| This phenomenological study investigated the meaning of growth-fostering characteristics found in the mentoring relationships between women from a professional psychology graduate education program. This study will utilize a Self-in-Relation/Relational-Cultural Theory perspective developed by theorists of the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute at the Stone Center of Wellesley College.; Six co-researchers, students from PsyD programs, were interviewed using an interview format informed by the Stone Center's Relational Health Indices: An Exploratory Study (Liang et al., 1998). Transcribed interviews revealed the meanings ascribed by proteges of the mentoring relationships experienced in graduate school. Phenomenological analysis methods of horizontalization and verticalization of data identified themes. These emergent themes included the meaning of growth-fostering relationships, diversity factors, and disconnections. Recommendations about the importance of mentoring relationships in professional psychology graduate school programs are presented. |
