University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-1998 Becoming a psychotherapist : applications of Kegan's model for understanding the development of psychotherapists. Linda L. Pratt University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation Pratt, Linda L., "Becoming a psychotherapist : applications of Kegan's model for understanding the development of psychotherapists." (1998). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 1259. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/1259 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. BECOMING A PSYCHOTHERAPIST: APPLICATIONS OF KEGAN'S MODEL FOR UNDERSTANDING THE DEVELOPMENT OF PSYCHOTHERAPISTS A Dissertation Presented by LINDA L. PRATT Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May 1998 School of Education © Copyright by Linda L. Pratt 1998 All Rights Reserved BECOMING A PSYCHOTHERAPIST: APPLICATIONS OF KEGAN'S MODEL FOR UNDERSTANDING THE DEVELOPMENT OF PSYCHOTHERAPISTS A Dissertation Presented by LINDA L. PRATT Approved as to style and content by: Maunanne Adams, Member ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Among other things, this wori< has been about development and perspective taking. It seems fitting, then, to thank the people who assisted in the development of this project, or helped me to keep my perspective during the long process that writing the dissertation entailed. I feel exceedingly lucky to have worked with such a fine dissertation committee. Jay Carey has been a long-standing support in the ten years we have worked together. He has been an advisor, mentor, colleague and friend. I appreciate the support he has given me in each of these roles. I have enjoyed our shared passion for understanding issues in adult development, as well as our spirited discussions on issues of gender roles, politics, etc. I appreciate his willingness to challenge and be challenged by me. His sense of humor has also been a great resource in this endeavor. Maurianne Adams provided a unique and invaluable blend of support and structure. She oriented me to the process of writing a dissertation at a time when this endeavor felt quite foreign. I am grateful for her guidance and support through this process. David Todd introduced me to key works in psychodynamic psychotherapy supervision and shared his expertise in qualitative appreciate his personal sensitivity and ability research. I especially earlier renditions. to notice the positive in my work even in its had thank my committee for the high standards they I want to always count on a careful both for me and for themselves. I could iv and insightful reading of my wori< from each of them. It has been stimulating and enjoyable to meet with them. My family has contributed to the development of this work in many ways, both direct and indirect. I would like to thank my parents for years of loving and generous support, and for the love of learning they passed on to me. I am deeply grateful for the many opportunities they made possible which have shaped my own development. I thank my mother, as well, for her interest in my project and her professional assistance as a librarian in tracking down many hard to locate references at the last minute. I thank my husband, Paul Lockard, for his invaluable support, understanding and confidence in me through this process. My delightful children, Jessamyn and Gavin, have been the best possible source of keeping things in perspective, as well as an on going adventure in developmental stages. My sisters, Pamela Bailey and Martha Elliott, have been important sources of support in this process. They provide the perspective, as well, of knowing me long before this endeavor. of many friends in this I have been nourished by the support like thank Marie Bartlett and Richard process. I would especially to Colton for their friendship and support as well as their warmth and in Western generosity in providing a comfortable return "home" well for her moral and practical Massachusetts. I thank Marie as support in preparing for the dissertation defense. support, both emotional and practical, of long- I appreciate the sustained time friend Linda Cherchali in this process. Linda's V interest in my work, as well as her insight in reading drafts of the dissertation have been very valuable. David Boyer was my dissertation support "group" early on in the process, and continued to be supportive even after I moved 1000 miles away. I appreciate his friendship and dissertation support along with that of Anne Downs and Ellen Doyle. Sally Dumont has also provided valuable support with many of the essential details related to the dissertation process. Her consistent optimism and appreciation of life outside of academia have helped my sense of perspective on many occasions. Other good friends in Massachusetts who have provided important support and perspective are Bonnie Black, Sarah Boyer, Suzy de Lancy, Joanne Gangi, Lisa & Jeff Kenney, Eugenie Harvey, Jill Laufer-Rockowitz and Joanna Wellman. I am also deeply grateful to Lisa for her loving care of my daughter, Jessamyn, while I juggled clinical work with graduate school and new parenting. who helped ease the transition I am also grateful to the people of my move to Illinois (right after defending my dissertation like proposal) with their friendship and support. I would especially to thank Connie Barrett, Kathy & John Bowman, Paula & Joe Cravero, Carol Thea & Michael Ellis, Anita & Bill Hampes, Anne Komodino, and Mackel, Elizabeth Martin, Monique McDonald, Julie & Jim Ross grateful to Elisabeth Martin for the Danette Simons. I am also several generous use of her printer, day and night, over the last Michael Ellis and Neil Glagovich months of this process. I also thank computer problems. for last minute trouble shooting regarding vi I want to thank Jenny Kay for transcribing all my research interviews quici<ly and reliably, at a price a graduate student could afford. I thank Jeff Meier, owner of Avenue Printing in Moline, for generously allowing me to use his printer on a number of occasions simply because I still didn't have one, and for all his competent and reliable help with many aspects of getting out the numerous drafts of this dissertation. I also want to thank the Moline YMCA for providing childcare and a friendly and comfortable atmosphere in which to work out. I especially want to thank Jackie Huff for her support, including but not limited to letting me work on my dissertation in the Prairie Conference Room while my daughter attended class. For sharing her expertise in Kegan's theory and for her generosity with her time, I very much appreciate Nancy Popp. I greatly enjoyed our discussions of the theory and the nuances of for helping developmental scoring. I also appreciate Bob Goodman me look at clinical issues with the framework of constructive for his sense of developmental psychology. I appreciate Bob Kegan humor and friendly collegiality on the occasions when we have had a chance to meet, as well as his inspirational work which sparked my interest in this theory. in my research, who gave Finally, I thank the participants experiences generously of their time and shared deeply personal meeting each person and feel related to clinical practice. I enjoyed they shared. enriched by the wealth of insight and perspective vii ABSTRACT BECOMING A PSYCHOTHERAPIST: APPLICATIONS OF KEGAN'S MODEL FOR UNDERSTANDING THE DEVELOPMENT OF PSYCHOTHERAPISTS MAY 1998 LINDA L PRATT, A.B., OBERLIN COLLEGE Ed.M., HARVARD UNIVERSITY Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor John C. Carey, Ph.D. Becoming a psychotherapist has generally been understood in terms of a passage through phases of professional development. Recently, however, structural models of adult development have begun to inform a new literature on developmental approaches to psychotherapy supervision. Using a structural developmental lens transforms one's understanding of psychotherapist development, suggesting that there is not just one process of becoming a psychotherapist, but many. It shifts the focus from the phasic tasks of skill development to the transformations which therapists undergo when development includes a fundamental shift in one's way of making sense of the world. How might the experience of key issues in clinical work be with which we different, depending on the structural developmental lens Robert view our experience? This research explores the applications of female Kegan's (1994, 1982) model to this question. Twelve format focused psychologists were interviewed using a semi-structured analyzed according to the on six areas of clinical practice. Data was viii coding scheme for Kegan's model and a qualitative analysis of emergent themes. The results of this study generally support the utility of Kegan's model for explaining differences in therapists' understandings of their clinical work. Developmental differences were found for four of the six areas studied. Therapists at Kegan's stage four were contrasted with those in transition from stage three to stage four in the following areas: responses