Book Review: The Making of a Therapist, by Louis Cozolino
The full title of this book is The Making of a Therapist: A Practical Guide for the Inner Journey, which should give you a pretty good idea about what's inside. The permission to "start off by not knowing a single thing about psychotherapy" (p. xxi) is given because this book is intended for beginning psychotherapists who...well...probably don't know a single thing about psychotherapy. And may be feeling boatloads of anxiety about it. Not that I know anything about that.
Cozolino articulates that "a basic goal of this book is to give beginning therapists permission to feel what they inevitably will feel--uncertainty, confusion, and fear--while also offering some strategies and advice for dealing with common situations that all therapists face" (p. xx). He's big on giving permission, which somewhat allays the fear that whispers, "if you're prepared to start seeing clients, why do you feel like you've got no idea what you're doing??"
He believes that graduate training for psychotherapists focuses on the what rather than the how of therapy, and there's not enough room for exploring and developing the inner world of the new therapist. So while we may be armed with theory and interventions and even some good idea of what questions we should be asking clients, we're not as well prepared for the interpersonal nature of therapy. To assist in nurturing this critical part of training, Cozolino has structured this book somewhat chronologically. He begins the journey with "Getting Through Your First Sessions" before moving on to "Getting to Know Your Clients" and finally guiding the reader to "Getting to Know Yourself." If you're not doing your own personal therapy as you begin seeing clients, you may find this last part especially helpful and supportive.
The Making of a Therapist a wonderful balance of Cozolino's anecdotal personal experiences as a beginning therapist, his observations of students and supervisees over the years, and advice that somehow manages to be both pragmatic and inspirational. It's an easy read, and something I'll imagine I'll find myself coming back to as I hit rough patches in fieldwork. But the lasting lesson of this book is to give yourself permission to be open to and aware of all you don't know--it seems it's in those moments where the real making happens.
