long time—perhaps 15 years—to travel; (c) the inappropriate use of a short experience differential in comparative studies of novices and experts; (d) the importance of reflection for development; and (e) the need for professors, in order to be experts, to also be practitioners in the domain.

The impact of psychotherapy training: Introduction to the special section

Does psychotherapy training positively, negatively, or negligibly impact process and outcome of clinical practice? This fundamental question touches a deep core of meaning not only for students of psychotherapy but for all of those engaged in the training of psychotherapists, including the clinical and academic staff of training institutions, clinical supervisors, and therapists’ personal therapists. The question is important not only to students and staff at training and treatment institutions but even more so to patients and to society, as was suggested by the tripartite outcome model of Strupp and Hadley (1977).

Learning Arenas for Professional Development: Retrospective Accounts of Senior Psychotherapists

What can senior practitioners teach other practitioners about learning arenas for professional development? Four primary learning arenas were identified after a qualitative inquiry of 12 psychotherapists, averaging 74 years in age. The 4 learning arenas are early life experience, cumulative professional experience, interaction with professional elders, and experiences in adult personal life. The results indicate that profound experiences in any of these primary arenas can radically affect the professional work of the practitioner. To develop optimally, the practitioner needs to continually process and reflect on experiences in both personal and professional life domains.

The Trainees’ Perspective A Qualitative Study of Learning Empathic Communication in Norway

Few empirical studies have inquired into the process of learning therapeutic skills or have focused on the interaction between trainees and trainers from the trainees’ perspective. We implemented a qualitative study focusing on the experiences of Norwegian therapists’ participation in an empathy training program. The aim of the study was to better understand the trainees’ conception of the learning process. The trainers’ use of an individualized, noncritical, and empathic orientation toward the trainees was reported as important for learning. The trainees reported much strain and considerable challenge when trying to change their therapeutic style. The results are discussed in relation to pedagogical principles of empathy training.

Nondisclosure in psychotherapy group supervision: The supervisee perspective

The aim of this study was to investigate aspects of nondisclosure in a sample of 55 student therapists, working within a group format of supervision. The study constituted one part of a larger study, with the other, parallel part addressing nondisclosure in supervisors. The participants were recruited from seven university-based training clinics in Norway and Denmark. The supervisees answered a questionnaire comprising 11 items about nondisclosure in supervision. The items were answered in a yes/no format, and the respondents were invited to provide examples and justifications for their answers to each item. The examples and justifications provided were analysed in accordance with Hill’s guidelines for consensual qualitative research. The study confirmed significant nondisclosure by supervisees in a number of important areas. A high percentage found it difficult to talk about topics related to the supervisory relationship, fearing that they would hurt their supervisor or be met with criticism or interpretation. They were also reluctant to talk to their supervisors about professional matters, particularly related to the perceived incompetence of their supervisors and their expectancy of non-constructive criticism. They felt that their supervisors withheld feedback on their work, as well as advise on what to do, and would like more of this. Several of them thought of the lack of feedback as a conscious strategy helping the students to find out for themselves. A rather striking finding was that a high number of students experienced that the groups became more closed throughout the supervision, and blamed their supervisors for inadequate handling of the group process. This is an issue that needs further exploration.Supervisee non-disclosure in psychotherapy group supervision: The supervisee perspective

The Hope and Promise of Career Life-Span Counselor and Therapist Development

The counseling and therapy professions focus on one of mankind’s most important tasks—human development. Counseling and therapy can be remarkably powerful ways to reduce the severe emotional anguish and intense suffering experienced by people throughout the world-wide human community. Practitioners of the helping professions are also skilled at promoting and nurturing optimal human functioning within its many forms and roles. How can this wonder of counseling and therapy bring on great results? What really matters? There are many research and practicebased answers to these questions (Luborsky et al., 1999). Favored explanations focus on client resourcefulness and motivation, counselor/ therapist competence, method used, match between client and counselor/therapist and qualities of the working alliance. The recent emphasis on empirically validated treatments has been the force behind an intense search for the effects of counseling/therapy method. Surprising for many, research has shown that counseling/therapy method, defined as treatment packages, contributes modestly to treatment outcome (Wampold, 2001). Several studies point to large variations in practitioner effectiveness and how much outcome variance is attributed to the practitioner. Summarizing an exhaustive review of therapy research, Wampold (2001 writes: “. . . the particular treatment

Changes in Therapists' Conceptualization and Practice of Therapy Following Empathy Training

Abstract This study focuses on the experiences of therapists participating in an empathy training program. Quantitative analyses of the effects of the program in which 23 trainees had participated indicated a significant increase in level of empathic communication. In a qualitative extension of the study, the aim was to understand more fully how therapists conceptualized and practiced therapy and to investigate perceived effects of training on clients. For this purpose, eight therapists were interviewed in-depth after the training and at a follow-up one year later. Trainees typically reported changes towards a more empathic understanding in client work and attributed these changes to participation in the training program. They reported effects on their professional self-understanding, pointing to a more differentiated understanding of their role and responsibility as therapists in client work. The therapists reported positive effects on clients when they changed their therapeutic style towards a more empathic orientation. The findings are discussed in relation to pedagogical principles of empathy training.