Learning to “live upside down”: Experiencing the true and false self in psychotherapy training
Journal article
Authors | Swaby, H. |
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Abstract | he emergence of the true self is often a significant part of training to become a psychotherapist. Yet the challenge this presents, particularly in relation to the movement between a true and false self, has been largely unacknowledged. This study aimed to explore UK trainee psychotherapists’ first-hand experiences of this, in order to understand how the phenomenon is experienced and explore the impact on trainees’ development. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with five trainee integrative psychotherapists who identified with this struggle. Interpretative phenomenological analysis illuminated two superordinate themes: The tensions of psychotherapy training and “Dropping the shackles”: The journey to self-acceptance. Findings highlight the many challenges of the psychotherapy trainee, illustrating how a conflicting need to be “true” alongside an impossible prospect of letting go of adaptations induces shame and judgments. Findings also highlighted the liberating processes of letting go of old constraints through a journey of self-acceptance and awareness. |
Keywords | true self ; psychotherapy ; trainee psychotherapists’; qualitative research |
Year | 2020 |
Journal | Psychotherapy and Politics International |
Journal citation | 18 (2), pp. 1-15 |
Publisher | Wiley |
ISSN | 1556-9195 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1002/ppi.1531 |
Web address (URL) | https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ppi.1531 |
http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85084449978&partnerID=MN8TOARS | |
Output status | Published |
Publication dates | 10 May 2020 |
Publication process dates | |
Deposited | 10 Mar 2023 |
https://repository.derby.ac.uk/item/9x95y/learning-to-live-upside-down-experiencing-the-true-and-false-self-in-psychotherapy-training
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