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Two Resources for Using Deliberate Practice to Improve your Therapeutic Effectiveness
The idea that improvement in a given skill or performance domain depends on practice is hardly new. Indeed, references to enhancing a person’s abilities through focused concentration and effort date back more than two millennia (1). Though the term, deliberate practice, includes the word, “practice,” it is altogether different. The goal is neither proficiency nor… — read more
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Getting in the Deliberate Practice HABIT
Type the words, “Old habits …” into Google, and the search engine quickly adds, “die hard” and “are hard to break.” When I did it just now, these were followed by two song titles — one by Hank Williams Jr., the other by Mick Jagger — both dealing with letting go of past relationships. Alas, in love… — read more
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Making Sense of Client Feedback
I have a guilty confession to make. I really like Kitchen Nightmares. Even though the show finished its run six L O N G years ago, I still watch it in re-runs. The concept was simple. Send one of the world’s best known chefs to save a failing restaurant. Each week a new disaster establishment was featured. A… — read more
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The Expert on Expertise: An Interview with K. Anders Ericsson
I can remember exactly where I was when I first “met” Swedish psychologist, K. Anders Ericsson. Several hours into a long, overseas flight, I discovered someone had left a magazine in the seat pocket. I never would have even given the periodical a second thought had I not seen all the movies onboard — many… — read more
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Mountains and Molehills, or What the JFK Assasination and the Therapeutic Relationship have in Common?
Over the last 10 days or so, I’ve been digesting a recently published article on the therapeutic alliance — reading, highlighting, tracking down references, rereading, and then discussing the reported findings with colleagues and a peer group of fellow researchers. It’s what I do. The particular study has been on my “to be read” pile… — read more
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Routine Outcome Monitoring and Deliberate Practice: Fad or Phenomenon?
Would you believe me if I told you there was a way you could more than double the chances of helping your clients? Probably not, eh? As I’ve documented previously, claims abound regaring new methods for improving the outcome of psychotherapy. It’s easy to grow cynical. And yet, findings from a recent study document when clinicians add… — read more
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Time for a New Paradigm? Psychotherapy Outcomes Stagnant for 40 years
You’ve heard it said before. Flying is the safest form of transportation. Facts back up the claim. In fact, it’s not even close. In terms of distance traveled, the fatality rate per billion kilometers is .003, improving dramatically over the years. Cars, by contrast, are almost 1,000 times more dangerous. Still, since 1923, the fatality rate in… — read more
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Just how good are our theories about the causes and alleviation of mental and emotional suffering?
Does the name Barry Marshall ring a bell? Probably not if you are a mental health professional. For decades, the Australian physician was persona non grata in the field of medicine — or perhaps stated more accurately, persona sciocca, a fool. Beginning in the early 1980’s, Marshall, together with colleague Robin Warren, advanced the hypothesis that the bacteria… — read more
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Better Results through Deliberate Practice
The legendary cellist Pablo Casals was once interviewed by comedian George Carlin. When asked why, at age 93, he continued to practice three hours a day, Casals replied, “I’m beginning to show some improvement!” Hard not to feel inspired and humbled by such dedication, eh? And while humorous, Casals was not joking. Across a wide variety… — read more
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That’s it. I’m done. It’s time for me to say goodbye.
Ending psychotherapy. Whether formal or informal, planned or unplanned, it’s going to happen every time treatment is initiated. What do we know about the subject? Nearly 50% of people who start, discontinue without warning. At the time they end, half have experienced no meaningful improvement in their functioning or well-being. On the other hand, of those who… — read more
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The Illness and the Cure: Two Free, Evidence-based Resources for What Ails and Can Heal Serious Psychological Distress
Findings from several recent studies are sobering. Depression is now the leading cause of ill-health and disability worldwide–more than cancer, heart disease, respiratory problems, and accidents. Yesterday, researchers reported that serious psychological distress is at an all-time high, significantly affecting not only quality but actual life expectancy. And who has not heard about the opioid… — read more
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The Missing Link: Why 80% of People who could benefit will never see a Therapist
The facts are startling. Despite being on the scene for close to 150 years, the field of mental health–and psychotherapy in particular–does not, and never has had mass appeal. Epidemiological studies consistently show, for example, the majority of people who could benefit from seeing a therapist, do not go. And nowadays, fewer and fewer are… — read more
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Would you rather . . . be approved or improved?
Some time ago, my son had a minor obsession. Whether at the dinner table, in the car, or out for a walk, he was constantly peppering us with, “would you rather” questions? You know the ones I mean, where you are forced to choose between two equally bizarre or unpleasant alternatives? “Would you rather always… — read more
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“I can’t let others know…”: Shame as a Barrier to Professional Development
Shame (noun \ˈshām\): Consciousness of shortcoming, guilt, or impropriety. Turns out, for many therapists, this powerful and painful emotion is a significant barrier to professional development. Doing psychotherapy is challenging in the best of circumstances. As many as 25% of clients drop out before experiencing a measureable improvement in their functioning. Of those who… — read more
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“Mind the Gap”: A Strategy for Insuring you get the Feedback you need to Improve your Game (whatever that is)
Join me in a brief “thought experiment.” Suppose you were a gifted painter or photographer and had the chance to provide an image of yourself that would endure–and perhaps be the only one people would know you by–for hundreds of years after your death. How would you proceed? What criteria would guide your work, be… — read more
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A Lotta Help from One’s Friends: The Role of Community in the Pursuit of Excellence
Dateline: Chicago, IL USA Hard not to be impressed with the USA Women’s Gymnastic team. What skill, percision, expertise, and excellence. By now, I’m sure you’ve seen the interviews. In all instances, each and every one has focused on the team. Despite some in the media attempting to make stars out of the individual members,… — read more
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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