Personal therapy in counsellor training

The main focus of this chapter is a discussion as to whether personal therapy should be mandatory for trainees or whether can it be gained in other ways. The chapter starts with an overview of the research into personal therapy in counsellor training and discusses arguments for and against this. In the main body of the chapter, Jayne Godward argues that students should have personal therapy during counsellor training and uses the views of some of her students on the benefits of this, while Heather Dale argues against personal therapy being mandatory for trainees using real-life examples. Readers are encouraged to decide for themselves as to whether personal therapy should be compulsory on counsellor training. Finally, Carole Smith sums up the arguments and offers a general conclusion.