3/ The Development of Professional Identity in Psychotherapists:

It is our view that the processes which psychothera- ists undergo as they both learn their craft and develop a sense of professions identity conform to the developmental sequelae which lead to individuation and identity formation in human beings in general. In this chapter we highlight parallels in the developmental processes and delineate guidelines for supervisory practice which they imply. We have identified six stages in the learning and supervisory processes of psychotherapists-in-training and of new professionals. We describe the new trainee's diffuse anxiety, excitement, and dependency on the supervisor in the earliest stares, his or her increasing sense of confidence, competence and autonomy as they emerge in the middle stages, and, his or her emergent stability as a psychotherapist and collegiality both with peers and senior staff during the last stage.