AbstractThis paper is a somewhat modified version of the inaugural Rapaport—Klein Memorial Lecture at Austen Riggs Center presented June 21, 1974. The author describes the experiences, the series of “apprenticeships” and clinical exposures, which coalesced into his education, from teenage days in the New York Madison House settlement, through Harvard undergraduate and graduate work, to Worcester State Hospital as head of psychological services and research. In conclusion, the author discusses the effects of the kinds of training experiences he has described on the issues that arose in the formulation of formal standards of training in clinical psych