ABSTRACT
The focus of this discussion is based on the view ... that family therapy has reached a cross-roads in respect of its attention to the exploration of 'self'-in
therapy and thus in training . .. . It is imperative that the personal is addressed ... in order to successfully complete a training, a trainee must be able to recognise and understand patterns from within their own significant relationship systems (past and present) and culture which may help and/or hinder their work. [Mason, 1997]
Despite the fact that many British family therapy training institutions have considered previous personal therapy an advantage, there have been no concerted moves towards integrating this in a systemic framework and making the experience a condition of training. Although they share an overarching systemic theory, different schools of family therapy have, over time and to varying degrees, addressed or by-passed the issue of the person of the therapist and her use of self. The major stumbling block appears to be finding a way to attend to the issue that would be generalizable to all models within the systemic framework. Significant influences
Another influence was the development of the constructionist orientation to family therapy, which promoted a reconceptualization of the therapeutic use of self (Real, 1990). Following this, Aponte (1994) introduced his innovative person/practice model of training based on the premise that therapy challenges clinicians to use
... their personal selves effectively within the professional relationship. The personal component of this relationship is not about some general liking and acceptance of clients. It is specific to the goals and means of therapy. Thus therapists need training that both opens them to themselves and teaches them vulnerability, discipline, and freedom within the relationship. [po 3]
In discussing this topic I have chosen to use the term self-reflexivity, with its connotation of a more systemic stance, to differentiate it from the concept of self-awareness; the latter is reminiscent of a person-centred, objective "truth-seeking" position as described by Hedges and Lang (1993). They also clearly delineate the similarities, differences, aims, and intended outcomes of self-reflexivity and self-awareness (p. 285). I agree with Boscolo and Bertrando (1996) that "Both the therapist's and the client's inner and external worlds and the relationship with the social systems in which they are embedded have become the territory to be explored. Self-reflexivity has taken clearly a central position" (p. 14).
