The person and practice of the therapist: Treatment and training.

Abstract

Therapeutic excellence is rooted in a clinician's mastery of both the technical and personal aspects of treatment. An exploration of the catalytic force of therapy and how it effects the person of the therapist and his use of self generates a number of training implications. A clinical training model, developed at the Family Institute of Virginia, focusing on the Person and Practice of the Therapist, is predicated on the assumption that a therapist is most effective when he uses himself for the mutual advancement of both his clients and himself. The model utilizes the various contexts of a therapist's life, including his clinical, collegial, and familial relationships. An excerpted transcript from a training session illustrates a segment of this process.