Conference Agenda

This presentation aims to shed light on the process of becoming a psychologist by focusing on experiences of psychology students. From the perspective of cultural psychology, professional identity is a process guided by the construction of meaning complexes that are used to make sense of experiences. Drawing on dialogical self theory, internalization of the professional role can be characterized in terms of the formation of I-positions.

From the coexistence of different subsystems within the self arises the question of how these different I-positions are coordinated when making sense of issues related to navigation of meta-intentionality, the central characteristic of the therapeutic relationship. Within the framework of cultural psychology, meta-intentionality can be understood as a semiotically mediated process in which intentions are enabled or inhibited through the use of signs and meanings.

The sample consisted of bachelor’s level psychology students on their last year of studies from the same cohort. The students were invited to write reports on the professional role related issues that were constructed to gather information about arrangement of I-positions and how encountering client’s intentions were solved.

Based on the findings, navigating client’s meta-intentionality revealed to be a complex task of coordination of personal perspective “I as a person” (i.e., non-psychologist) and giving voice to I-position “I as a professional”. As the results suggest, constructed meanings of the ambivalent condition – a person in a professional role – of encountering others’ wishes were emotionally laden and challenging that can be linked to the coordination of coexistence of different voices (personal, professional) within the self.

The findings suggest that students handle the tension between personal sphere and professional setting by activating a narrow professional identity as a semiotic blocker stabilizing a rigid boundary between the personal and the professional. Together with prevailing professional perspective in solutions, domination of blocking other’s intentions was identified.

This presentation explores meta-intentionality, the desire for another person to want what I want, as a core process in psychotherapy and a key aspect of the therapist’s professional identity. Extending Brentano’s notion of intentionality, meta-intentionality represents the intersubjective alignment of intentions that underpins meaningful human connection. In psychotherapy, therapists direct meta-intentions toward clients, wishing not just for change but for clients to desire change for themselves. At the same time, clients form meta-intentions toward the therapist, each influencing the other’s sense of self and the dialogue within the therapeutic space. This reciprocal interplay of meta-intentions shapes the formation and negotiation of I-positions—the internal voices that both therapist and client occupy in the therapeutic encounter. As these I-positions shift, they reflect the evolving alignment of intentions, impacting the quality of the therapeutic alliance and facilitating meaning-making and identity transformation. Conceptualized as a common factor in therapy, meta-intentionality offers a lens for understanding how therapists’ and clients’ reflective awareness of their own and each other's intentions supports therapeutic outcomes, personal growth, and professional identity development. Rooted in cultural psychology, this perspective highlights how the dynamic, dialogical exchange between therapist and client influences I-position negotiation, empathy, and identity construction throughout the therapeutic process.

My interest in "the novice" is the starting point for the discussion of the way a psychologist in training creates, adapts to and manages the challenges of the profession in ones practices. The professional self is navigated in professional settings and also outside of professional settings as responsibilities and a way of thinking not excluded to "being at work". Here I propose a dynamic stance on the study of the professional Self of the psychologist and zoom into the transitionality or liminal zone between I as a psychologist and I as a non-psychologist - after holding the official title of "psychologist".

Dialogical Self Theory contributes with an understanding of the importance of the movements between them as co-existing opposites continuously negotiated and handled by the professional psychologist.

The transition from psychology student to psychologist is not a linear trajectory and contain continuously dialogue between I as professional and I as non-professional in a dynamic process. The experiences of being professional in a professional setting, personal in a personal setting - but also professional in a personal setting and personal in a professional setting and how the accelerations in time and affectivity (value making) unfolds is of interest. The simultaneous processes of creating one self and how much effort it takes to adjust to the formal role while creating a personal formal role as a novice is here the case.

Professional identity in psychotherapy is not fixed but develops over time through concrete clinical experiences. From a dialogical self perspective, professional identity can be understood as a dynamic configuration of multiple I-positions that are activated and reorganized in therapeutic work. In clinical situations, personal feelings, memories, or biographical experiences may become strongly activated, temporarily destabilizing the professional I-position.

This presentation is based on five qualitative interviews with psychotherapists and includes my own reflected clinical material. The focus lies on moments in which therapists experienced strong emotional reactions, countertransference, or personal resonance that challenged their professional stance.

Drawing explicitly on the Dialogical Self Model, these moments are conceptualized as shifts in dominance and tension between different I-positions, such as professional, personal, and biographical self-aspects.

Across the interviews, therapists describe how imagination plays a central role in dealing with such dialogical tensions. Through inner dialogue, mental imagery, and reflective engagement with their own biography, therapists are able to negotiate between competing I-positions and restore a more stable professional position. In this sense, imagination functions as a dialogical mediating process that supports the reorganization of the self over time.

The presentation introduces a conceptual model of imagination as a dialogical mechanism that operates both within the patient’s therapeutic process and within the therapist’s professional self-reflection. By linking these two perspectives, the contribution highlights how imagination facilitates emotional regulation, professional judgment, and the ongoing development of professional identity understood as a dynamic dialogical self.