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JPT Research Digest

Use of MBTI® Step II™ as a Tool for Selecting Clinical Psychology Specialty


Phillips, M. R. (2019) The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® and the Development of Therapeutic Orientation. Dissertation, California School of Professional Psychology, Alliant International University, 171 pp.

This study combined a qualitative phenomenological design with the MBTI® Step II™ assessment as a vehicle to probe more deeply into the metacognition and self-knowledge of clinical graduate students in a doctoral program in clinical psychology on the west coast.

Through a complex, demanding process, these students are expected to recognize their unique professional identities by way of psychological self-examination, without benefit of significant breadth of experience. Little guidance is provided to pre-professional students, without much time for active processing to achieve an appropriate level of self-insights that are essential in clinical psychology. Thus, students often end up relying upon the advice of fellow students, supervisors, or mentors, rather than engaging in critical thinking regarding this important career decision.

The MBTI Step II was provided to eight graduate students and interviews were conducted for thematic analysis, resulting in two global themes and five sub-themes that spanned self-knowledge and identity and the role of the graduate program in facilitating clinical specialties. Several themes addressed directly the impact of the MBTI assessment on student's self-knowledge and choice of specialty; of note are recognizing harmony between theoretical orientation and personality type, and, appreciating how MBTI personality profile could have informed graduate education decision-making.


ARTICLE PERMALINK: https://www.myersbriggs.org/research-and-library/journal-psychological-type/use-of-mbti-step-ii-as-a-tool-for-selecting-clinical-psychology-specialty/

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Journal of Psychological Type® Research Digest (JPT-RD) is made available through Myers & Briggs Foundation, worldwide publisher. The editorial team includes Kesstan Blandin, PhD, Yvonne Nelson-Reid, PhD, Logan Abbitt, MLIS, and Purnima Sims.

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Myers & Briggs Foundation carries the legacy of Isabel Briggs Myers and the MBTI® instrument through our mission to educate the public about psychological type—including its ethical, meaningful, and practical applications—and to conduct research on psychological type and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI) instrument. The JPT-RD, published annually, is a publication that highlights research and ideas in the field of psychological type, the MBTI Instrument, and Jungian thought.

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