ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to include the following: understanding the importance of clinical judgment as defined by the Person-of-the-Therapist (POTT) philosophy; demonstrating the usefulness of the philosophy for developing clinical judgment; and demonstrating the model's applicability to practice-related standards in the various fields of mental health. The POTT philosophy and model provide a framework for new clinicians to begin building their clinical judgment as they enter their first professional experiences. As noted in the present text, philosophy emphasizes clinical growth through self-knowledge, self-access and self-management. Due to these primary concepts, POTT has the potential to span across mental health disciplines, such as marriage and family therapy (MFT), professional counseling, psychology and social work. The POTT model helps clinicians develop their clinical judgment by emphasizing the importance of the use of self as a fundamental instrument of therapeutic work. POTT serves as a guide for integrating the development of clinical judgment and use of self in the training of therapists.
