Abstract
This research explores how the largely taken-for-granted concept of Personal & Professional Development (PPD) is constructed within the Counselling Psychology profession and asks what the effects of this might be for therapeutic training and practice. A discourse analytic approach inspired by Foucauldian theory was used to examine seven trainee Counselling Psychologist’s talk of PPD, paying particular attention to the ways in which power might be reflected in the text. The analysis suggested that PPD discourse can result in a number of more disempowering positions for trainees and therapeutic clients, demonstrating how power struggles can be concealed by therapeutic discourse.
It is argued that the prevailing constructions of PPD, as demonstrated within the research interviews, serve two key functions, most notably by legitimising institutionalised training practices as necessary to ensure the competence and ethical integrity of future therapists, whilst also increasing the credibility of therapeutic practitioners more broadly. This thesis therefore contends that practitioners and training institutions might become more sceptical of dominant PPD discourses, including the practices which are legitimised as a result. As such, Counselling Psychologists are invited to raise their awareness of the cultural, social and historical contexts which inform our understanding of ‘the therapeutic self’ and its ‘development’ more broadly, as well as remaining mindful of imbalances of power to ensure PPD practices seek to empower rather than control.