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Training to be a therapist was the most interesting, exciting and rewarding educational experience of my life. It was also the hardest! At times it stretched me to the limit of my ability to cope. In this book I describe my journey to become a therapist, why it was so difficult, and what I had to achieve to pass the course. The central concern of the book is the role and meaning of theory in counselling and psychotherapy, and focuses upon the context of learning theory within the training process itself. The book further develops a philosophical understanding of what counselling and psychotherapy knowledge is, and how it is distributed, transferred, created, moulded, shaped, worked with, and reproduced, etc., during training. By exploring theory from within the context of its practical application, new insights into counselling and psychotherapy theories as traditionally conceived can be made. This book will appeal to anybody training as a therapist. It will also appeal to established therapists and academics, whatever their therapeutic approach, with an interest in theory in counselling, psychotherapy and psychology.

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Dr Phil Tyson works as a therapist in independent practice specialising in working with men. Based in Manchester, UK, he also writes a blog on men´s mental health and well-being. He has two decades of experience working in the therapy industry and has a long standing interest in philosophical issues in counselling and psychotherapy.

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