From Rules to Reflexivity: The Development of Ethical Positioning in Systemic Trainees

Ethics is a core concern in systemic psychotherapy, yet little is known about how trainees develop ethical positioning. This study explores how systemic trainees learn to think, position themselves, and act ethically during their training. It draws on a reflexive thematic analysis of nine interviews conducted by peer‐researchers. The analysis revealed three main themes: Letting Go of the Rulebook, Who We Are Shapes What We Do, and Finding Our Voice in Ethical Uncertainty. The trainees described a gradual shift from treating ethics as a set of procedures toward seeing ethics as relational, contextual, and grounded in personal experience. Their own values, family histories, and cultural identities increasingly shaped how they positioned themselves with clients. These findings suggest that ethical practice in systemic therapy depends less on following rules and more on developing reflexivity and responsiveness in therapeutic contexts. The study points to the need for training programmes to foster ethical awareness and for further research on how therapists learn to practice ethics in systemic settings.