Deliberate practice exercises provide trainees and students an opportunity to build competence in essential rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) skills while developing their own personal therapeutic style.
These exercises present role-playing scenarios in which two trainees act as a client and a clinician, switching back and forth under the guidance of a supervisor. The clinician improvises appropriate and authentic responses to client statements organized into three difficulty levels--beginner, intermediate, and advanced--that reflect common client questions and concerns.
Each of the first 12 exercises focuses on a single skill, such as psychoeducation, assessing and disputing irrational beliefs, helping clients differentiate maladaptive vs. adaptive behaviors and emotions, teaching clients the ABC model, and developing homework assignments. Two comprehensive exercises follow in which trainees integrate these essential skills into a single REBT session.
Step-by-step instructions guide participants through the exercises, identify criteria for mastering each skill, and explain how to monitor and adjust difficulty. Guidelines to help trainers and trainees get the most out of training are also provided.
Mark Terjesen, PhD, is professor of psychology at St. John's University and a core member of the school psychology programs, previously serving as director. He was the Child and Family Service Coordinator for the Albert Ellis Institute for Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy in Manhattan and was President of the School Division of the New York State Psychological Association (NYSPA) and of APA's Division 52 (International Psychology). Dr. Terjesen has studied and published on diverse topics, including rational emotive behavior therapy, cognitive behavior therapy, the assessment and treatment of ADHD and anger in children, school psychology, and international psychology.
Kristene A. Doyle, PhD, ScD, is the director of the Albert Ellis Institute (AEI) and director of Clinical Services and a licensed staff psychologist at AEI. Her clinical and research interests include eating disorder treatment, ADHD, and treating children and adolescents. Dr. Doyle is coauthor of
The Practitioner's Guide to Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, 3rd Edition, coeditor of
The Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, and has published in numerous scientific journals, including the
Journal of Social Behavior and Personality. She is also the external examiner for the MSc in rational emotive behavior therapy at Goldsmiths, University of London.
Raymond A. DiGiuseppe, PhD, ABPP, is professor of psychology and chair of the Institutional Review Board at St. John's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He has promoted the recognition of anger as a form of psychopathology and studies the diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of anger problems. Dr. DiGiuseppe has published two psychological tests assessing dysfunctional anger: the anger disorders scale (ADS) for adults and the anger regulation and expression scale (ARES) for children and adolescents. He works on the development of the theory, practice, and empirical research support of rational emotive behavior therapy and cognitive behavior therapies.
Alexandre Vaz, PhD, is director of training at the Sentio Marriage and Family Therapy graduate program and Sentio Counseling Center. He has authored many books on deliberate practice and psychotherapy training and is coeditor of the book series
The Essentials of Deliberate Practice (APA Books). Dr. Vaz has held multiple committee roles for the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI) and the Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR). He is founder and host of "Psychotherapy Expert Talks," an acclaimed interview series with distinguished psychotherapists and researchers.
Tony Rousmaniere, PsyD, is program director of the Sentio Marriage and Family Therapy graduate program, and executive director of the Sentio Counseling Center. He has authored many books on deliberate practice and psychotherapy training and is coeditor of the book series
The Essentials of Deliberate Practice(APA Books). In 2017, Dr. Rousmaniere published the widely cited article in
The Atlantic Monthly, "What Your Therapist Doesn't Know." Dr. Rousmaniere supports the open-data movement and publishes clinical outcome data at drtonyr.com. He is president of Division 29 of APA.
