Jordan Bawks

Practical Exercises for Mental Health Professionals

While there are many books that describe the theories and research of clinical psychology and psychiatry, there are few resources that provide structured simulations for rehearsal and advancement of the critical skills mental health professionals need in the field. Advanced Therapeutics, Clinical and Interpersonal Skills series aims to fill that gap. Authored and edited by leading experts, each volume in the series focuses on one subfield within mental health, providing concise and practical exercises for professionals. Each volume is based on an empirically based pedagogy that is structured, incremental, and tightly focused on the essential skills mental health professionals must acquire to obtain licensure/registration and work effectively with mental health patients. Practical Exercises for Mental Health Professionals is volume one in the series, focusing on providing concise and practical exercises for clinicians of any theoretical orientation and clinical role. These exercises include repairing alliance ruptures, motivating patients to address barriers to change, suicidal behavior strategies and establishing boundaries and limits. Each of these exercises have been tested by leading experts and clinics in the field. Uses Deliberate Practice methodology to enhance clinical skill acquisition, which can be adapted for use by individuals, in supervision pairings, small peer learning groups, and/or in large group settings. Focuses on evidence based "common-factor" clinical communication skills that are proven to be related to improved therapeutic relationships and superior patient outcomes. Each skill exercise comes with multiple levels of difficulty to allow individuals to train at their unique growth edge based on their level of training and experience.