Becoming a Therapist: Reflections and Exercises on the Path to Mastery Book

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xi

1 Opening Up Your Life to the Excitement of the Therapy and Counseling Professions 1

2 Novice Advantages 21

3 The Curse of Ambiguity and Other Ills and What to Do About Them 33

4 Who Am I Becoming? The Unfolding Practitioner Self 67

5 Developing Habits of Culturally Competent Practice 79
Michael Goh, Thomas M. Skovholt, Ava Yang, and Michael Starkey

6 Issues, Concerns, and Tips as Antidotes to Novice Stress 101

7 Becoming a Resilient Practitioner 115

8 The Cycle of Caring 149
Thomas M. Skovholt and Michelle Trotter-Mathisen

9 The Practitioner’s Learning Triangle: Practice, Research/Theory, and Personal Life 167
Thomas M. Skovholt and Michael Starkey

10 The Path Toward Mastery: Phases and Themes of Development 181
Thomas M. Skovholt and Michael H. Rønnestad

11 Practitioner Mastery and Expertise 203
Thomas M. Skovholt, Mark Vaughan, and Len Jennings

12 Vertical and Horizontal Nurturance for the Novice: Clinical Supervisors and Many Other Peers 243
Thomas M. Skovholt and Yoonhee Sung

13 Worlds Apart: The Academic Research Culture and the Therapy Practice Culture and the Search for Common Space 259

14 Epilogue: Promise and Meaning of the Work 285

Index 293