Deliberate Practice in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

This book presents deliberate practice exercises in which students and trainees rehearse fundamental cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) skills until they become natural and automatic. Instructions guide readers through role-plays in which two participants play a client and a therapist, switching back and forth under a supervisors guidance. The therapist improvises responses to common client statements, ranging in difficulty from beginner to advanced, allowing them to hone their own personal therapeutic style and develop basic competence.

About the Authors

James Boswell, PhD, is Associate Professor of Psychology at the University at Albany. He is also an Evidence-Based Practice Implementation and Training Consultant at the Renfrew Center in Philadelphia, PA. His research focuses on identifying important participant factors, technical factors, and relational processes that influence the process and outcome of psychological interventions, as well as mechanisms and principles of change that cut across different therapeutic approaches. Dr. Boswells research program is also focused on identifying effective training and implementation strategies, the development of practice research networks (PRNs), and the integration of outcomes monitoring and feedback systems into routine clinical practice..

Michael J. Constantino, PhD, is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst where he directs his Psychotherapy Research Lab, teaches courses on psychotherapy theories and techniques, and supervises clinicians in training. He is coeditor of the 2019 book Principles of Change: How Psychotherapists Implement Research Findings in Practice and Associate Editor of the journal Psychotherapy. His work has been recognized through multiple awards, including the APA Division 29 (Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy) 2020 Mid-Career Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Advancement of Psychotherapy and the Division 29 Distinguished Publication of Psychotherapy Research Award in 2013.