Preparing and Developing the Self-of-the-Trainee

This chapter focuses on the importance of developing the self-of-the-trainee as foundational to growth and flourishing as a beginning marriage and family therapists. Numerous scholars in mental health fields emphasize the importance for therapists and therapists in training to have their own awareness of their cultural heritage by engaging in a cultural self-assessment. Immigration and status in the United States seem to be hot topics recently, but they have always been part of the backbone of our history. High-context cultures emphasize the contextual variables of communication. The rules for communication are implicit, and communicators are expected to know and understand unspoken communication. The development of self is often explained utilizing various frameworks such as E. Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development, J. Piaget’s and U. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory of human development, and H. Tajfel’s social identity behavioral model.