Classical Adlerian Mentorship: Cultivating Adlerian Practitioners’ Professional Identity Through Mentorship
Classical Adlerian Mentorship: Cultivating Adlerian Practitioners' Professional Identity Through Mentorship
Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 2026; 26:e70089
This qualitative study explores how classical Adlerian practitioners come to understand themselves professionally through the field's distinctive one-on-one mentorship model. Drawing on in-depth interviews with five practitioners, the researchers used interpretative phenomenological analysis to examine what it's like to develop a professional identity within this training structure. The findings offer a rare, grounded look at how mentorship shapes not just clinical skill, but professional selfhood, within the classical Adlerian tradition.
Keywords: Adlerian psychology | mentorship | phenomenology | professional identity development | theoretical orientation development
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 oneon-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.
1 | Introduction
Professional identity development, theoretical orientation development, and mentorship are three phenomena critical to the training and education of future counselling and psychotherapy practitioners (Calley and Hawley 2008; Carrillo and Rubel 2019; Woo et al. 2016). However, there is limited research examining their intersections. The development of professional identity is an ongoing process that involves integrating personal attributes with professional training within the context of a professional community (Gibson et al. 2010; Moss et al. 2014). Rønnestad and Skovholt (2003) drew on the main findings and perspectives from a cross-sectional and longitudinal qualitative study of the development of 100 American counsellors and therapists at different experience levels, ranging from beginning counselling or psychotherapy students to those with 25 years of professional experience and doctoral degrees in professional psychology. The findings were presented as a six-phase model and as a formulation of 14 themes of counsellor/therapist development. Rønnestad and Skovholt's (2003) work has served as a foundation for subsequent studies of practitioners' professional identity development. For instance, Moss et al. (2014) conducted a grounded theory study to investigate the professional identity development of practising counsellors at different experience levels, including beginning, experienced, and expert. They have formed a theory of transformational tasks of professional identity development. Examples are adjustment to expectations, separation versus integration, experienced guide, and continuous learning. Through these tasks, counsellors encounter issues of idealism toward realism, burnout toward rejuvenation, and compartmentalisation toward congruency. Despite the lasting influence of these two studies, up-to-date research on practitioners' professional identity development is necessary and important to contribute to the existing knowledge base.
A critical aspect of developing a professional identity as a practitioner-in-training is understanding and applying counselling and psychotherapy theories to professional practice (Watson and Super 2020). Practitioner education and training programmes, such as those accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counsellor Education and Related Programs (CACREP 2024) in the United States, emphasise standards pertinent to the teaching, application, and practise of theories. Thus, theoretical orientation is considered an essential building block for educating, training, and supervising practitioners. The literature on theoretical orientation development suggests that a practitioner's choice of a theoretical orientation to practise is influenced by various factors such as supervision, clinical training, and professional efficacy (Demir and Gazioğlu 2017; Messina et al. 2019). This choice is not simply the result of exposure to a particular theoretical orientation during training but is connected to professional identity development among practitioners (Gibson et al. 2010). A survey of 70 counsellor educators conducted by Calley and Hawley (2008) in the US found that theoretical orientation is related to developing professional identity. Survey participants reported that the underlying values of one's theoretical orientation are connected to the broader value system of the counsellor educator's professional identity.
In addition to theoretical orientation, empirical studies demonstrate that mentorship is a positive contribution to professional identity development. Mentorship is a ‘nurturing, complex, long-term, developmental process in which a more skilled and experienced person serves as a role model, teacher, sponsor, and coachwho encourages, counsels, and befriends a less skilled person to promote the latter's professional and/or personal development’ (Black et al. 2004, 46). Research reveals that mentoring relationships benefit the counsellor education doctoral students; for instance, these relationships support their professional identity development (Carrillo and Rubel 2019; Limberg et al. 2013). The perceptions of professional identity development from 10 counselling leaders are examined through consensual qualitative research methodology in Woo et al.'s (2016) research. Participants reported that mentors played an important role in their counsellor professional identity development. Through their respective mentoring experiences, participants perceived a solid theoretical orientation to counselling and counsellor education. Participants perceived that strong mentorship helped to enhance and refine their professional identity, which, in turn, supported their growth into successful counsellor educators who eventually went on to mentor future generations of counsellors. Although this study aimed to study perceptions of professional identity development, its findings highlight the intricate pattern between professional identity development, theoretical orientation development, and mentorship.
