Finding Your Voice as a Beginning Marriage and Family Therapist

Finding Your Voice as a Beginning Marriage and Family Therapist provides support to early career marriage and family therapists who seek authentic and meaningful connections with themselves, their colleagues, and the clients they serve. The book addresses a lack of resources for early career therapists during professional formation, particularly for those who have marginalized aspects of their identity. Readers will move toward celebrating their varied social contextual selves to gain a sense of empowerment, allowing themselves to fully engage in their educational, clinical, and supervisory journey. The authors offer unique insights on the literature of clinical training as well as authentic stories from early career as well as more seasoned MFTs. There are exercises for the reader and practical skills for active engagement in their own development. Reflection questions at the end of each chapter can be used for personal reflection or to frame dialogue with classmates and colleagues. Adaptable for use in the classroom, support groups, and in group/individual supervision settings, Finding Your Voice as a Beginning Marriage and Family Therapist is an essential resource for students and beginner clinicians.

Dana J. Stone, PhD, LMFT, is an Associate Professor at California State University, Northridge, USA, in the Marriage and Family Therapy Program, and an AAMFT Approved Supervisor. She identifies as Black-White Biracial and is the first person in her immediate family to achieve degrees in higher education. Her research includes deepening understanding of the biracial experience, expanding the meaning of culturally sensitive supervision, and exploring diversity in the field of MFT. She lives in Moorpark, California, with her husband and rescue pup. Jessica L. ChenFeng, PhD, LMFT, is Associate Professor of Medical Education and Associate Director of Physician Vitality at Loma Linda University, California, USA, and an AAMFT Approved Supervisor. Her research, writing, and clinical work centers around sociocontextual issues such as gender and power, Asian American identity, and spirituality. She identifies as a second-generation Taiwanese American liberative educator and lives in Montclair, California, with her husband, their young toddler, and miniature Schnauzer.

I. Introduction 2. Our Own Stories 3. Difficult and Unfulfilling Training Experiences 4. Meaningful and Fulfilling Training Experiences 5. Students' and Supervisees' Stories 6. Preparing and Developing the Self-of-the-Trainee 7. Moving Toward Sociocultural Relational Connection 8. Establishing a Foundation for a Career of Being Known and Knowing Others Appendix: List of Resources Index