This is an archive of my blog posts over the year. For my recent content head to https://scottdmiller.co

Tag: icce

Is Supervision Important to you?

How valuable is clinical supervision to you? In their massive, long-term international study of therapist development, researchers Orlinsky and Rønnestad (2005) found that “practitioners at all experience levels, theoretical orientations, professions, and nationalities report that supervised client experience is highly important for their current and career development” (p. 188). Despite the value most of us place on… — read more

Jun 20, 2014
What can therapists learn from the CIA? Experts versus the "Wisdom of the Crowd"

What can we therapists learn from the CIA? In a phrase, “When it comes to making predictions about important future events, don’t rely on experts!” After a spate of embarrassing, high-profile intelligence failures, a recent story showed how a relatively small group of average people made better predictions about critical world events than highly-trained analysts with access to classified information. … — read more

May 6, 2014
Do you know who said, "Sometimes the magic works, sometimes it doesn’t"?

Well, do you? It was Chief Dan George playing the role of Old Lodge Skins in the 1970 movie, “Little Big Man.” Whether or not you’ve seen or remember the film, if you’re a practicing therapist, you know the wisdom contained in that quote. No matter how skilled the clinician or devoted the client, “sometimes therapy works, sometimes it… — read more

Apr 30, 2014
How not to be among the 70-95% of practitioners and agencies that fail

Our field is full of good ideas, strategies that work. Each year, practitioners and agencies devote considerable time and resources to staying current with new developments. What does the research say about such efforts? When it comes to the implementation of new, evidence-based practices, traditional training strategies routinely produce only 5% to 30% success rates. Said another way, 70-95% of training fails… — read more

Apr 20, 2014
How Cool is Kuhl? A Man with Vision on a Mission

This week, my colleague and friend, Dr. David Mee-Lee, sent me a link to a blogpost written by Don Kuhl. Actually, I was already a subscriber to Don’s Minful MIDweek blog (you should be too), but my travel this week had prevented me from reading his latest installment. His posts always leave me inspired and give me something… — read more

Apr 19, 2013
Resources on Feedback-Informed Treatment, Training, & Research

Last week, I spent a day in London working with the clinical staff of the Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. The subject? Feedback, of course! As soon as I stepped off my transcontinental flight, I knew it was going to be a fun day. Every way I turned at the Heathrow airport I was greeted… — read more

Jan 24, 2013
Curing Clinician Overconfidence: Try Darting and Frowning

Overconfidence. It’s a problem that leads to systematic errors in judgement. Long thought to arise out of hubris or the corrupting effects of the emotion, the evidence actually shows it to be built into humans’ evolved cognitive machinery. Existimo ergo certus sum (I think, therefore I am…certain). Behavioral health professionals are not immune. A recently… — read more

Jan 10, 2013
What is the Real Source of Effectiveness in Smoking Cessation Treatment? New Research on Feedback Informed Treatment

When it rains, it pours! So much news to relay regarding recent research on Feedback Informed Treatment (FIT). Just received news this week from ICCE Associate Stephen Michaels that research using the ORS and SRS in smoking cessation treatment is in print! A few days prior to that, Kelley Quirk sent a copy of our… — read more

Nov 24, 2012
Clinical Support Tools for the ORS and SRS

I have so much to be grateful for at this time. Most of all, I’m happy to be home with my family. As we have in the past, this year we’ll be spending the holiday at the home of our long time friends John and Renee Dalton. The two always put out a fantastic spread and our son,… — read more

Nov 20, 2012
Is Psychotherapy Getting Better?

This last month, I spent a significant amount of time traveling around Europe and Scandanavia (Germany, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands) working with clinicians and mental health agencies implementing Feedback-Informed Treatment. Not infrequently, people ask me, "doesn’t all the travel wear you out?" My pat response is, "No, not at all! The worst part is being… — read more

Oct 11, 2012
National Psychotherapy Day: A Recognition, Celebration, and Call for Action

With all the challenges facing the profession, it is important to highlight people and organizations that are working hard to make a difference. On that note, tomorrow, Tuesday the 25th of September 2012 is the very first National Psychotherapy Day. Having a day of unified, active promotion of psychotherapy is the brain child… — read more

Sep 24, 2012
Looking for Results in All the Wrong Places: What Makes Feedback Work?