In the realm of theoretical orientation and, more specifically, Adlerian psychology, Qu and Seward (2024) investigated two classical Adlerian practitioners' professional identity development experiences and perspectives, illuminating that mentorship was an influential factor in learning theory and developing a sense of professional identity. Following this finding on the influential impact of mentorship on professional identity development, the current research aims to explore further how classical Adlerian practitioners navigate developing their professional identity in the context of the classical Adlerian mentorship training style.
To gain a deeper understanding of how mentorship impacts the development of professional identity and theoretical orientation, we focus on a group of Adlerian practitioners who adhere to a classical Adlerian approach. The population of classical Adlerian practitioners represents one theoretical branch of Adlerian psychology, but little empirical research has been conducted within this population (Qu and Luke 2022; Qu and Seward 2024). The classical Adlerian approach (Stein 2013) 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 (Stein 2020). Individuals study the classical Adlerian approach through post-graduate professional training offered by the Classical Adlerian Depth Psychotherapy Institute (CADPI) in a one-on-one mentorship style in which a trainee is matched with a training analyst (CADPI 2024).
Individuals pursuing the classical Adlerian approach can undergo training that leads to certification of classical Adlerian depth psychotherapists. This training has a home base in the United States but is delivered worldwide. The training certification requires a minimum of 20 courses, covering theory and practice, a necessitated personal study-analysis, and extensive case supervision (CADPI 2024). Certification usually takes 4–5 years and recognises a sufficient level of knowledge and skill in practising classical Adlerian counselling and psychotherapy in students (CADPI 2024). Typically, each course on theory and practice entails 5 weeks of instruction, including 6 h of audio instruction per week and self-study of specific published materials and unpublished manuscripts from the institute. This is followed by 1h one-on-one audio or virtual discussion with a training analyst each week to discuss the study content to deepen one's understanding of theory and practice (CADPI 2024).
Classical Adlerian training embraces a mentorship style. Classical Adlerian training analysts are mentors who provide distance training to mental health professionals and students worldwide via electronic virtual communication platforms (CADPI 2024). Becoming a training analyst requires an advanced certification as a training analyst in classical Adlerian depth psychotherapy (CADPI 2024). This advanced certification prepares training analysts to teach the classical approach, conduct personal study-analysis, and supervise individual cases. Mastering the art of the classical Adlerian approach requires ongoing mentoring from a highly experienced practitioner whose character reflects Adlerian philosophy, encompassing attitudes and qualities such as equality, social interest, and democracy. This experience is deemed essential to grasp the necessary depth of feeling and trust in the therapeutic process (CADPI 2024).
While existing literature sketches an evolving understanding of professional identity development, theoretical orientation development, and mentorship, further studies can contribute to the knowledge base. Exploring classical Adlerian practitioners' professional identity development under the classical Adlerian mentorship style serves this purpose. In particular, investigating the lived experiences of developing professional identity among classical Adlerian mentees and mentors will advance comprehension of the three phenomena. The research question of this study is: What are the lived experiences of developing professional identity through a mentorship-style training among classical Adlerian practitioners?
2 | Method
2.1 | Research Paradigms and Tradition
This study used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to gain insights into how classical Adlerian practitioners shape their professional identity through a mentorship-style training. IPA is a research methodology that aims to understand a phenomenon by examining the perspectives of individuals who have experienced it (Smith et al. 2022). Following the principles of constructivism and interpretivism, we examined the experiences of classical Adlerian practitioners to identify patterns of meaning in their accounts of developing their professional identity through classical Adlerian mentorship. Our objective was to uncover the unique experiences of each participant and help facilitate a better understanding of this shared experience by analysing the meaning-making processes.
2.2 | Researcher Reflexivity
Before initiating the research, we heeded the recommendations of qualitative research experts (Hays and Singh 2023; Smith et al. 2022) and gave due consideration to our perspectives as
researchers. We reflected on our personal experiences, understanding of the topic, roles as researchers, and unique encounters with professional identity, theoretical orientation, and mentorship. For example, the first author is a Chinese, cisgender, heterosexual female counsellor educator. The second author is a Black American, cisgender, heterosexual male counsellor educator. The third author is a White American, cisgender, heterosexual female counsellor educator. We all had positive and negative mentorship experiences and believed the processes of developing professional identity and theoretical orientation and going through mentorship were complex. For example, the first author identifies her theoretical orientation as guided by Eastern and Adlerian philosophies, while the second author identifies it as rooted in multicultural and social justice development of mental health professionals. Given our previous research experiences using similar methods, we acknowledged the ways they could influence our perspectives, and thus, we actively attended to our perspectives, experiences, and positionalities throughout the research process and sought trustworthiness checks to mitigate this.
