Self‐concept of relational skills in psychotherapy trainees: A pilot study

Background: Personal characteristics and relational skills represent central aspects of the psychotherapist's work, and yet, little is still known about them in the context of psychotherapy training. Objective: This paper presents a preliminary exploration of the self-concepts of relational skills in psychotherapy trainees. Changes in the self-concept in N = 131 psychotherapy trainees were explored through analysis of self-image ideal-self and self/ ideal-self discrepancy in two stages (beginning vs. advanced). Method: Data were collected with a modified version of the self-rated instruments Trainee Background Information Form and Trainee Current Practice Report (Orlinsky et al., 2015), and…