Moving Through the Seasons

More than any profession we can think of, psychotherapy involves the whole person. Who we are—our dreams, our fears, our strivings, and our Achilles’ heels—directly impact how, and how well, we do our work. As therapists ourselves, we have had an “insider’s view” of therapist professional development. In observing our own development over the course of our careers and observing friends, colleagues, interns, and trainees, we’ve become interested in trying to define the “life cycle” of a therapist—from graduate school through retirement. What are the clinical, personal and practice development tasks at each phase? What are the pitfalls? We have paid particular attention to the financial planning issues at each phase and looked at the way they are integrated into the larger picture. ¹ Certainly, we can’t claim to have come up with the definitive answers to these questions. However, we hope you will share some of our fascination with the questions themselves. Our hope is that this section will be a springboard for your reflection on where you are in your own professional development, so that you are in a strong position to plan for your future.