Deliberate Practice in Assessing Self-Directed Violence

To help address the suicide public health crisis, this book presents deliberate practice exercises to reduce clinicians' fears of talking about suicide and self-injury with clients and assessing for risk with skill and empathy.

These exercises present role-playing scenarios in which two trainees act as a client and a therapist, switching back and forth under the guidance of a supervisor. The therapist improvises appropriate and authentic responses to client statements organized into three difficulty levels--beginner, intermediate, and advanced.

The first 10 exercises review skills that can be incorporated into any approach to assess self-directed violence (SDV), such as exploring the deeper meaning behind statements that indicate a desire to engage in SDV, asking scaling questions to assess the likelihood of acting on these desires, collaborative safety planning, and communicating with clients about the therapist's ethical and legal responsibilities. Two comprehensive exercises follow in which trainees integrate these skills into a transcribed session and mock therapy sessions.

Step-by-step instructions guide participants through the exercises, identify criteria for mastering the skills, and explain how to monitor and adjust difficulty. Guidelines to help trainers and trainees get the most out of training are also provided.

Robert Scholz, MA, LMFT, LPCC, founder of The Change Place, Inc., is a marriage and family therapist and professional clinical counselor. He is well-known for his work as a trainer and consultant in assisting schools and communities prepare for and respond to major crisis events like wildfires, mass shootings, and suicides. A member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers, Robert has trained thousands in motivational interviewing skills and other evidence-based therapeutic approaches. He has authored publications on disaster mental health, addiction treatment, threat assessment, and men's mental health.

Susan R. Hall, JD, PhD, is a tenured associate professor of psychology at Pepperdine University's Graduate School of Education and Psychology. She has published and presented nationally on topics related to clinical/counseling practice and training; trauma and positive psychology; and psychology, public policy and law, including two APA books: Courtroom Modifications for Child Witnesses and Laws Affecting Clinical Practice. Dr. Hall served on the editorial board of the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, was treasurer for APA's Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice (Division 37), and received Pepperdine's Howard A. White Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Brian Van Brunt, EdD, is director of behavior and threat management for D-Prep Safety and the president of the Workplace Violence Prevention Association. Author of over a dozen books, Brian has worked as a child and family therapist, university professor, assistant deputy director of training at Secure Community Network, and president of the National Association for Behavioral Intervention and Threat Assessment. He is an internationally recognized expert in behavioral intervention, threat assessment, crisis preparedness, mental illness, and instructional design. Brian has provided consulting services to schools around the world on student mental health, counseling, campus violence, and behavioral intervention.

Alexandre Vaz, PhD, is cofounder and chief academic officer of Sentio University and the Sentio Counseling Center. He provides workshops, webinars, and advanced clinical training and supervision to clinicians around the world. Dr. Vaz is the author/coeditor of over a dozen books on deliberate practice and psychotherapy training. 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 therapy researchers.

Tony Rousmaniere, PsyD, is cofounder and program director of Sentio University and the Sentio Counseling Center. He provides workshops, webinars, and advanced clinical training and supervision to clinicians around the world. Dr. Rousmaniere is the author/coeditor of many books on deliberate practice and psychotherapy training. 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 his aggregated, deidentified clinical outcome data on his website (https: drtonyr.com/). Dr. Rousmaniere is past president of the American Psychological Association's Division 29 (the Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy).