Training – Scott D.Miller

Is your therapy making your clients worse? The Guardian Strikes Again

A while ago, an article appeared in The Guardian, one of the U.K.’s largest daily newspapers. “Counselling and Therapy can be Harmful,” the headline boldly asserted, citing results of a study yet to be published. It certainly got my attention. Do some people in therapy get worse? The answer is, most assuredly, “Yes.” Research dating — read more
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
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
Psychotherapy Training: Is it Worth the Bother?

Big bucks. That’s what training in psychotherapy costs. Take graduate school in psychology as an example. According to the US Department of Education’s National Center (NCES), a typical doctoral program takes five years to complete and costs between US$ 240,000-300,000.00. Who has that kind of money laying around after completing four years of college? The… — read more
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
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
Getting FIT: The Advanced Intensive Training

Dateline: January 19, 2011 Buffalo, New York The New Year is here and travel/training season is in full swing. Last week, I was in Ohio and Virginia. This week New York and Idaho (keep your weather fingers crossed, it’s going to be dicey getting from here to there and home again). Interest in "Feedback Informed… — read more
Becoming FIT: Simple but not Easy

Becoming FIT (feedback informed in treatment). Ask any experienced practitioner and they will tell you, "it’s such a simple idea, but it’s not easy." In addition to the time it takes to master the administration and interpretation of formal feedback, special skills are required for using the information to guide service delivery. Implementation in agencies… — read more
Where Necessity is the Mother of Invention: Forming Alliances with Consumers on the Margins

Spring of last year, I traveled to Gothenburg, Sweden to provide training GCK–an top notch organization led by Ulla Hansson and Ulla Westling-Missios providing cutting-edge training on “what works” in psychotherapy. I’ll be back this week again doing an open workshop and an advanced training for the group. While I’m always excited to be out and about traveling… — read more
Improving Outcomes in the Treatment of Obesity via Practice-Based Evidence: Weight Loss, Nutrition, and Work Productivity

Obesity is a large and growing problem in the United States and elswhere. Data gathered by the National Center for Health Statistics indicate that 33% Americans are obese. When overweight people are added to the mix, the figure climbs to a staggering 66%! The problem is not likely to go away soon or on its own as the same figures apply… — read more
Research on the Outcome Rating Scale, Session Rating Scale & Feedback

"How valid and reliable are the ORS and SRS?" "What do the data say about the impact of routine measurement and feedback on outcome and retention in behavioral health?" "Are the ORS and SRS ‘evidence-based?’" These and other questions regarding the evidentiary support for the ORS, SRS, and feedback are becoming increasingly common in the workshops… — read more
Magical Moments in Kansas

Registrations are already coming in for the first International Conference on "Achieving Clinical Excellence." Earlier on this blog, I announced that internationally known researcher K. Anders Erickson, Ph.D.–the "expert on experts"–had agreed to present at the event. At that time, I also indicated that a number of internationally accomplished performers from a variety of professions (including psychology, business, medicine,… — read more
Leading Outcomes in Vermont: The Brattleboro Retreat and Primarilink Project

For the last 7 years, I’ve been traveling to the small, picturesque village of Brattleboro, Vermont to work with clinicians, agency managers, and various state officials on integrating outcomes into behavioral health services. Peter Albert, the director of Governmental Affairs and PrimariLink at the Brattleboro Retreat, has tirelessly criss-crossed the state, promoting outcome-informed clinical work and organizing… — read more
History doesn’t repeat itself,

Image via Wikipedia "History doesn’t repeat itself," the celebrated American author, Mark Twain once observed, "but it does rhyme." No better example of Twain’s wry comment than recurring claims about specifc therapeutic approaches. As any clinician knows, every year witnesses the introduction of new treatment models. Invariably, the developers and proponents claim superior effectivess of… — read more
International "Achieving Clinical Excellence" Conference

Mark your calendars! The International Center for Clinical Excellence is pleased to announce the “Achieving Clinical Excellence” (ACE) conference to be held at the Westin Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri on October 20-22nd, 2010. K. Anders Erickson, Ph.D., the editor of The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance and recognized “expert on experts,” will keynote… — read more