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The panel opened with a brief introduction by the chairman, Adelaide M. Johnson. She recalled that at the Midwinter Meeting (1954), the panel had paid a good deal of attention to the psychology and motivation of the psychotherapist. The discussion, which had been characterized by vigorous participation on the part of both panel and audience, had finally focused on the qualities which led to freedom, flexibility, and frankness in the therapist. So great had been the interest in this topic that it was decided to devote the current meeting to a consideration of the process of development and maturation in the therapist after the conclusion of his formal training.
O. Spurgeon English then read a paper entitled "Factors Entering into the Development of a Psychotherapist." The paper consisted of a summary of collective opinions gathered by English from an unstated number of his colleagues in answer to a questionnaire. The questionnaire emphasized two points: (1) What contributes to the skills of a psychotherapist subsequent to his residency and psychoanalytic training? (2) How can the value of these experiences be measured in his development?
The answers to the questionnaire were not formulated statistically, nor was there any but the most modest attempt to estimate the degree of consensus among the respondents. Rather the answers were grouped in nine categories which were thought to have varying degrees of significance for the maturation process. It was pointed out that once the candidate has come off the assembly line of training it was generally assumed that he was a "standard" practitioner, capable of doing good work, and that his further development had more or less been taken for granted. The nine categories therefore represented a first approach