There is a rich body of literature that details the effects therapists have on their patients. Little attention has, however, been given to the impact of training and working as a professional psychologist on the close personal relationships (CPR) of practitioners. The aim of this study was to explore the subjective experience of the impact of clinical psychology training on trainee psychologists' intrapersonal development and subsequently their CPR in the South African context. Three key relationships the trainees' relationships with their family, friends and romantic partners were the focus of the research. Seven second year clinical psychology master's students were selected using non-probability, purposive sampling to participate in individual semi-structured interviews. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematic analysis was used to identify and analyse themes in the data both within and across the seven interviews. Six main themes were identified and the findings indicate the participants perceive the impact of training on their CPR to be primarily beneficial. This is despite experiencing difficulties in some of their relationships as a result of training. Relationships with romantic partners benefitted from improved communication and some became deeper and more meaningful, although two ended. Participants faced both gains and losses in terms of friends while the intensity and shared experience of training rapidly made classmate relationships extremely important and close. Some participants gained a better understanding of family members and their family's functioning. Training also opened up some relationships by providing a point of connection between certain participants and their parents. The participants rely significantly on all their CPR for social support but support from family is most salient. Finally some implications for training were evoked by the interwoven nature of personal and professional development demonstrated by the study. / Mini Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Psychology / MA / Unrestricted

The main idea of the dissertation is the question, what happens to a person when leaving boundaries of his cultural background. The theoretical part of the thesis presents the previous views on the acculturation and the gradual development of the reflections on the process of acculturation. Considering the individual conditions that can contribute to successful acculturation, the use of personality characteristics seems to be limiting and inadequate. Thus, the concept of competencies is introduced as a more relevant approach for research and applied psychology of acculturation. At the same time, family acculturation is presented in its conditions, strategies and results. Only limited attention in psychological research has been dedicated to this domain so far. The empirical part of the thesis further elaborates on the theoretical overview and deals with the question what distinguishes the successful humanitarian workers at the mission abroad in the organization People in need from those who fail and what role in this specific context the family, close personal relationships and social networks play. As a part of the study, there is a demonstration of the individual steps that can be taken when working with competencies outside of the specific case study and the presentation of a specific competence...