This second edition of Mastering the Inner Skills of Psychotherapy presents deliberate practice exercises that help professionals and trainees develop the resilience and flexibility they need to be good therapists.

Clients often arouse strong emotional reactions in therapists. Sometimes this is termed experiential avoidance or countertransference. Therapists must work hard to build their psychological capacity to stay self-aware, attuned, and clinically flexible even as they experience strong responses to their clients' words and actions.

This book provides clear and practical deliberate practice exercises to help readers identify, develop, and master the inner skills necessary to be effective therapists. It features a clear and concise training plan that is based on the principles of deliberate practice. The plan can be adapted for use with all major models of psychotherapy, and it can serve as a lifeline for psychotherapists at all levels of experience, from trainees to seasoned professionals. 

 

Prologue to the 2nd Edition 

Forwards 

Part I: The Training Plan 

Chapter 1: Introduction  

Chapter 2: A Case Example  

Chapter 3: Psychological Capacity  

Chapter 4: Stimuli for Deliberate Practice  

Chapter 5: Principles of Training  

Chapter 6: Training Safely  

Part II: Deliberate Practice Exercises  

Exercise #1: Observe Your Reactions To Psychological Stimuli  

Exercise #2: Attention Control  

Exercise #3: Simultaneous Self-Observation and Client Engagement  

Part III: Advanced Deliberate Practice Exercises  

Exercise #4: Psychological Self-Recovery  

Exercise #5: Interval Training  

Exercise #6: Customize Your Deliberate Practice 

Part IV: Training Strategy 

Chapter 7: Track Your Progress  

Chapter 8: Common Challenges and Solutions  

Chapter 9: Personal Development for Therapists  

Chapter 10: Looking Forward  

Part V: Resources  

Appendix A: Deliberate Practice Exercise Form  

Appendix B: Customizing DP Exercises Form  

Appendix C: Sample Videos