Deliberate practice in schema therapy

Deliberate practice exercises allow students and trainees to rehearse foundational schema therapy skills so that they can build competence and hone their own personal therapeutic styles.   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 schema therapists.   The first 12 exercises focus on skills derived from schema therapy’s three stages—bonding and emotional regulation, mode change, and autonomy—and include limited reparenting, psychoeducation about schema modes, and empathic confrontation.

Following these are two comprehensive exercises—an annotated transcript and free-form mock therapy sessions—in which trainees integrate essential skills into a single 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.