Effects of deliberate practice and structured feedback in psychotherapy training (DeeP): a study protocol of a randomized-control-trial

Abstract

BackgroundPsychotherapeutic competencies encompass a variety of skills that influence the work and therapeutic success of psychotherapists. In particular, interpersonal skills and the associated ability to react appropriately in complex therapy situations have already shown significant correlations with later therapeutic success. Strengthening interpersonal skills should therefore be a central aim of psychotherapy training. However, previous studies have shown that not only content learning is decisive for later learning success and skill development, but also the didactic method has a significant effect. Deliberate Practice and Structured Feedback have shown to be promising didactic tools. The primary objective of this study is to investigate the efficacy of Deliberate Practice and Structured Feedback as well as their combination in the context of psychotherapy training in comparison to classic didactic training. The trainees’ learning progress of interpersonal skills and its influence on subsequent outpatient therapies will be examined. Secondary, the study aims to identify further determinants of trainees’ therapeutic skills and to investigate the effects of ruptures on the course of therapy.MethodsThe underlying study, a randomized-control-trial with three intervention groups (Deliberate Practice, Structured Feedback, combination of both) and an active control group, will be conducted on a sample of N = 240 trainees and their patients (N = 1000). All trainees will each attend three consecutive workshops on “Strengthening therapeutic skills in challenging therapy situations”, which will be carried out using the corresponding didactic tool. Scientific assessments will take place online for the trainees (pre, in-between, post, follow-up) and for the patients (after each therapy session for 24 weeks, follow-up). Primary outcomes will be constituted by the trainees’ Facilitative Interpersonal Skills and the patients’ symptoms. Multilevel as well as structural equation modelling will be used to analyze the data.DiscussionThe study investigates the efficacy of different didactic tools regarding the strengthening of trainee’s interpersonal competencies as well as their effects on subsequent therapies. Results of this study address a research gap concerning the improvement of psychotherapy training as well as the quality assurance of future therapies.Trial registrationGerman Clinical Trial Register (DRKS) – DRKS00034279; retrospectively registered.