2.3 | Participants
We employed purposive sampling. After receiving Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, we recruited participants with the assistance of the director of the Classical Adlerian Depth Psychotherapy Institute (CADPI), the sole institute in the United States to offer training in the classical Adlerian approach. Prospective participants received an informed consent document detailing the study's objective, participation criteria, potential risks, and benefits. Five participants who identified as having a classical Adlerian theoretical orientation to counselling and psychotherapy volunteered to take part in this study. Due to the small number of classical Adlerian practitioners, the participants expressed concerns about maintaining confidentiality. Therefore, we prioritised this ethical consideration and only disclosed participant characteristics that were relevant to the inclusion criteria when reporting our findings.
All five participants had either completed or were in the process of completing the classical Adlerian depth psychotherapy (CADP) training at the time of the study. All five participants identified themselves as mentees, and three of them also identified as mentors in the CADP training. Four participants had completed at least a master's degree in counselling and one in clinical psychology. Finally, all participants had practised counselling and/or psychotherapy within the last five years. Participants did not receive compensation for their participation in the research.
2.4 | Data Collection
All five participants participated in two individual, semi-structured Zoom interviews. In the first interviews, which lasted approximately one hour, participants were asked the following questions: (1) How would you describe your professional identity? (2) What is your experience of being a training mentee? (3) What is your experience of being a training mentor? (4) What impact has classical Adlerian mentorship had on
your professional identity? In the second interviews, which lasted approximately 30 min, participants were presented with follow-up questions generated from initial impressions of the first interviews. Examples were: (1) How was your experience in the first interview? (2) Could you elaborate more on the impact of the classical Adlerian mentorship on who you are as a professional? (3) Is there anything else you would like to add? All participants engaged in member checking and were explicitly asked to check if (1) the written information was correct,
(2) anything was missing, (3) anything needed revising, and
(4) participants had additional comments. All five participants confirmed the accuracy of the transcripts and revised them minimally to improve clarity in their responses. All revisions were accepted.
2.5 | Data Analysis
A transcription site (i.e., Otter) was used to transcribe interview scripts by uploading audio recordings totaling 330 min. A total of 76 pages of transcripts were analysed using the seven-step IPA process outlined by Smith et al. (2022). The first step was to read and re-read the data from one participant to gain a deep understanding of it. Then, we analysed the language use and semantic content in the participants' transcripts while keeping an open mind and noting anything of interest. We used descriptive, linguistic, and conceptual comments to examine the data with a clear phenomenological focus on an interpretative level. In the third step, we developed experiential statements from the exploratory notes by describing and interpreting the data. Next, we searched for connections among experiential statements, followed by identifying personal experiential themes and organising them in a table. We then continued with the individual analysis of other cases in the sixth step. Finally, in the seventh step, we worked with personal experiential themes to develop group experiential themes across cases.
2.6 | Trustworthiness
Throughout our study, we took various measures to ensure that our research was reliable, consistent, and adhered to the research design. To bridle our personal and cultural perspectives, we maintained a reflective journal to document thoughts on the research process (Hays and Singh 2023). We also conducted member checking by asking the participants to review their interview transcripts and preliminary findings and provide feedback (Hays and Singh 2023). We used verbatim quotes from the participants and thick descriptions to provide a comprehensive and detailed account of our findings. Furthermore, we sought the services of an independent auditor who was a doctoral candidate in counsellor education and had expertise in qualitative research to review our work (Smith et al. 2022). The auditor did not receive financial compensation, had no personal interest in the study, and was tasked with ensuring that our research was thorough, rigorous, and free from conflicting evidence. The auditor reviewed an audit trail, including interview transcripts, analyses, and findings, and affirmed the rigour of the data analysis and the presentation of findings.
3 | Findings
The purpose of this study was to explore classical Adlerian practitioners' experiences of developing professional identity through a mentorship-style training. Overall, participants acknowledged the classical Adlerian mentorship through classical Adlerian depth psychotherapy (CADP) training as a unique learning experience. Four themes emerged as the most potent across the whole data set: (a) Mentor's influence, (b) A joyful spirit of being mentors, (c) The one-on-one mentoring relationship, and (d) An incredible learning process. The following space presents the themes supported by direct quotes from five participants. The capitalised letters in the direct quotes indicate linguistic emphasis from the participants. The italicised letters in brackets show participants' facial, emotional, and bodily expressions.
