ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews some areas of personal growth that begin during the early phases of clinical training. Personal growth and development are an integral part of clinical training and often require that we make changes in familiar parts of ourselves and some of our automatic reactions. Personal psychotherapy is required by many training programs, but it is often difficult to find both the time and money for psychotherapy during our training. However, investing in our personal and professional well-being by seeking personal psychotherapy will generate benefits throughout the training process and beyond. Contemporary psychoanalytic theory has moved toward a relational perspective in which the interpersonal experiences of both analyst and patient are considered active in the therapeutic relationship. The chapter describes some of the relationships between individual identity and professional identity as a clinician. Clinicians vary regarding the amount and type of personal and professional information they feel is appropriate to disclose to clients.
