DeeP - Effects of Deliberate Practice and Feedback in Psychotherapy Training.

Project management: Prof. Dr. phil. Svenja Taubner, Prof. Dr. phil. habil. Bernhard Strauss

 

Background

A central goal of psychotherapeutic training is to strengthen essential competencies of the trainees. This includes relational skills across all schools of therapy, which enable trainees to apply interventions and techniques flexibly and to adapt them to the respective patients. Research to date shows that the way in which teaching is delivered has a major impact on training success. In particular, deliberate practice (conscious, intentional practice of complex skills) and structured feedback (direct qualitative and quantitative feedback on performance) have shown promising results in empirical studies. Nonetheless, there is a great lack of systematic studies that experimentally examine different skill teaching methods in the psychotherapy training context.

 

Study

The Effects of Deliberate Practice and Feedback in Psychotherapy Training (DeeP) project, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), aims to help fill this research gap. In Germany-wide cooperation with various psychotherapy training institutes, different mediation methods for strengthening relationship skills will be investigated in a randomized-controlled longitudinal study. For this purpose, the two teaching methods Deliberate Practice and Structured Feedback will be applied individually and in combination in different workshops. The results will be compared with a control group, which will be trained identically in terms of content but didactically in terms of method as is usually the case. As a survey instrument to measure interpersonal skills, we use the Facilitative Interpersonal Skills Rating Method (FIS, Anderson et al., 2009; Gumz et al., 2018), an instrument originally developed by Timothy Anderson (Vanderbilt University, USA) (German version by Antje Gumz, PH Berlin). In addition to the effects of the different teaching methods on the trainees' relationship skills, direct and indirect effects of relationship skills on therapy success will be further assessed. The project duration is 3 years (start October 2022). The goal of the project is to develop an evidence-based recommendation on teaching methods for interpersonal skills.

 

Status of the project

Currently, we are looking for psychotherapy training institutes that are interested in becoming part of our project and working with us to offer the workshop to their trainees. You can find more information in our flyer

 

Project in cooperation with the University Hospital Jena