3.1 | Mentors' Influence
This theme describes participants’ recognition of their mentors' influence on shaping professional identity. As participants reflected on their mentee experience in classical Adlerian mentorship, they described how classical Adlerian mentors had influenced them. Their mentors’ influence was diverse, varying from enthusiasm to friendliness, from intentionality to embodiment, but the described influence was overall supportive and facilitative of mentee growth. For instance, Participant 3 articulated how their mentor's enthusiasm about and faith in Adler were appealing and confidence-boosting, especially when Participant 3 experienced difficulties in comprehending and grappling with therapeutic directions. Participant 3 said, ‘So there was always [mentor]'s enthusiasm that kept me fascinated and interested, (feeling supported) even if it was hard, even if I had no idea (shaking head) what I was doing in the beginning.’ Participant 3 added, ‘And I think that (widening eyes) incredible solid conviction of [mentor]'s gave me confidence (smiling) when I was struggling to understand or really does this work? (lean-ing forward) Or where am I going with this?’ (moving hands in the air).
Although Participant 3's mentor's enthusiasm and faith in Adler gave Participant 3 assurance and hope as they navigated the journey of becoming an Adlerian depth psychotherapist, Participant 4 found that their mentor's friendliness and intentionality facilitated their learning as it deepened. To Participant 4, conversing with their mentor helped make sense of the learning materials. Participant 4 narrated, ‘But talking with [mentor] about it, [mentor] brought something to life. [Mentor] is a very friendly [person]. In that phase, [mentor] was alive and vibrant and curious about my questions and friendly in [mentor]'s approach (feeling welcomed and supported). Not only did Participant 4 feel welcome to ask questions, but they also appreciated questions from their mentor, which prompted continued thinking and learning, which Participant 4 found helpful and valuable. Participant 4 remarked, ‘Yet I could feel [mentor] asking questions of me that were really solid questions. It made me think further. And I could ask [mentor] anything, which was very helpful to me, because I was going deeper’ (feeling encouraged).
Another influence classical Adlerian mentors had on mentees was embodying Adler's theory in professional and personal life.
Participant 1 elaborated on how they were impressed by their mentors' consistent embodiment of Adler's theory: ‘But overall, I can say that, across both of the mentors that I have had in the CADP program, I have consistently been impressed by the embodiment of Adler's theory’ (feeling certain and expressing admiration). This embodiment in the form of living, teaching, and practising with Adlerian values, such as cooperation, contribution, and courage, was meaningful to Participant 1 since they valued congruence. Therefore, being a mentee to someone with congruence presented Participant 1 with a precious learning experience. Participant 1 said, ‘And observing them simply and seeing that, in every situation that arises, the approach to solving the problem is the same. And that is it is ALWAYS informed by cooperation, contribution and courage’ (smiling and expressing affirmation). Participant 1 added, ‘And I really appreciated the opportunity to learn from somebody who was living, practicing the theory, not only in their counseling practice, or their teaching practice, but their daily life’ (feeling connected and expressing appreciation).
3.2 | A Joyful Spirit of Being Mentors
Parallel to mentors' impactful influence on the participants was their experience of being mentors. Participants claimed a joyful spirit of being mentors, which they made sense of in different ways. Participant 4 commented, ‘BEING a mentor has been a real professional joy for me’ (smiling and feeling joyful). They found mentorship joyful when they engaged mentees in a gradually profound learning process in which mentees reached comprehension with guidance from the mentor. Participant 4 narrated, ‘You ask questions that draw out of a person their own conclusions. But developing these skills with mentees, with students, is really fun. And I NEVER (widening eyes) get tired of that’ (feeling excited). ‘There's never a bottom—an empty—to this thing. So, mentoring is really a joy. Really a joy’ (smiling and feeling joyful and significant), said Participant 4.
In comparison, the joy of being a mentor was emerging to some participants. For instance, as Participant 2 cherished their mentee experience and hoped to pass on this influence by encouraging others, they considered being a mentor part of their professional identity. Participant 2 articulated:
So it's (mentorship is) obviously something I value and it encourages a mentor spirit in me as well. I find that as I grow in my understanding of myself as a professional, more and more my identity also involves the desire to bring others along – to encourage as I was encouraged. I like this emerging aspect.
