Deliberate Practice in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy

Deliberate practice exercises help students and trainees rehearse fundamental child and adolescent psychotherapy skills to develop basic competence and hone their own personal therapeutic style.
 
Each book in the Essentials of Deliberate Practice series contains customized exercises consisting of role-playing scenarios in which two trainees act as a client and a therapist, switching back and forth under the guidance of a supervisor. The trainee playing the therapist improvises appropriate and authentic responses to a series of client statements organized into three difficulty levels—beginner, intermediate, and advanced—that reflect common problems and concerns encountered by practitioners who work with children and adolescents.
 
The first 12 exercises each focus on a single skill, such as observing and elaborating on play, exploring identity through a multicultural orientation, and addressing difficult issues like safety concerns and sex. These are followed by two comprehensive exercises—an annotated transcript and free-form mock therapy sessions—in which trainees integrate these essential skills into a single session.
 
Step-by-step instructions guide participants through the exercises, identify criteria for mastering each skill, and explain how to monitor and adjust difficulty. Guidelines and forms to help trainers and trainees get the most out of training are also provided.

Jordan Bate, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Psychology at the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at Yeshiva University. She teaches family and child psychotherapy courses, coleads the psychodynamic psychotherapy practicum, and runs the Attachment & Psychotherapy Process Research Lab. Her research centers on understanding therapeutic processes through attachment theory and on the effectiveness of clinical training, including deliberate practice. Dr. Bate is a trainer and supervisor in mentalization-based treatment for children (MBT-C) and President of Section 2 (Childhood and Adolescence) of APA Division 39 (Psychoanalysis). She maintains a private practice in Manhattan, New York working with patients across the lifespan.
 
Tracy A. Prout, PhD, is Associate Professor of Psychology at the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at Yeshiva University. She teaches evidence-based psychodynamic psychotherapy in the School-Clinical Child Combined Doctoral Program, supervises advanced graduate students in the psychodynamic psychotherapy practicum, and leads the psychodynamic psychotherapy lab at Ferkauf. Dr. Prout is principal investigator for several studies related to Regulation Focused Psychotherapy for Children (RFP-C) and supervises all graduate research assistants who work on these projects. Dr. Prout coleads IMPACT Psychological Services, an integrative, group private practice, with locations in Beacon and Mamaroneck, New York serving children, teens, families and adults.
 
Tony Rousmaniere, PsyD, is cofounder and Program Director of Sentio Institute. He provides workshops, webinars, and clinical training and supervision around the world. He is the author/coeditor of six books on deliberate practice and psychotherapy training and two book series: The Essentials of Deliberate Practice (APA Books) and Advanced Therapeutics, Clinical and Interpersonal Skills (Elsevier). In 2017, he published the widely cited article in The Atlantic Monthly, “What Your Therapist Doesn’t Know.” Dr. Rousmaniere supports the open-data movement and publishes clinical outcome data at https://drtonyr.com/. He was awarded the Early Career Award by the Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy.
 
Alexandre Vaz, PhD, is cofounder and Chief Academic Officer of Sentio Institute. He provides deliberate practice workshops and clinical training and supervision around the world. Dr. Vaz is the author/coeditor of four books on deliberate practice and psychotherapy training and two book series: The Essentials of Deliberate Practice (APA Books) and Advanced Therapeutics, Clinical and Interpersonal Skills (Elsevier). He has held multiple committee roles for the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI) and the Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR). Dr. Vaz is founder and host of “Psychotherapy Expert Talks,” an acclaimed interview series with distinguished psychotherapists and researchers.

Series Preface
Tony Rousmaniere and Alexandre Vaz
Acknowledgments
Part I: Overview and Instructions
Chapter 1: Introduction and Overview of Deliberate Practice and Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy
Chapter 2: Instructions for the Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Deliberate Practice Exercises
Part II: Deliberate Practice Exercises for Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Skills
Exercises for Beginner Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Skills
Exercise 1: Communicating Interest and Curiosity
Exercise 2: Naming Feelings
Exercise 3: Praise and Encouragement
Exercise 4: Observing and Describing Play
Exercises for Intermediate Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Skills
Exercise 5: Empathic Validation
Exercise 6: Elaborating Play
Exercise 7: Exploring Identity—Multicultural Orientation
Exercise 8: Self-Disclosure
Exercises for Advanced Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Skills
Exercise 9: Gathering Information About Safety Concerns
Exercise 10: Setting Limits
Exercise 11: Talking About Sex
Exercise 12: Responding to Resistance and Ruptures
Comprehensive Exercises
Exercise 13: Annotated Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Practice Session Transcript
Exercise 14: Mock Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Sessions
Part III: Strategies for Enhancing the Deliberate Practice Exercises
Chapter 3: Additional Guidance for Trainers and Trainees: How to Get the Most Out of Deliberate Practice
Appendix A: Difficulty Assessments and Adjustments
Appendix B: Deliberate Practice Diary Form
Appendix C: Sample Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Syllabus With Embedded Deliberate Practice Exercises
References
Index
About the Authors
About the Series Editors