Does Person-of-the-Therapist Training (POTT) Promote Self-Caring Attitude for Trainees in a Chinese Society? A Directed Content Analysis at a University in Taiwan

ABSTRACT

Literature has demonstrated the importance of self-care for marriage and family therapists (MFTs) and trainees. However, little research elaborated on how we can promote self-care in therapist training and education, especially in Chinese societies. This study focused on the self-caring attitude graduate students reported after enrolling in a Person-of-the-Therapist Training (POTT) class taught at a university in Taiwan. In this class, students were required to write a final paper to reflect on the personal and professional changes they had experienced during this class and to provide feedback about the class. These de-identified final papers from research participating students were the source of the qualitative data. Using directed content analysis, the author found that the students’ self-caring attitude improved after the course. Cultural and contextual factors that might have influenced participants’ self-caring attitude during this process are discussed. Clinical and training recommendations for educators are included as well.

KEYWORDS:

• marriage and family therapy
• person-of-the-therapist training (POTT)
• Chinese society

Acknowledgments

I am deeply grateful to Dr. Ping-Chuan Hsiung for generously providing the dataset, offering invaluable assistance with coding, and engaging in insightful discussions about cultural factors. Her expertise and profound insights greatly enriched this study.

Furthermore, I extend my heartfelt appreciation to Dr. Denise Lewis for her unwavering support in revising this paper to align with the expectations of the reviewers and editors. Her kindness and exceptional contributions to this topic have been truly remarkable.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).