This short personal essay explores different influences that could influence your acculturation into the profession of marriage and family therapy. Please read the following article in preparation for your brief essay (2-3 pages).

Handelsman, M. M., Gottlieb, M. C., & Knapp, S. (2005). Training ethical psychologists: An acculturation model. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 36, 59-65.

The primary focus of your autobiography should stress what you bring to the profession. Please shape your response around the following questions. You do not have to respond to all of the questions. Please select those that help you explore your own process of acculturation.

What exposure have you had to the field of marriage and family therapy?
What is your idea of right and wrong personal behavior? Where does this perception come from?
What is your idea of right and wrong professional behavior? Where does this perception come from?
What aspects of the field are most compatible with who you are as a person?
Which aspects of the field are least compatible?
What aspects of this profession strike you as “not intuitive?”
What are your top three values and where do they come from?
How might they inform your work as a marriage and family therapist?