Abstract
This portfolio demonstrates my on-going personal and professional development as a counselling psychologist over the period of three years. It contains dossiers that cover three different aspects of training namely academic, therapeutic practice and research. The Academic Dossier contains three essays illustrating the diversity of theoretical concepts explored throughout my training. The first essay examines the question of whether we now need to cognitively restructure or accept thoughts in cognitive behavioural therapy. The second essay considers the effectiveness of applying Fairbairn’s (1952) object relations theory when working psychodynamically with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. The third essay looks at an existential-phenomenological approach to working with grief. The Therapeutic Practice Dossier relates to my clinical practice and provides the reader with a description of placements and client populations. This dossier also includes a final clinical paper providing an overview of my development as a psychotherapeutic practitioner. Finally the Research Dossier examines the relationship between mindfulness and attentional control. This dossier contains a literature review and two original research reports. The literature review examines the theoretical assumption that mindfulness interventions may enhance attentional control, a core determinant of psychological wellbeing. The first research report investigates whether dispositional mindfulness moderates the relationship between anxiety and attentional control. The second research report investigates whether state mindfulness moderates the relationship between threat and attentional bias.