Deliberate Practice in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

Deliberate practice exercises help trainees achieve competence in essential psychodynamic therapy skills and apply them in a range of clinical situations while honing their own personal style and language.
 
These exercises present role-playing scenarios in which two trainees act as a patient and a therapist, switching back and forth under the guidance of a supervisor. The therapist improvises appropriate and authentic responses to patient statements organized into two difficulty levels—intermediate and advanced—that reflect common patient questions and concerns.
 
Each of the first 12 exercises focuses on a single skill, such as engaging in a therapeutic inquiry, deepening emotional experience, pointing out defenses, making transference interpretations, and providing corrective emotional experiences. Two comprehensive exercises follow in which trainees integrate these essential skills into a single psychodynamic therapy 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 to help trainers and trainees get the most out of training are also provided.

Hanna Levenson, PhD is a Professor at the Wright Institute in Berkeley, California, and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA). In addition, she maintains a private practice in Oakland where she sees individuals and couples for therapy and professionals for consultation/supervision. For twenty years Dr. Levenson was Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, University of California Medical School, San Francisco (UCSF), and Director of the Brief Therapy Program at the San Francisco VA Medical Center; She was graduated from Vassar College (1967) with a BA in Psychology and from Claremont University (1972) with a PhD in social psychology. After becoming an associate professor of psychology at Texas A&M University, she respecialized in clinical psychology, doing her internship training at Langley Porter Institute, UCSF (1976-77). Dr. Levenson has been specializing in the areas of brief dynamic therapy and supervision for 40 years. She is the author of over 85 professional papers and three books (Time Limited Dynamic Psychotherapy: A Guide to Clinical Practice, Brief Dynamic and Interpersonal Therapy, and Brief Dynamic Therapy). In her latest book (part of the APA Theories of Psychotherapy Series), Dr. Levenson integrates emotionally-focused, experiential, and interpersonal approaches. Dr. Levenson also has five professional videos illustrating her approach. Her most recent video is a six-session therapy-over-time DVD for APA as part of their Expert Therapist Series. Her latest project has been creating and hosting an 11 DVD and book series produced by APA on Essentials of Psychotherapy Supervision. Dr. Levenson recently received the Distinguished Contribution to Psychology as a Profession Award given by the California Psychological Association.

Volney Gay, PhD is Professor Emeritus at Vanderbilt University. His degrees are BA, 1970, Reed College; MA, 1973, and PhD 1976, the University of Chicago; he did his post-doctoral training at the St. Louis Psychoanalytic Institute. Volney retired in August 2018 as Professor of Psychiatry, Professor of Religious Studies, and Professor of Anthropology at Vanderbilt. At Vanderbilt, he was Chair of Religious Studies, co-founder and Director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Culture, and Principal Investigator, “Science and Religion,” funded by the Templeton Foundation. He has directed 30 doctoral dissertations on psychology, religion, and anthropology. Volney is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the St. Louis Psychoanalytic Institute, certified by the American Psychoanalytic Association, and a member of Section I, Division 39, American Psychological Association. He has published nine books on religion, psychiatry, and anthropology. He has won teaching awards from McMaster University and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine; he won the Heinz Hartmann Award given by the New York Psychoanalytic Institute; the Outstanding Service Award, The American Psychoanalytic Association; and was named Distinguished Psychoanalytic Educator, International Forum for Psychoanalytic Education. His most recent book is American Slavery: Privileges and Pleasures (2021). In 1992, he founded the Nashville Psychoanalytic Study Group with Thomas Campbell, MD. In 2010, he endowed the Barbara Gay Lecture in Child Psychiatry at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Jeffrey L. Binder,PhD, ABPP is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Vanderbilt University, and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Georgia Psychological Association, and the Academy of Clinical Psychology. He also is a diplomate in Clinical Psychology of the American Board of Professional Psychology. His professional career spans 51 years, during which he was at various times between 1991 and 2014 Professor of Psychology, Program Director, and Dean at the Georgia School of Professional Psychology in Atlanta. Prior to that, Dr. Binder was Clinical Associate Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University (1980-1991); Research Associate Professor of Psychology, Vanderbilt University (1980-1983); Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, University of Virginia (1976-1980); and, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, University of Michigan (1972-1980). He also was Director of Outpatient Services, Region X Community Mental Health Center, Charlottesville, VA (1976-1980); and, Director of Adolescent and Adult Programs, Cumberland Hall Psychiatric Hospital, Nashville (1984-1989). Throughout his career, Dr. Binder has maintained a private practice in which he sees individuals and couples for therapy and trainees and professionals for consultation/supervision. Dr. Binder has authored or co-authored over 45 articles and book chapters on psychotherapy practice, research, and supervision. Two of his papers (Binder, J. L., 1993, Is it time to improve psychotherapy training? Clinical Psychology Review, 13, 301-318; Binder, J. L., 1999, Issues in teaching and learning time-limited dynamic psychotherapy. Clinical Psychology Review, 19, 705-719) were among the earliest proposals to improve psychotherapy training by applying instructional methods developed by cognitive scientists. Dr. Binder also has authored or co-authored 4 books, two of which present a model of time-limited psychodynamic/interpersonal therapy that incorporates principles derived from the findings of cognitive science research on the nature and development of expertise in complex performances.

Alexandre Vaz, PhD is cofounder and Chief Academic Officer of Sentio University. He provides workshops and advanced clinical training and supervision to clinicians around the world. Dr. Vaz is the author/co-editor of over a dozen books on deliberate practice and psychotherapy training and two series of clinical training books: “The Essentials of Deliberate Practice” (APA Press) 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 therapy researchers.

Tony Rousmaniere, PsyD is cofounder and Program Director of Sentio University. He provides workshops, webinars, and advanced clinical training and supervision to clinicians around the world. Dr. Rousmaniere is the author/co-editor of over a dozen books on deliberate practice and psychotherapy training and two series of clinical training books: “The Essentials of Deliberate Practice” (APA Press) 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 his aggregated clinical outcome data, in de-identified form, on his website at www.drtonyr.com. A Fellow of the American Psychological Association, Dr. Rousmaniere was awarded the Early Career Award by the Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy (APA Division 29).