(feeling inspired and connected)
Likewise, Participant 3 believed that being a mentor reinforced their Adlerian identity. Participant 3 commented, ‘And of course, as I mentor the younger people, it also reinforces (smiling) that Adlerian identity.’ In addition, cultivating a mentor spirit was also true for Participant 5, who spoke about being a mentor for clients in therapeutic relationships. Participant 5 said, ‘Well, strictly, it allows me to think of myself as almost a mentor for clients (smiling). They come in every week or whenever the frequency is and I get to give them clues about what direction might be interesting for them’ (feeling joyful and hopeful).
3.3 | The One-on-One Mentoring Relationship
This theme depicts the uniqueness of engaging in a one-on-one mentoring relationship with a classical Adlerian mentor. The participants experienced the mentoring relationship differently. The classical Adlerian mentorship to some participants differed from any mentorship previously pursued. For example, Participant 4 remarked that having a one-on-one relationship with a mentor was a different experience for them: ‘It was quite a different experience for me to have one-on-one training.’ Participant 5 perceived the one-on-one relationship as unique, in which the mentee received full attention from the mentor over an extensive amount of time. Participant 5 commented, ‘But it's the mentor-ing nature of the process, which I think is unique, you know, the ONE-ON-ONE, (nodding) you know, someone who's heard you talk for hours (widening eyes) and hours and hours’ (feeling connected and supported).
Moreover, some participants described their experiences in the mentoring relationships with solid and nourishing sentiments. To Participant 3, for instance, they experienced stimulation, excitement, support, encouragement, and guidance. Participant 3 described, ‘And [mentor]'s mentorship really guided me, supported me, and encouraged me that I felt that I was more and more OKAY with the idea, “I can do this! I can do this”’ (laughing and feeling encouraged and guided). They added, ‘And so it (mentorship) was very stimulating, too’ (nodding). Similarly, as a mentee, Participant 2 felt encouraged to develop clinical competency. What is more, Participant 2 recognised that their mentor combined an understanding of them as a person with helping them apply theory to practice:
What I'm describing involves working on a weekly basis with my mentor to combine who I have become as a person and what I understand of the theory and apply it in real time for the benefit of others. And to be encouraged to always be expanding, always to be at the growing edge of my competency.
(expressing affirmation and feeling supported)
Notably, Participant 2 perceived togetherness and comradeship in the relationship with their mentor. Participant 2 also felt belonging, significance, contribution, and connection in that mentoring relationship. Participant 2 stated:
When we get together with our mentors and when we talk about work, it just feels like we're all in it together, trying to do the best we can to take our short time on earth and live it a little better, to leave it maybe just a little bit closer to that ideal of where we all find our belonging and significance in meaningful contribution and connection.
3.4 | An Incredible Learning Process
A learning process in the classical Adlerian mentorship was deemed incredibly valuable in the experiences of classical Adlerian practitioners. Participants emphasised the value of a learning process in a mentorship style and highlighted the integration of learning and application for learning theory and becoming Adlerian practitioners. For instance, Participant 5 claimed themself as an experiential learner who needed repetition to reinforce learning, and they applauded the classical Adlerian mentorship for a valuable learning process. Participant 5 commented:
[T]he mentorship process of learning, this is EXTREMELY valuable, because I'm the kind of person who needs a lot of repetition (laughing), especially with theory so that I can understand it better. And since that's the process, THAT (widening eyes) was a very good learning process for me.
(nodding and expressing affirmation)
In the same vein, Participant 2 agreed on the helpfulness and meaningfulness of processing theoretical learning at a deep level. What is more, discussing learning materials about the classical Adlerian approach with a mentor allowed time for Participant 2 to digest information and reach a mutual understanding with their mentor. Participant 2 asserted:
The mentor-mentee format was very helpful and meaningful for me. Again, with the idea that you don't just consume the information, but that you process it deeply. I think that in this way, you are challenged to wrestle with the material and really arrive at some kind of fundamental understanding. It is being joined and encouraged in that wrestling that is so effective. (feeling connected and expressing affirmation)
In addition to applauding the value of a learning process that participants experienced in the classical Adlerian mentorship, they considered this mentorship process of becoming Adlerian practitioners as an integration of learning and application. This can be seen in Participant 3's sense-making of their experience of the classical Adlerian mentorship. Participant 3 described:
And so it was really an (widening eyes) INTENSE APPLICATION ALL THE TIME of what I was learning with my cases. And so there was this incredible LEARNING CURVE as I was learning the theory, and then was being able to put into practice, and then coming back for supervision, and then being able to experiment and see and analyze (feeling challenged and excited).
