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 build a positive parent-child relationship as a foundation for creating behavioral change, using parenting skills like labeled praise, planned ignoring, and creating clear instructions. Guidelines for working with difficult children, including those with behavioral disorders like ADHD, are provided.

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.

Mark Terjesen, PhD, is professor of psychology at St. John's University and a core member of the school psychology programs, previously serving as director. He was the Child and Family Service Coordinator for the Albert Ellis Institute for Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy in Manhattan and was President of the School Division of the New York State Psychological Association and of APA’s Division 52 (International Psychology). Dr. Terjesen has studied and published on diverse topics, including rational emotive behavior therapy, cognitive behavior therapy, the assessment and treatment of ADHD and anger in children, school psychology, and international psychology.

Hilary Vidair, PhD, is program director and associate professor in the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program at Long Island University Post. She is Director of LIU Post's Family Check-In Program, a low-cost, three-session service for parents of 2–8-year-olds. She served as guest editor of the “Anxiety Disorders” issue of Child and Adolescent Clinics of North America. Dr. Vidair received several awards, including the NIH Clinical Research Loan Repayment Award and the NIMH Child Intervention, Prevention, and Services Research Fellowship. She is actively involved in the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies and maintains a private practice in Great Neck, Long Island.

Phyllis Ohr, PhD, is the assistant clinical director of the PhD program in clinical psychology at Hofstra University. Her research interests include cognitive and behavioral factors associated with stressful family interactions, assessment and treatment of early childhood emotion regulation difficulties, and parent-child interaction therapy to reduce parental psychopathology during play interactions. She has contributed to five publications and over 30 presentations.

Olivia Walsh, MS, is a doctoral student at St. John's University.

Alexandre Vaz, PhD, is director of training at the Sentio Marriage and Family Therapy graduate program and Sentio Counseling Center. He has authored many books on deliberate practice and psychotherapy training and is coeditor of the book series The Essentials of Deliberate Practice (APA Books). Dr. Vaz has held multiple committee roles for the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI) and the Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR). He is founder and host of “Psychotherapy Expert Talks,” an acclaimed interview series with distinguished psychotherapists and researchers.
 
Tony Rousmaniere, PsyD, is program director of the Sentio Marriage and Family Therapy graduate program, and executive director of the Sentio Counseling Center. He has authored many books on deliberate practice and psychotherapy training and is coeditor of the book series The Essentials of Deliberate Practice(APA Books). In 2017, Dr. Rousmaniere published the widely cited article in The Atlantic Monthly, “What Your Therapist Doesn’t Know.” Dr. Rousmaniere supports the open-data movement and publishes clinical outcome data at drtonyr.com. He is president of Division 29 of APA.

Mark Terjesen, PhD, is professor of sychology at St. John's University and a core member of the school psychology programs, previously serving as director. He was the Child and Family Service Coordinator for the Albert Ellis Institute for Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy in Manhattan and was President of the School Division of the New York State Psychological Association and of APA’s Division 52 (International Psychology). Dr. Terjesen has studied and published on diverse topics, including rational emotive behavior therapy, cognitive behavior therapy, the assessment and treatment of ADHD and anger in children, school psychology, and international psychology.

Hilary Vidair, PhD, is program director and associate professor in the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program at Long Island University Post. She is Director of LIU Post's Family Check-In Program, a low-cost, three-session service for parents of 2–8-year-olds. She served as guest editor of the “Anxiety Disorders” issue of Child and Adolescent Clinics of North America. Dr. Vidair received several awards, including the NIH Clinical Research Loan Repayment Award and the NIMH Child Intervention, Prevention, and Services Research Fellowship. She is actively involved in the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies and maintains a private practice in Great Neck, Long Island.

Phyllis Ohr, PhD, is the assistant clinical director of the PhD program in clinical psychology at Hofstra University. Her research interests include cognitive and behavioral factors associated with stressful family interactions, assessment and treatment of early childhood emotion regulation difficulties, and parent-child interaction therapy to reduce parental psychopathology during play interactions. She has contributed to five publications and over 30 presentations.

Olivia Walsh, MS, is a doctoral student at St. John's University.

Alexandre Vaz, PhD, is cofounder and chief academic officer of Sentio Institute. He provides deliberate practice workshops and clinical training and supervision around the world. Dr. Vaz is the author/coeditor of four books on deliberate practice and psychotherapy training and two book series: The Essentials of Deliberate Practice (APA Books) and Advanced Therapeutics, Clinical and Interpersonal Skills (Elsevier). He has held multiple committee roles for the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI) and the Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR). Dr. Vaz is founder and host of “Psychotherapy Expert Talks,” an acclaimed interview series with distinguished psychotherapists and researchers.
 
Tony Rousmaniere, PsyD, is cofounder and program director of Sentio Institute. He provides workshops, webinars, and clinical training and supervision around the world. He is the author/coeditor of six books on deliberate practice and psychotherapy training and two book series: The Essentials of Deliberate Practice (APA Books) and Advanced Therapeutics, Clinical and Interpersonal Skills (Elsevier). In 2017, he published the widely cited article in The Atlantic Monthly, “What Your Therapist Doesn’t Know.” Dr. Rousmaniere supports the open-data movement and publishes clinical outcome data at https://drtonyr.com/. He was awarded the Early Career Award by the Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy.