Psychotherapist development: integration as a way to autonomy.

This study deals with the question of how therapists naturally develop an integrative perspective. A grounded theory analysis was conducted, based on retrospective interviews with seven experienced therapists (working together in the same training program). Adoption of an integrative perspective was found to be an unintended consequence of the development towards an autonomous personal therapeutic approach. This development is directed by two autonomous criteria (congruence and perceived efficacy) and results in intuitive integration. Complementary to this aspect is a heteronomous line of personal therapeutic approach development, characterized by two criteria (adherence and legitimization) and leading to identification. Autonomy and heteronomy are understood as general principles along which a therapist's development can be organized.

The journey of an integrationist: A grounded theory analysis.

Surveys among psychotherapists tend to show a high preference for integrationism/eclecticism. There is, however, a lack of empirical studies exploring the process by which these psychotherapists arrive at this orientation. To answer this question, 22 autobiographies published by integrative psychotherapists were analyzed using grounded theory analytic procedures. The analysis resulted in a 3-stage developmental model, consisting of (a) the Adherence Phase, (b) the Destabilization Phase, and (c) the Consolidation Phase. The results are discussed in relation to several speculative models of psychotherapist development toward integration, as well as empirical literature on psychotherapist development. The results suggest that the tendency toward integration is best regarded as a natural part of the process of psychotherapist development.