Deliberate practice exercises allow students and trainees to rehearse foundational dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills and strategies to respond effectively and flexibly to diverse, complex clinical presentations and situations.
Each book in the Essentials of Deliberate Practice series contains customized role-playing exercises in which two trainees act as a client and a therapist, switching back and forth under a supervisor's guidance. The trainee playing the therapist improvises appropriate and authentic responses to client statements organized into three difficulty levels--beginner, intermediate, and advanced--reflecting common issues encountered by DBT practitioners.
The first 12 exercises each focus on a single skill, such as validating clients, encouraging commitment to therapeutic goals, teaching problem-solving skills, and working with clients in crisis or expressing suicidal ideation. Following these are two comprehensive exercises--an annotated transcript and free-form mock therapy sessions--in which trainees integrate essential skills into a single DBT 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.
Tali Boritz, PhD, CPsych, is an assistant professor in the Clinical Psychology Program in the department of psychology at York University and a collaborator scientist in the Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) Clinic at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto, Canada. She specializes in the treatment of BPD and complex trauma. Her research at York University and CAMH focus on psychotherapy process and outcome and psychotherapy training in BPD treatments.
Shelley McMain, PhD, CPsych, is an associate professor in the department of psychiatry at University of Toronto, head of the Borderline Personality Disorder Clinic and a Clinician Scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), and cofounder of the Centre for MindBody Health in Toronto. She currently serves on the DBT Strategic Planning Committee and on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Linehan Institute. Recognized as a leader in dialectical behavior therapy in Canada and internationally, Dr. McMain conducts research in DBT, personality disorders, emotion regulation, suicide and self-harm, substance abuse, and psychotherapy process and outcomes.
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.
