Honors Theses
Date of Award
Spring 5-4-2022
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
John Young
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
Deliberate practice has commonly been used in areas such as music, chess, and medicine, but there is a lack of deliberate practice found in psychotherapy. The purpose of this study was to examine whether deliberate practice can be applied to learning psychotherapy techniques in a novice learner (the author of this study). The study also aimed to research the anxiety and reactivity levels of the subject in response to performance during and after the session. The author independently learned modules from the Unified Protocol manual and then engaged in role-play sessions with an expert. Before beginning each exercise, the subject also completed a self-assessment form concerning levels of anxiety. Immediately following the role-play, the subject received feedback from the expert, engaged in deliberate practice exercises, and provided self-ratings of performance. After concluding the session and review of expert feedback, the subject then completed additional questions about the level of emotional reactivity to the entire interaction. The overall quantitative and qualitative findings of this study indicated that deliberate practice is a promising method in learning psychotherapy techniques, which resulted in a reliably stronger performance at each successive trial. Deliberate practice could be an effective tool for clinicians in helping them improve their therapeutic skills, which may facilitate more systematic, group-level treatment in the future.
Recommended Citation
Jenkins, Nikyra, "Applying Deliberate Practice to Learning Psychotherapy Techniques" (2022). Honors Theses. 2542.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/2542
Accessibility Status
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