Deliberate Practice and Top Performance – Page 3 – Scott D.Miller

A Progress Report on the Science (and Art ) of Psychotherapy: The Psychotherapy Networker 30th Anniversary Edition

The 30th Anniversary Edition of the Psychotherapy Networker has hit newsstands. In it, is an article by Diane Cole taking the measure of psychotherapy. Her question? Has the field gotten any better over the last three decades? The entire issue is a "must read," starting with editor Rich Simon’s lengthy and thought provoking editorial, "Still… — read more
The Achieving Clinical Excellence Conference CALL FOR PAPERS

In October 2010, the first annual "Achieving Clinical Excellence" was held in Kansas City, Missouri. A capacity crowd joined leading experts on the subject of top performance for three days worth of training and inspiration. K. Anders Ericsson reviewed his groundbreaking research, popularized by Malcolm Gladwell and others. ICCE Director, Scott D. Miller translated the… — read more
Implementation Science, FIT, and the Training of Trainers

The International Center for Clinical Excellence (ICCE) is pleased to announce the 6th annual Training of Trainers event to be held in Chicago, Illinois August 6th-10th, 2012. As always, the ICCE TOT prepares participants provide training, consultation, and supervision to therapists, agencies, and healthcare systems in Feedback-Informed Treatment (FIT). Attendees leave the intensive, hands-on… — read more
Goodbye Mr. & Ms. Know-it-All: Redefining Competence in the Era of Increasing Complexity

Every day behavioral health professionals make hundreds of decisions. As experts in the field, they meet and work successfully with diverse clients presenting an array of different difficulties. Available evidence indicates that the average person who receives care is better off than 80% of those with similar problems that do not. Outcomes in mental… — read more
The New Average: Meeting the Need to Exceed

No matter where you look,good is no longer "good enough." In a recent article in the New York Times, author and trend watcher, Thomas L. Friedman, declared, "Average is Over." It’s an argument similar to the one made over a decade ago by Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton, in his phenomenally… — read more
Excellence "Front and Center" at the Psychotherapy Networker Conference

This year, the Psychotherapy Networker is celebrating it’s 35th anniversary. I’m not going to let on how long I’ve been a reader and subscriber, but I can say that I eagerly anticipate each issue. Rich Simon and his incredibly dedicated and talented crew always seem to have their fingers on the pulse of the… — read more
The Role of Mentors in the Development of Expertise: Bruce Wampold wins the Beckman Award Honoring Inspirational Professors

Saturday, January 7th, 2012, 7:00 pm EST The Carter Presidential Libary Atlanta, Georgia In 2008, the Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Trust Award was created to honor inspirational professors, academic faculty members who have inspired their students to "create an organization, concept, procedure, or movement which has demonsrably conferred a benefit on the community." This last week,… — read more
Looking Back, Looking Forward

Bidding goodbye to last year and welcoming the new always puts me in a reflective frame of mind. How did my life, work, and relationships go? What are my hopes for the future? Just two short years ago, together with colleagues from around the world, the International Center for Clinical Excellence (ICCE) was launched. Today,… — read more
Optum Health and the ICCE: Partnering to Achieve Excellence in Behavioral Health

Monday, November 28th, 2011 Chicago, IL & Goldern Valley, MN The members, associaties, and directors of the International Center for Clinical Excellence are proud to announce a partnership with Optum Health’s Campaign for Excellence. Optum Health works with employers, payers, and providers serving nearly 60,000,000 people. Their "Campaign for Excellence (CFE)" was specifically designed to… — read more
Psychologist Alan Kazdin Needs Help: Please Give

Look at this picture. This man needs help. He is psychologist, Alan Kazdin, former president of the American Psychological Association, and current Professor of Psychology at Yale University. A little over a week ago, to the surprise and shock of many in the field, he disclosed a problem in his professional life. In an interview… — read more
Achieving Clinical Excellence Conference 2013: CALL FOR PAPERS

Horsholm, Denmark Spent the weekend with the planning committe for the 2013 Achieving Clinical Excellence Conference. Committee members came in from all over the world–the USA, Romania, Holland, the UK, and Denmark–to finalize speakers, the conference venue, and mock up the logo for the conference brochure and advertizing. Like last time, we are not only bringing in the… — read more
Is Psychotherapy Dead?

"AMERICANS PREFER DRUGS" screams the headline posted by the Reuters news service and attributed to Consumer Reports–one of the most respected periodical for the average American reader. "NEARLY 80 PERCENT TAKE A PILL FOR DEPRESSION," the article continues. Read a little further and do some searching around on the internet and a different story emerges. Americans it turns… — read more
Deliberate Practice: What’s all the fuss about?

Whatever they might be engaged in—dancing, singling, teaching, or doing therapy, top performers make “it” look so easy. Witnessing such a performance inspires awe and wonder, leading many unitiated to whisper about some being lucky, “born with talent.” How else can one explain the superior abilities of those we admire? “Sure, most will readily acknowledge,… — read more
Yes, More Evidence: Spanish version of the ORS Validated by Chilean Researchers

Last week, Chile. This week, Perth, Australia. Yesterday, I landed in Sydney following a 30 hour flight from the United States. I managed to catch the last flight out to Perth before all air travel was grounded due to another ash clound–this time coming from Chile! I say "another" as just over a year ago,… — read more
The Mystery of Mastery: Excellence Takes Center Stage in the Psychotherapy Networker

The Psychotherapy Networker has long been the most popular periodical among practicing clinicians. Rumor has it that the magazine has 80,000+ subscribers and sells over 120,000 copies of each issue. If you want to know what therapists are thinking and talking about, the Networker magazine is the place to look. And in the May/June issue,… — read more
The "Fragile Balance": Putting the Pieces together at the 2013 Achieving Clinical Excellence Conference in Amsterdam, Holland

