Hitting the Ground Running – The Life of a Forensic Psychotherapy Trainee

Effective forensic psychotherapy for psychosis is integral to supporting and furthering the rehabilitation of community patients with experience of forensic health services. Not only do such patients often have complex,... [ view full abstract ]

Effective forensic psychotherapy for psychosis is integral to supporting and furthering the rehabilitation of community patients with experience of forensic health services. Not only do such patients often have complex, multiple usually stigmatising diagnoses they are also doubly stigmatised by their forensic histories which further compound rehabilitation challenges. For the trainee psychotherapist learning to help such individuals can be extremely daunting and seem almost insurmountably complex.

In this paper a trainee psychotherapist and her supervisor ‘unpack’ the difficulties trainees face in such contexts and demonstrate how tailored support, open reflexive practice and co-development can synergistically aid both the learning process and patient recovery.

Learning Objectives:

Delegates will learn about:

• The difficulties and ethical considerations involved in learning how to provide effective psychotherapy to community forensic populations.
• How supportive supervision, reflexive open practice and co-development are an integral part of the trainee’s journey