Brief therapy training in APA-accredited counseling and clinical psychology programs.

Abstract

The practice of brief psychotherapy has increased dramatically during the last two decades. Although practicing psychologists report spending a substantial proportion of their time conducting brief psychotherapy, up to one third of them report having little or no training in how to conduct brief psychotherapy. The current study examined standard practices of APA accredited Clinical and Counseling psychology programs with regard to their brief therapy training. Training directors of all accredited programs in the United States and Canada were surveyed, and a 40% response rate overall was obtained. The results indicate that 81% of programs provide their students with some form of brief therapy training, but the depth of that training varied tremendously, ranging from a one-hour seminar to 750 hours of supervised practica training. The results of the survey were integrated with extant literature on brief therapy training in order to develop training recommendations appropriate for APA Accredited Clinical and Counseling psychology programs to consider.