Multiple-Baseline Design Study of Deliberate Practice for Learning Psychotherapeutic Techniques

Abstract

ABSTRACT Deliberate practice is a framework for expertise development that has been applied in many fields but rarely to studies of psychotherapy skill development. The current multiple-baseline study sought to examine the effects of deliberate practice on initial psychotherapy skill acquisition in three completely novice students. In addition to quantitative measures of performance, qualitative feedback concerning their methods of orienting to tasks was also collected regularly. Participants were given a minimal set of instructions to conduct and record psychotherapy role-play exercises, two of whom were provided with opportunities for focal deliberate practice beginning after their 3rd or 5th sessions. Results indicated that deliberate practice was associated with rapid, precipitous increases in reliably coded, structured evaluation of skill, which in many cases approached the cutoff for competent professional CBT practice. The potential of these methods to enhance learning and establish lifelong methods of skill improvement at all performance levels is discussed.