Spontaneous Self‐Practice of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) by Aboriginal Counsellors During and Following CBT Training: A Retrospective Analysis of Facilitating Conditions and Impact

Abstract

Previous cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) training studies have suggested that therapists who practice CBT strategies on themselves during training may experience professional and personal benefits. However, it has also been reported that some CBT trainees are reluctant to engage in self-practice. The present study reports an incidental finding from a CBT training study with Aboriginal counsellors: all five counsellors reported that they practiced CBT techniques on themselves without specific encouragement by the trainers to do so. This paper therefore posed three questions: (a) Why-in contrast to some other trainees-did this group choose to apply CBT to themselves? (b) How did they apply it-with what purpose, in what contexts, and which skills? (c) What was the impact of CBT self-practice? Data from the group's reflections were qualitatively analysed by two of the researchers, and "member checked" by the remainder. Results indicated that the counsellors were motivated to practice CBT on themselves for two principal reasons: the value they placed on CBT, and their personal need resulting from the high number of crises experienced while living and working in their communities. The counsellors reported practicing CBT in a wide variety of contexts as part of their learning. As in previous studies, the impact of CBT self-practice was that it increased their confidence and competence as therapists. It also appeared to be a valuable burnout prevention strategy. If the results are generalisable, they suggest that self-experiential training in CBT may be a culturally responsive and adaptive way for Aboriginal counsellors to enhance their learning of CBT skills.

Cognitive behavioural therapy training in Tanzania: a qualitative study of clinicians’ experiences

“…The process of interviewing the clinicians may have allowed them some time for reflection. Importantly, in a study looking at training Aboriginal counsellors in CBT, those using self-practice spontaneously, as in our group, showed increased confidence and competence as therapists (Bennett-Levy et al, 2015).…”

Exploring CBT therapists’ experience of feeling of safety within self-practice/self-reflection: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

“…Although participants may not spontaneously verbalise their FOS, the results from this study indicate that they are often very conscious of being in a vulnerable situation (Spendelow and Butler 2016). Bennett-Levy et al (2015a) refer to a duty of care in relation to facilitators' having awareness of the effect the process is having on participants. This may involve attending both to what participants verbalise and to their non-verbal communication.…”

“…Participants' implicit references to the nervous system can be understood within cognitive science frameworks used to underpin the theoretical basis of SP/SR (Bennett-Levy et al, 2015a). A seminal SP/SR workbook (Bennett-Levy et al, 2015b) recognises the close relationship between the body and emotion and highlights the implicational system of Teasdale and Barnard's Interacting Cognitive Subsystems (Barnard, 2004).…”

“…Haarhoff et al (2015) found that perception of available time as a personal resource, rather than FOS, was seen as the most important influence on SP/SR engagement. Another significant finding is that experience of FOS is not static and may develop over time (Bennett-Levy et al, 2015a). A lack of continuous FOS during the process of SP/SR has been found to be desirable as participants are likely to derive benefit from experiencing some level of distress (Bennett-Levy et al, 2003).…”

Trainees’ experience of cognitive behavioural therapy training: a mixed methods systematic review

“…Following the exploration of the SP/SR component of CBT training, the final study within this theme conducted by Bennett-Levy et al (2015) explored trainees undertaking a 10-day, formal CBT training course, where SP/SR was not recommended or explicitly encouraged. The researchers employed a ‘participatory action research’ approach to explore trainees’ reports of spontaneous engagement in self-practice during and after training and therefore, heavily included participants in the study's design – a component that many of the studies in this review lacked.…”