The combination of learning and application consisted of multiple components, including reading, listening to historical tapes, conceptualising cases, seeking supervision, and practising in counselling and/or psychotherapy. Participants confirmed the richness of learning Adler's theory in a multimodal format,
which helped them make sense of the theoretical content gradually and deeply. For example, Participant 2 narrated:
Adler's translated writing is often very dense and so complex – it was nice that we had a multimodal approach to accessing it. I was both reading and wrestling with the material, processing weekly with a mentor, and listening to other professionals wrestle with conceptualizations, with application or with Adler himself. In this way I became a part of something that preceded me and that would outlive me – a group of scholars trying to know more deeply so that they could help more deeply.
(feeling connected, appreciative, and significant)
Comparably, Participant 5 spoke to the richness and value of achieving theoretical comprehension through a multimodal lens in an experiential style of learning:
I think I'm a person who learns experientially, and so to have the structure of the learning – combination of reading, hearing people's tapes on how they've worked with people, and now applying it in my work all at the same time – was so rich, because things would gel: I'd go off into a client issue, or I'd go back to a family issue, or my own ways of coping with different situations. And ALL OF THAT was experientially valuable.
(feeling significant and supported and expressing affirmation)
4 | Discussion
This study examined how mentorship shapes the development of professional identity among classical Adlerian practitioners. Four key themes emerged from participants' experiences. First, all participants recognised their mentors' profound influence, ranging from inspiring enthusiasm to embodying Adlerian principles in practice. Second, the mentorship experience cultivated participants' own desire to mentor others, instilling both a mentor spirit and genuine joy in guiding future practitioners. Third, participants emphasised the power of one-on-one mentoring relationships, each describing a unique and deep connection with their mentor. Fourth, participants valued the experiential learning process inherent in mentorship training, particularly how it integrated theoretical knowledge with practical application in becoming Adlerian practitioners. These findings both confirm and challenge existing mentoring literature. Participants' accounts reveal dimensions of the mentorship experience previously undocumented, offering fresh perspectives on how mentoring operates within the classical Adlerian tradition and contributes to professional identity formation and theoretical learning and mastery.
4.1 | A Valuable Multimodal Learning Process
All classical Adlerian practitioners who participated in this study acknowledged and appreciated the classical Adlerian
mentorship as it represented a multimodal learning process for applying theory to clinical practice. Participants listed a series of learning tasks, from reading to recordings, from discussions to consultation. Participants' descriptions of what the classical Adlerian mentorship entailed align with the training institute's introduction. According to the Classical Adlerian Depth Psychotherapy Institute (CAPDI 2024), the CADP distance training embraces a mentor orientation:
With their individual mentors, our students engage in: home study of audio-recorded seminars and video-recorded therapy demonstrations; supplementary reading of rare, unpublished materials; weekly discussions, personal study-analysis; and case consultations by telephone; self-paced progress; and customized training to match their professional interests and needs.
As participants valued each element's learning opportunity, some believed that the learning content and process were experiential, thus contributing to their theoretical comprehension and clinical application. Theoretical and clinical mastery, in return, strongly contributed to classical Adlerian practitioners' sense of who they were as professionals. This pattern of findings is consistent with the claim that experiential learning furthers professional identity development (Auxier et al. 2003; Carrillo and Rubel 2019; Dollarhide et al. 2013; Limberg et al. 2013). This study supports that experiential learning is valuable and essential to theoretical learning and developing theoretical orientation among classical Adlerian practitioners.
4.2 | The One-on-One Mentoring Relationship
Regarding the classical Adlerian mentorship experience, classical Adlerian practitioners emphasised the uniqueness of the one-on-one mentoring relationship. In the participants' experience, their mentors were available to meet regularly to discuss learning materials and clinical work. This mentorship style represents a traditional or classical approach to mentorship in which the mentor and the mentee establish a formal relationship and meet on a one-on-one, frequent basis (Burgess et al. 2018). In the participants' experience, the availability, consistency, and frequency of meetings allowed mentors to understand mentees as persons and professionals, facilitating mentees' theoretical learning and clinical application.
