Deliberate Practice in Behavioral Parent Training

Deliberate practice exercises provide trainees and students an opportunity to build competence in essential behavioral parent training 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.

Trainees will learn how to collaborate with parents to help them build positive relationships with their children as a foundation for creating behavioral change. They will learn how to teach parenting skills like praise to encourage positive behaviors, planned ignoring, establishing consequences that are respectful and developmentally appropriate, and strategies for parents to manage their own strong emotions.

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.

To demonstrate how deliberate practice can be fully integrated into a professional curriculum, this series features exercises developed and refined within the clinical training curriculum at the Sentio online/hybrid marriage and family therapy (MFT) therapist training program in California, which is where we started developing this series. These exercises, which have been tested at clinical training sites around the world, are used to enhance clinical outcomes within the first hybrid MFT program approved by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences to fully integrate deliberate practice into its entire curriculum. By integrating these models into its hybrid MFT program in California, Sentio University demonstrates that therapist training graduate programs can use deliberate practice to bridge the gap between theory and clinical mastery through repetitive, feedback-informed practice to support the development of modern, outcome-focused clinicians.
 

Mark D. Terjesen, PhD, is professor of psychology at St. John’s University in Queens, NY, where he also serves as director of clinical training and program director of the school psychology PsyD program. He has studied, published, presented, and trained internationally in assessment and clinical work with children, adolescents, and families. Dr. Terjesen is the coeditor of the Handbook of Behavioral Parent Training. He was president for multiple organizations, including the School Division and the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Division of the New York State Psychological Association and Division 52 (the Society for Global Psychology) of the American Psychological Association.



Hilary B. Vidair, PhD, is associate professor of psychology and former director in the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program at Long Island University Post. For over 15 years, she has trained and supervised doctoral students in cognitive behavioral therapy and behavioral parent training. Dr. Vidair has published and presented on evidence-based treatments for children and adolescents, behavioral parent training, and methods for training students in clinical work and research. She authored the book Navigating Research Projects in an Applied Graduate Program. She also serves as the director of program development at Cognitive Behavioral Associates in Great Neck, New York.



Phyllis S. Ohr, PhD, is associate professor of psychology at Hofstra University in Long Island, NY, where she serves as assistant director of clinical training for the clinical psychology PhD program. She is also clinical director of the Child and Parent Psychological Services Clinic, a training and research program. She is a certified trainer of parent–child interaction therapy and, with her mentees, has published and presented yearly at conferences on parent–child relationships, selective mutism and social anxiety, and treating disordered eating in young children. In 2010, she received the American Psychological Association’s student-nominated mentorship award.



Olivia A. Walsh, PsyD, is postdoctoral fellow at North Coast Psychological Services. She provides therapy and assessments for children, adolescents, and young adults in private practice and schools. Dr. Walsh’s research focuses on deliberate practice in behavioral parent training (BPT). She has presented at national conferences on cognitive behavioral therapy, BPT, and deliberate practice. Dr. Walsh has also served as an adjunct instructor at St. John’s University, teaching undergraduate psychology courses. In recognition of her contributions to the field, she received the Ted Bernstein Award from the New York Association of School Psychologists in 2022.

 

Tony Rousmaniere, PsyD, is president of Sentio University marriage and family therapy (MFT) program in California. He led the development of the online/hybrid MFT program, which is the first MFT therapist training program approved by the California Board of Behavioral Science for MFT licensure that fully integrates deliberate practice. Dr. Rousmaniere is the author/coeditor of many books on psychotherapy training. He is also the executive director of the Sentio Counseling Center, which is Sentio MFT program’s guaranteed practicum site where students provide sliding-scale online therapy in California, and past president of the American Psychological Association’s Division 29.

Alexandre Vaz, PhD, is chief academic officer of Sentio University marriage and family therapy (MFT) program in California. This innovative online/hybrid California MFT degree was the first approved by the California Board of Behavioral Science for MFT licensure to fully integrate deliberate practice into its curriculum to ensure superior clinical outcomes. He is also director of clinical training for the Sentio Counseling Center, which is Sentio MFT program’s guaranteed practicum site where students provide low-cost online couples therapy in California. Dr. Vaz is the author/coeditor of many books on deliberate practice and psychotherapy training.