As anyone knows who reads this blog or has been to one of my workshops, I am a fan of feedback. Back in the mid-1990’s, I began using Lynn Johnson’s 10-item Session Rating Scale in my clinical work. His book, Psychotherapy in the Age of Accountability, and our long relationship, convinced me that I… — read more

Sep 16, 2012
REACHing the Next Level of Clinical Performance: What it Really Takes

Do any of these people look familiar? Well, of course, I’m the guy in the middle pointing. To my left is the rock and roll guitarist Joe Walsh. On my right is world-renowned, card mechanic Richard Turner. Why have I pictured myself sandwiched between these two? Because they are both inspiring examples of what can… — read more

Sep 1, 2012
Obesity Redux: The RFL Results and complex Nature of Truth and Science

Back in April, I blogged about research published by Ryan Sorrell on the use of feedback-informed treatment in a telephonically-divered weight management program. The study, which appeared in the journal Disease Management*, not only found that the program and feedback led to weight loss, but also significant improvements in distress, health eating behaviors (70%), exercise (65%), and presenteeism on… — read more

Aug 28, 2012
Feedback Informed Treatment: Update

Chicago, IL (USA) The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of activity here in Chicago. First, the "Advanced Intensive." Next came the annual "Training of Trainers." Each week, the room was filled to capacity with practitioners, researchers, supervisors, and agency directors from around the globe receiving in-depth training in feedback-informed practice. It was a… — read more

Aug 16, 2012
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

Aug 3, 2012
The International Center for Clinical Excellence: Using Social Networks for "Real Time" Research

The International Center for Clinical Excellence was officially lauched at the Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference in December 2009. Since that time, membership has grown steadily. With over 3800 members, the ICCE is the largest, web-based community of behavioral health professionals dedicated to improving the quality and outcome of service delivery. The site features nearly… — read more

Jun 6, 2012
Feedback Informed Treatment as Evidence-Based Practice

Back in November, I blogged about the ICCE application to SAMSHA’s National Registry for consideration of FIT as an official evidence-based approach (EBP). Given the definition of EBP by the Institute of Medicine and the American Psychological Association, Feedback Informed Treatment seems a perfect, well, FIT. According to the IOM and APA, evidence-based practice means… — read more

May 23, 2012
Revolution in Swedish Mental Health Care: Brief Update

In April 2010, I blogged about Jan Larsson, a Swedish clinician who works with people on the margins of the mental health system. Jan was dedicated to seeking feedback, using the ORS and SRS to tailor services to the individuals he met. It wasn’t easy. Unilke most, he did not meet his clients in an… — read more

May 14, 2012
Revolution in Swedish Mental Health Practice: The Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Monopoly Gives Way

Sunday, May 13th, 2012 Arlanda Airport, Sweden Over the last decade, Sweden, like most Western countries, embraced the call for “evidence-based practice.” Socialstyrelsen, the country’s National Board of Health and Welfare, developed and disseminated a set of guidelines (“riktlinger”) for mental health practice. Topping the list of methods was, not surprisingly, cognitive-behavioral therapy. The Swedish… — read more

May 13, 2012
A Handy "Little Helper" for the Outcome Rating Scale: A Freebie from the ACE Conference Committee

This last week the planning committee for the upcoming Achieving Clinical Excellence (ACE) conference meet once again in Horsholm, Denmark. In the picture from left to right: Liz Plutt, Bill Andrews, myself, Rick Plutt (Conference Chair), and Bogdan Ion. Taking the photo was Susanne Bargmann. The agenda for the three day event is now set:… — read more

Apr 24, 2012
The Outcome and Session Rating Scales: Support Tools

Japan, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, France, Israel, Poland, Chile, Guam, Finland, Hungary, Mexico, Australia, China, the United States…and many, many more. What do all these countries have in common? In each, clinicians and agencies are using the ORS and SRS scales to inform and improve behavioral health services. Some are using web-based systems for administration,… — read more

Mar 30, 2012
Is the "Summer of Love" Over? Positive Publication Bias Plagues Pharmaceutical Research

Evidence-based practice is only as good as the available "evidence"–and on this subject, research points to a continuing problem with both the methodology and type of studies that make it into the professional literature. Last week, PloS Medicine, a peer-reviewed, open access journal of the Public Library of Science, published a study showing a positive… — read more

Mar 27, 2012
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

Mar 18, 2012
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

Feb 12, 2012
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

Feb 10, 2012
Feedback-Informed Treatment as Evidence-based Practice: APA, SAMSHA, and NREPP

What is evidence-based practice? Visit the UK-based NICE website, or talk to proponents of particular theoretical schools or therapeutic models, and they will tell you that being "evidence-based" means using the approach research has deemed effective for a particular diagnosis (e.g., CBT for depression, EMDR for trauma). Over the last two decades, numerous organizations and… — read more

Nov 1, 2011
Are Mental Health Practioners Afraid of Research and Statistics?

A few weeks back I received an email from Dr. Kevin Carroll, a marriage and family therapist in Iowa. Attached were the findings from his doctoral dissertation. The subject was near and dear to my heart: the measurement of outcome in routine clinical practice. The findings were inspiring. Although few graduate level programs include training… — read more

Sep 30, 2011
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

Sep 25, 2011
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

Sep 20, 2011