Previous scholars have discussed the benefits of mentorship, but there is little research on the benefits of having a one-on-one mentoring relationship in the field of practitioner education. Despite this, the medical education field has investigated this topic of inquiry. Behling et al. (2021) reported that 23 final-year medical students in Germany viewed a neurosurgical one-on-one mentoring programme positively. By attending regular bi-weekly meetings and evaluations of clinical practical skills for eight weeks, medical students reported a chance for individually tailored learning of varying neurosurgical clinical skill sets. While medical education and practitioner education share similarities and differences, this study's findings on the uniqueness of one-on-one mentorship and findings from Behlinget al. (2021) strongly imply that one-on-one mentoring relationships benefit learning.
In addition to the uniqueness of having a one-on-one relationship with a mentor, classical Adlerian practitioners described a range of qualities and elements of their mentoring relationships with positive sentiments. Examples include stimulation, excitement, support, encouragement, guidance, appreciation, togetherness, comradeship, belonging, significance, contribution, and connection. These findings align with the existing literature on critical components of an effective mentoring relationship, such as open communication, accessibility, and caring personal relationships (Eller et al. 2014). These findings also support the desired qualities of mentors, such as encouraging, compassionate, flexible, warm, empathic, and trusting (Kent et al. 2020). Meanwhile, the findings expand the categories to belonging, comradeship, significance, and contribution. This study highly indicates that participants believe that an effective one-on-one mentoring relationship creates positive, solid, and nourishing sentiments in mentees.
4.3 | Mentor's Influence
The classical Adlerian practitioners in this study believed that the classical Adlerian mentors had significantly impacted their experience of theoretical learning and becoming Adlerian practitioners. Participants articulated how their mentors' friendliness, enthusiasm, intentionality, and congruence contributed to developing a solid theoretical orientation to clinical practice and a sense of professional self as Adlerian practitioners. These findings are consistent with the claim that the mentors' passion and inspiration are critical for mentees (Eller et al. 2014). This study suggests that mentees desire mentors who inspire critical thinking, creativity, and confidence and spark interest in the mentee.
The present findings are also consistent with Woo et al.'s (2016) work on the professional identity development of ten counselling leaders. Woo et al. (2016) have illustrated that mentors played an important role in participants’ counsellor professional identity development. Through respective mentoring experiences, participants perceived a solid theoretical orientation to counselling and counsellor education and a refined professional identity. The present study reinforces the idea that mentors have a crucial role in practitioners’ professional identity development and theoretical orientation development.
4.4 | Benefits for Being a Mentor
Mentor experience parallels the mentee experience. In this study, participants who were also mentors revealed a joyful spirit for mentoring fellow classical Adlerian practitioners. This was evidenced in facilitating mentee learning and development and passing the classical Adlerian mentorship legacy on to future practitioners. Participants expressed that being a mentor reinforced their development of professional identity.
These findings suggest benefits for mentors to engage in men-torship, which are prevalent in the existing literature across disciplines (e.g., Black and Zullo 2008; Burgess et al. 2018; Eby
and Lockwood 2005). The joyful spirit that classical Adlerian mentors expressed in this study is similar to personal fulfilment in Burgess et al.'s (2018) claim for mentor benefits by engaging in mentorship. Black and Zullo (2008) have written that benefits to mentors in the counselling field include an enrichment of their professional careers. In addition, scholars have written about the intrinsic satisfaction in seeing one's actions contribute to the development and success of a young adult in whom they see real professional potential (Erikson 1963; Levinson et al. 1978). Eby and Lockwood (2005) have also commented that mentors feel pride in seeing their mentees progress. Facilitating mentee learning and development is supported by Garmel's (2004) notion that benefits for mentors include aiding the professional development of junior colleagues.
The current study explores the experience and benefits of mentors who engage in classical Adlerian mentorship with practitioners pursuing postgraduate training in classical Adlerian depth psychotherapy. While the benefits of mentorship for mentors have been theoretically proposed, empirical research in this area remains scarce. Our findings provide qualitative evidence in support of long-standing theoretical claims in the mentorship literature.
4.5 | Role of Emotions in Identity Development
During the research interview process, classical Adlerian practitioners exhibited various kinds of emotions, especially when they narrated their experience of the classical Adlerian mentorship. When recounting their experience of the classical Adlerian mentorship, participants' descriptions conveyed solid and positive emotions (e.g., joy, excitement, support, encouragement, and affirmation) evident in facial, emotional, bodily, and speech expressions. These findings merit one comment about emotions and identity development: Geijsel and Meijers (2005) argue that identity learning is an intellectual and emotional construction process, indicating that emotions have a key role in the process of forming and developing one's identity. In this vein, classical Adlerian practitioners' descriptions of their mentee and mentor experience, which are replete with trust and affirmation, firmly imply a high-level congruency between the words articulated and the sentiments conveyed. One interpretation of syncing the verbal and non-verbal is the significant impact of the classical Adlerian mentorship on classical Adlerian practitioners, including their professional identity development and theoretical orientation development.
