We are holding a two-day workshop for our extramural trainees today and tomorrow. Many new mental health professionals are just starting the program and will be sending an audiotape or CD of a therapy session to their supervisor next week. As usual, at least several are having automatic thoughts about sending the recordings—they’re nervous about what their supervisor will think. I gave them an analogy. If they were starting tennis lessons, the tennis pro wouldn’t care if they were novice, intermediate, or advanced players. He or she would just hope to advance them from where they’re starting. I hope this allayed their anxiety! We don’t have expectations of where any of our trainees start. We just hope we’ll be able to improve their proficiency.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., Director