Most therapists will have at some time experienced being in therapy themselves, either during training, or afterwards, or both.  And when I was in training, it was a requirement to be in therapy, as well as in supervision.

Obviously within supervision, there are placement forms to complete and reports to write so your supervisor clearly knows you are in training.

With therapy however, I found it quite difficult to tell my therapist I was in training.  I think I probably felt he might assess me as unsuitable if he found out the real “me” underneath.

But most of us as therapists have been there in the client’s chair at some point.

So, it follows that most of us as therapists, will undoubtedly find ourselves in an initial meeting with a new client who at some point tells us that they are in training.

Now, just as I felt my own therapist might feel I wasn’t suitable to train as a therapist myself, I suspect there’s an equal reaction when the client tells you they are also in training.

“I wonder what they’ll make of therapy with me?”  “How will they judge my work?”  “Am I under scrutiny?” might all be questions that float into our minds.

And those questions might come to mind more if we are relatively new to working as a therapist ourselves.

So, there’s something about confidence here.  And there’s something about trusting the process as well as building trust between the client and therapist whichever side you are on at the time.

And there’s also something about forgetting all that information and simply accepting the client in front of you, recognising that being in training is only one aspect of their life.

As a client I have learned just as much from my therapist as my supervisor or any classroom teaching about working with my own clients.

As a therapist, I have learned just as much from my clients whether or not they have been in training themselves.

So, I would encourage you to see it as a great possibility and opportunity both for your work and your life if your client is in training.....and if you, as a trainee, are the client.