5 | Implications
The findings yield valuable information for classical Adlerian practitioners, the classical Adlerian training, and practitioner education and training. Mentorship is a highlight of the classical Adlerian training in the participants' experience. Self-identified classical Adlerian practitioners may approach the mentorship process with intentionality and thoughtfulness. For example, mentees could use the multimodal components designed within the mentorship-style learning process to engage in theoretical learning. Pulling the threads of developing theoretical orientation and professional identity is appreciated by classical
Adlerian practitioners in this study. This intentional process can be applied to practitioner education and training. Practitioner educators may consider incorporating experiential learning activities into the curriculum to facilitate the process of developing theoretical orientation in training future practitioners. One example is to use experiential learning activities and assignments to reflect one's understanding of the therapeutic process and the practitioner's role.
Moreover, the benefits of one-on-one mentoring relationships are evident for both mentees and mentors in this study. Similarly, practitioner educators and supervisors could consider assuming the role of mentors in training and supervising practitioners-in-training and practitioners. Offering guidance on integrating the experience of developing professional identity and its relationship with personal identity is likely to benefit practitioners-in-training. In addition, this study supports the influence of mentors on one's experience developing professional identity and theoretical orientation. Thus, practitioner educators and supervisors may consider recognising the influence they have on the development of others, thus engaging in continuous reflection on how their actions and words might be helpful or unhelpful to the mentee's experience.
6 | Limitations and Future Directions
As qualitative researchers, our personal and cultural perspectives may influence our findings, though we implemented key trustworthiness strategies, such as reflective journals, member checking, thick description, and the independent audit, to attend to our perspectives that might have influenced the interpretative process. Another limitation is participant recruitment, determined by the sampling procedure; hence, individuals dissatisfied with their training or mentorship experience were unlikely to have volunteered for this research. Given that participants expressed concerns over confidentiality due to the small classical Adlerian community, we prioritised the confidentiality and privacy of participants and chose not to disclose their demographics. The inclusion of cultural variables might affect analysis; for example, cultural variables, such as ethnicity/race and social and economic status, may add layers of intersections to findings. One way to mitigate this challenge is to ask participants to reflect on the impact of their cultural being on developing professional identity, learning theory, and undertaking a mentorship-style training in future studies. Future research could also focus on an intentional integration of mentorship into practitioner education among various populations, such as practitioners who adhere to a different theoretical orientation or master's level practitioners-in-training.
7 | Conclusion
This qualitative study provides significant insights into how classical Adlerian practitioners develop their professional identity through mentorship-style training. The four emergent themes collectively illuminate the profound influence that classical Adlerian mentorship has on shaping practitioners' professional identities and theoretical orientations. The implications extend beyond the classical Adlerian community
to the broader field of practitioner education. The mentorship model demonstrated here offers a compelling framework for integrating multimodal learning with theoretical understanding, suggesting that professional identity development flourishes through intentional, reflective, and relational learning processes. This study also highlights the reciprocal benefits of mentoring relationships, in which mentors derive fulfillment from guiding others while mentees gain invaluable support in integrating their personal and professional identities. As the counselling and psychotherapy field continues to evolve, incorporating structured mentorship experiences into training programmes may enhance how future practitioners develop their theoretical orientations and professional identities. This research affirms that meaningful mentorship relationships are foundational to producing competent, reflective, and identity-integrated practitioners.
Funding
The authors have nothing to report.
Ethics Statement
This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of Syracuse University (June 29, 2023/IRB# 23-199).
Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. The authors affirm that human research participants provided informed consent for publication of their experiences and direct quotes.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Data Availability Statement
The participants of this study provided informed consent for publication of their experiences and direct quotes used in this manuscript. However, they did not give consent for their data to be shared publicly. In order to protect participant privacy and confidentiality, which is in line with the ethical codes of the American Psychological Association and the American Counselling Association, research supporting data is not available.
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This article is shared with the generous permission of its author, Xiaoxuan Qu, Ph.D., NCC.