The Developing Self: Voices of Authenticity in Beginning Therapists

The ability for a therapist to be authentic is seen as a significant and necessary part of counselling training. Although authenticity has been acknowledged as a critical part of becoming a therapist, the experiences of beginning therapists encountering authenticity as an expectation throughout their training remains relatively unexplored. Utilizing the listening guide methodology from a constructivist lens, this case study asks: what are the voices of authenticity in beginning therapists? Ten therapists who recently graduated from Trinity Western University’s master’s level counselling program were interviewed. Several voices emerged after analysis, which were organized into five broad groupings: voices of (a) ambiguity, (b) vulnerability, (c) invalidation, (d) connection, and (e) anchoring. This case study has implications for how authenticity is defined and implemented in graduate training programs as professors and supervisors work to encourage growth, professionalism, and congruence in their students and supervisees.