Book description
Praise for Becoming a Therapist
"This resource is filled with practical and personal advice,
relevant stories, and examples, and reads more like help from a friend
than a typical textbook."
Â-Roberta L. Nutt, PhD, ABPP, Visiting Professor and Training
Director, Counseling Psychology Program, University of Houston
"Ah, now this is the book I wish had been available when I
entered the field. Tom Skovholt has defined the initial experiences
and followed the process through to the culmination of the therapeutic
experience in a truly great book. Becoming a Therapist is a
major contribution to our field."
Â-Arthur (Andy) M. Horne, Dean and Distinguished Research
Professor, College of Education, The University of Georgia;
President-Elect, Society of Counseling Psychology
"Becoming a Therapist's informal style is accessible and
engaging and yet soundly grounded in evidence and in the wisdom
Skovholt has developed through his career-long research on
psychotherapists and their development."
Â-Rodney K. Goodyear, PhD, Professor, School of Education,
University of Redlands; Emeritus Professor of Education (Counseling
Psychology), University of Southern California
Essential guidance for mental health professionals navigating the
start of their helping careers
Written for those entering a career in the helping professions,
Becoming a Therapist: On the Path to Mastery explores the
therapeutic career path for new practitioners, painting a vivid
portrait of the novice therapist's journey.
This practical book guides you in using the helping relationship to
improve the lives of others, whether your chosen profession is in
counseling, clinical psychology, social work, school counseling,
addictions counseling, family therapy, medicine, community counseling,
pastoral counseling, or academic advising.
Destined to become the resource every new practitioner turns to again
and again, Becoming a Therapist prepares you for the reality of
what it means to be a beginning therapist, with relevant discussion of:
- The fifteen indispensable qualities of every mental health professional
- The unfolding practitioner self
- Self-care for burnout prevention and resiliency development
- The importance of culturally competent practice to practitioner expertise
- Practice, research/theory, and personal life: the practitioner's
learning triangle
- The significance of peer relationships in the novice experience
Steeped in author Thomas Skovholt's years of experience, Becoming
a Therapist thoroughly and clearly illustrates the excitement,
intensity, anxietyÂ-and, ultimately, the satisfactionÂ-you can expect
as a helping professional.
THOMAS M. SKOVHOLT, PhD, ABPP, is a professor in the counselor
training program at the University of Minnesota and a licensed
psychologist. He teaches the practicum course for MA and doctoral
students and the supervision practicum course for doctoral students.
His research and writing is on practitioner development and includes
practitioner resiliency, developmental phases, master therapists, and
struggles of the beginner. He is board certified by ABPP, a Fellow of
APA, and a member of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers at the
University of Minnesota. His international experiences include a
Fulbright year in Turkey and teaching in Singapore.
