Person of the Therapist

Clinicians bring into the therapy room their training, ethics, and their own personal history and personality. The person of the therapist is that personal part of himself or herself that every clinician brings into the client–therapist relationship. At its core, the idea of the person of the therapist, also referred to as self of the therapist, highlights that the self of each clinician is a clinical tool that can be used as part of the therapeutic process. One of the key curative factors in therapy is that in the relationship between the therapist and clients the therapist’s own emotions, ideas, and vulnerabilities are as much a part of the therapeutic relationship as are the clients’ presenting concerns, abilities, and background.

The importance of the person of ...