Self and self-reflection in the therapeutic relationship: A conceptual map and practical strategies for the training, supervision and self-supervision of interpersonal skills.

Many contributors to this volume have described the importance of the therapeutic relationship to outcome, and the complexities involved in developing and maintaining a therapeutic relationship. This chapter focuses on issues of training and supervision and asks: what training, supervision and self-supervision strategies may best facilitate the development and re®nement of cognitive therapists' interpersonal skills? We approach these questions through the framework of a new cognitive model of therapist skill development, the declarative±procedural±re¯ective (DPR) model (BennettLevy, 2006), which:1 enables therapists, trainers and supervisors to consider a variety of interpersonal factors and processes that go towards developing a positive, helpful therapeutic relationship2 provides a conceptual map to pinpoint the particular area(s) of dif®culty that may be causing a therapeutic relationship to deteriorate3 identi®es key learning processes and training strategies to enhance interpersonal skills and thereby re®ne therapeutic relationships.