Dateline: May 8th, 2011 Copenhagen, Denmark It is with great pleasure and high expectations that I announce the second "Achieving Excellence Conference" to be held in Amsterdam, Holland on May 16th-18th, 2013. The title of the 2013 ACE conference is, "Putting the Pieces Together: The ‘Fragile Balance,’" emphasizing the steps, practices, and supports required for excellence in the field… — read more
The Cryptonite of Behavioral Health: Making Mistakes

Most people readily agree that its important to "learn from mistakes." In truth, however, few actually believe it. Mistakes are like cryptonite, making us feel and, more importantly, look stupid and weak. As a result, despite what we might advise others, we do our best to avoid making and admitting them. Such avoidance comes with… — read more
The "F" Word in Behavioral Health

Since the 1960’s, over 10,000 how-to books on psychotherapy/counseling have been published—everything from nude marathon group therapy to the most recent “energy-based treatments.” Clinicians have at their disposal literally hundreds of methods to apply to an ever growing list of diagnoses as codified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (soon available in… — read more
The War on Unhappiness Heats Up

Back in September, I blogged about an article by Gary Greenberg published in the August issue of Harper’s magazine that took aim at the "helping profession." He cast a critical eye on the history of the field, it’s colorful characters, constantly shifting theoretical landscape, and claims and counterclaims regarding "best practice." Several paragraphs were devoted to my own work; specifically, research documenting the relatively inconsequential role that particular treatment approaches play… — read more
Pushing the Research Envelope: Getting Researchers to Conduct Clinically Meaningful Research

At the recent ACE conference, I had the pleasure of learning from the world’s leading experts on expertise and top performance. Equally stimulating were conversations in the hallways between presentations with clinicians, policy makers, and researchers attending the event. One of those was Bill Andrews, the director of the HGI Practice Research Network in the UK who… — read more
Am-ACE-ing Events in Kansas City: The First International Achieving Clinical Excellence Conference

Here’s a riddle for you: What do therapists, researchers, case managers, magicians, surgeons, award winning musicians, counselors, jugglers, behavioral health agency directors, and balloon twisting artists have in common? Answer: They all participated in the first "Achieving Clinical Excellence" held last week in Kansas City, Missouri. It’s true. The "motley" crew of presenters, entertainers, and attendees came to Kansas… — read more
What is "Best Practice?"

You have to admit the phrase “best practice” is the buzzword of late. Graduate school training programs, professional continuing education events, policy and practice guidelines, and funding decisions are tied in some form or another to the concept. So, what exactly is it? At the State and Federal level, lists of so-called “evidence-based” interventions have been assembled and… — read more
What Works in the Treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder? The Definitive Study

What works in the treatment of people with post-traumatic stress? The influential Cochrane Collaboration–an "independent network of people" whose self-professed mission is to help "healthcare providers, policy makers, patients, their advocates and carers, make well-informed decisions, concludes that, "non trauma-focused psychological treatments [do] not reduce PTSD symptoms as significantly…as individual trauma focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (TFCBT), eye… — read more
Connecting, Learning, and Sharing: The ICCE at One Year

September 7, 2010 Chicago, Illinois USA I can’t believe it. Summer is over. Kids are back in school. And the International Center for Clinical Excellence (ICCE) is celebrating its one year anniversary! Time passes so quickly. On August 24th, 2009, I blogged about the creation of a web-based community of clinicians using the latest Web2.0 technology where… — read more
Ohio Update: Use of CDOI improves outcome, retention, and decreases "board-level" complaints

A few days ago, I received an email from Shirley Galdys, the Associate Director of the Crawford-Marion Alcohol and Drug/Mental Health Services Board in Marion, Ohio. Back in January, I blogged about the steps the group had taken to deal with the cutbacks, shortfalls, and all around tough economic circumstances facing agencies in Ohio. At… — read more
Hope Transcends: Learning from our Clients

"Hope Transcends" was the theme of the 39th Annual Summer Institute on Substance Abuse and Mental Health held in Newark, Delaware this last week. I had the honor of working with 60+ clinicians, agency managers, peer supports, and consumers of mental health services presenting a two-day, intensive training on "feedback-informed clinical work." I met so… — read more
Error-centric Practice: How Getting it Wrong can Help you Get it Right

It’s an idea that makes intuitive sense but is simultanesouly unappealing to most people. I, for one, don’t like it. What’s more, it flies in the face of the "self-esteem" orientation that has dominated much of educational theory and practice over the last several decades. And yet, research summarized in a recent issue of Scientific American… — read more
The Impact of Mentors

Brendan Madden Scott D. Miller Jeffrey K. Zeig A little over month ago, I blogged about how the outcome and session rating scales were originally conceived of and developed. A few days prior to that, I wrote about where the whole idea of using measures to solicit feedback had started. In both instances, my teachers and supervisors played a… — read more
So you want to be a better therapist? Take a hike!

How best to improve your performance as a clinician? Take the continuing education mutliple-choice quiz: a. Attend a two-day training; b. Have an hour of supervision from a recognized expert in a particular treatment approach; c. Read a professional book, article, or research study; d. Take a walk or nap. If you chose a, b,… — read more
The Road to Clinical Excellence is Paved with Practice, Mistakes, & Hard Work

Last week, I received an email from friend and ICCE member David Claud. I’ve known Dave for the better part of a decade, having met–I believe–at a Ericksonian conference in Florida where he lives and works. He and the crew at the Center for Family Service in Palm Beach County figure prominently in the history… — read more