The Making of a Therapist, Louis Cozolino
The Making of a Therapist, Louis Cozolino
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The Making of a Therapist
A Practical Guide for the Inner Journey

Author: Louis Cozolino

Narrator: Stephen Bel Davies

Unabridged: 6 hr 31 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 04/24/2018


Synopsis

The difficulty and cost of training psychotherapists properly is well known. It is far easier to provide a series of classes while ignoring the more challenging personal components of training. Despite the fact that the therapist's self-insight, emotional maturity, and calm centeredness are critical for successful psychotherapy, rote knowledge and technical skills are the focus of most training programs. As a result, the therapist's personal growth is either marginalized or ignored. The Making of a Therapist counters this trend by offering graduate students and beginning therapists a personal account of this important inner journey.

Cozolino provides a unique look inside the mind and heart of an experienced therapist. Listeners will find an exciting and privileged window into the experience of the therapist who, like themselves, is just starting out. In addition, The Making of a Therapist contains the practical advice, common-sense wisdom, and self-disclosure that practicing professionals have found to be the most helpful during their own training. The first part of the book, "Getting Through Your First Sessions," takes listeners through the often-perilous days and weeks of conducting initial sessions with real clients. Cozolino addresses such basic concerns as: Do I need to be completely healthy myself before I can help others? What do I do if someone comes to me with an issue or problem I can't handle? What should I do if I have trouble listening to my clients? What if a client scares me? The second section of the book, "Getting to Know Your Clients," delves into the routine of therapy and the subsequent stages in which you continue to work with clients and help them. In this context, Cozolino presents the notion of the "good enough" therapist, one who can surrender to his or her own imperfections while still guiding the therapeutic relationship to a positive outcome.

The final section, "Getting to Know Yourself," goes to the core of the therapist's relation to him- or herself, addressing such issues as: How to turn your weaknesses into strengths, and how to deal with the complicated issues of pathological caretaking, countertransference, and self-care. Both an excellent introduction to the field as well as a valuable refresher for the experienced clinician, The Making of a Therapist offers listeners the tools and insight that make the journey of becoming a therapist a rich and rewarding experience.

About Louis Cozolino

Louis Cozolino is a professor of psychology at Pepperdine University and a private practitioner. He is the author of The Healthy Aging Brain, The Neuroscience of Human Relationships, The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy, and The Making of a Therapist. He lives in Los Angeles, California.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Lisa on February 25, 2016

Wow! As I have stated before, I only give out 5 stars to those books that I feel have changed or affected me in some way, books that I enjoy recommending to family, friends, colleagues and/or clients. . . those books that will stay with me for many years to come. The Making of a Therapist is such a......more

Goodreads review by Lynette on February 28, 2012

As an aspiring graduate student in mental health counseling, I picked this book up and eagerly read it. It is packed with down-to-earth advice, that was helpful before even beginning my classes. I know that this book will be much-used into my career! I enjoyed the author's use of personal stories, a......more

Goodreads review by tay on May 14, 2025

AMAZING!!......more

Goodreads review by Quin on July 19, 2022

Just okay. Some nice gems but frustratingly built around psychoanalysis, very little/bad discussion of social justice factors, and very stigmatizing language around abuse survivors and people diagnoses with BPD.......more

Goodreads review by Erika on December 08, 2013

I loved this book. It's not about psychological concepts or psychotherapeutic techniques per se (although several are mentioned, of course), more like the way we psychotherapists experience those concepts and techniques in our clinic practice. The way the book is written is easy to understand and ver......more