Classical Adlerian Mentorship: Cultivating Adlerian Practitioners' Professional Identity Through Mentorship

ABSTRACT Background The population of classical Adlerian practitioners represents one theoretical branch of Adlerian psychology, but little empirical research has been conducted within this population. The classical Adlerian approach features a 12‐stage depth psychotherapy model that targets the dissolving of the style of life and fictional final goal and paves the emergence of the self, other, and task actualisation. Individuals study the classical Adlerian approach through postgraduate professional training in a one‐on‐one mentorship style in which a trainee is matched with a training analyst. Purpose This qualitative research aimed to explore how classical Adlerian practitioners navigate developing their professional identity in the context of the classical Adlerian mentorship training style. The research question of this study was: What are the lived experiences of developing professional identity through a mentorship‐style training among classical Adlerian practitioners? Method We employed purposive sampling and interviewed five classical Adlerian practitioners, each of whom took part in two semi‐structured interviews. We adopted interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore these classical Adlerian practitioners' experiences developing professional identity through mentorship‐style psychotherapy training. Findings Our analysis revealed four themes. Findings revealed that, first, all contributing participants recognised their mentors' influence on who they were as professionals. Second, the classical Adlerian practitioners who participated in this study reported that their experiences in classical Adlerian mentorship fostered a mentor spirit and a joy in mentoring. Third, the one‐on‐one mentoring relationship was underscored by participants, each presenting a unique descriptive account. Fourth, participants emphasised the value of a learning process in a mentorship‐style training and highlighted the integration of learning and application for learning theory and becoming Adlerian practitioners.