Big ideas for psychotherapy training.

Abstract

Research indicates that traditional psychotherapy training practices are ineffective in durably improving the effectiveness of psychotherapists. In addition, the quantity and quality of psychotherapy training research has also been limited in several ways. Thus, based on extant scholarship and personal experience, we offer several suggestions for improving on this state of affairs. Specifically, we propose that future psychotherapy trainings focus on a few "big ideas," target psychotherapist meta-cognitive skills, and attend more closely to the organizational/treatment context in which the training takes place. In terms of future training research, we recommend that researchers include a wider range of intermediate outcomes in their studies, examine the nature of trainee skill development, and investigate the role that organizational/treatment culture plays in terms of the retention of changes elicited by psychotherapy training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

Humanistic psychotherapy research 1990–2015: From methodological innovation to evidence-supported treatment outcomes and beyond

“…To this end we argue that there is converging evidence to suggest that therapeutic training should emphasize the person of the therapist (Duncan, 2010;Fauth, Gates, Vinca, Boles, & Hayes, 2007;Geller & Greenberg, 2012) and enhance the development of empathic communication skills, the capacity to enhance clients' emotional expression and self-regulation, and the capacity to develop a secure and productive therapeutic alliance for the facilitation of client narrative disclosure and productive meaning-making in therapy sessions.…”

Whatelseare psychotherapy trainees learning? A qualitative model of students' personal experiences based on two populations

“…Even so, this understanding of the training process has been largely taken for granted by some, and overlooked by others. If, as most trainers seem to agree, personal development is an important component to a therapist's professional growth (Fauth et al, 2007;Geller et al, 2005), then research is needed to elaborate the types of personal, interpersonal, and reflexive changes that trainees undergo as a critical, albeit largely undeclared, product of psychotherapist training. The current study examines graduate students in a skills-based course on experiential-integrative psychotherapy.…”

“…Still, little research has empirically demonstrated or substantively described these ''other goals.'' Ideally, training cultivates one's personal and relational qualities, such as emotional maturity, empathic attunement, and the ability to internally manage one's own difficulties during an interpersonal encounter (Fauth, Gates, Vinca, & Boles, 2007). In this sense, therapist training can act as a sort of ''therapy'' in and of itself, insofar as it offers an exercise of self-development in the personal qualities required to be an effective therapist (Pascual-Leone, 2012).…”

The challenge of becoming an integrative counsellor: The trainee's perspective

“…Counsellor and psychotherapy training has attracted little attention to date (Fauth et al, 2007), and literature written on integrative training tends to focus upon idealised training programmes (e.g. Castonguay, 2000;Norcross & Beutler, 2000).…”