Who Should Be a Family Therapist? A Personal View of Selection for Training

The author presents a view of the selection of applicants for training programs in family therapy, drawing on his own experience. A case is made for the importance of selection, based in the notion that the profession is responsible for attempting to protect the therapy consumer from practitioners who are potentially unhelpful or even damaging. The qualities that are desirable in a trainee family therapist are itemised and discussed. The article then describes how particular selection processes can be used to identify appropriate and inappropriate applicants. The author stresses that a good selection process should be isomorphic with the program of which it forms the first stage.