Deliberate Practice in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy

by Shannon Dames, Andrew Penn, Monnica Williams, Joseph Zamaria, Tony Rousmaniere PhD

Overview

Deliberate practice exercises help trainees achieve competence in essential psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy skills and apply them in a range of clinical situations while honing their own personal style and language.

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—that reflect common client questions and concerns.

Each of the first 12 exercises focuses on a single skill that include tending to clients’ bodily and emotional states before introducing psychedelic medicine to treatment, exploring ethical and cultural implications, and working with clients in altered states of consciousness to promote wellbeing. Two comprehensive exercises follow in which trainees integrate these essential skills into a single psychedelic-assisted therapy session.

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781433841712
Publisher:	American Psychological Association
Publication date:	04/23/2024
Series:	Essentials of Deliberate Practice Series
Pages:	245
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Shannon Dames, RN, MPH, EdD, is chair of psychedelic-assisted therapy programming and a nursing professor at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, British Columbia. She has expertise in resilience development and psychedelic-assisted therapy research and education. Dr. Dames’s work focuses on the collaborative, interdisciplinary development of equity and culturally informed service delivery, research, and education infrastructure development in the re-emerging field of psychedelic-assisted therapy. Her work acknowledges multiple ways of knowing, with a specific interest in collaborating to understand how Western and Indigenous ways of knowing might be shared for the healing benefit of all.
 
Andrew Penn, MS, PMHNP, is a clinical professor of nursing and a researcher at the Translational Psychedelic Research Program at University of California, San Francisco, where he teaches psychopharmacology and clinical psychiatry, and an attending nurse practitioner at the San Francisco Veterans Administration Hospital. He has taught around the world, including SXSW, Aspen Health Ideas Festival, TEDx, and the Singapore Ministry of Health. He is cofounder of the Organization of Psychedelic and Entheogenic Nurses (https://www.openurses.org/) and has advocated for and written about nursing in psychedelic therapy in the American Journal of Nursing and the Journal of Humanistic Psychology. Visit https://www.andrewpennnp.com/.
 
Monnica Williams, PhD, is clinical psychologist specializing in cognitive behavior therapies. She is a professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Ottawa, Canada research chair in mental health disparities, and director of the Laboratory for Culture and Mental Health Disparities. She is the clinical director of the Behavioral Wellness Clinic in Connecticut, and Behavioural Wellness Clinic in Ottawa. She was also director of the Center for Mental Health Disparities at the University of Louisville in Psychological and Brain Sciences (2011–2016). At the University of Connecticut (2016–2019), she had appointments in psychological science and psychiatry.
 
Joseph A. Zamaria, PsyD, ABPP, is an associate clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, where he is associate program director for psychotherapy for UCSF’s psychiatry residency and an attending psychologist in UCSF’s outpatient psychiatry clinics. Dr. Zamaria has worked for years as a therapist and researcher in clinical trials of psychedelic-assisted therapy to treat a range of conditions. Additionally, he is on the faculty at UC Berkeley within the Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics, where he directs the psychotherapy and clinical science curricula.
 
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.
 
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.

Table of Contents

Series Preface
Tony Rousmaniere and Alexandre Vaz
Acknowledgments

Part I. Overview and Instructions
Chapter 1. Introduction and Overview of Deliberate Practice and Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy
Chapter 2. Instructions for the Therapeutic Approach for Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Deliberate Practice Exercises

Part II. Deliberate Practice Exercises for Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Skills
Exercises for Beginner Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Skills
Exercise 1. Redirecting to the Body
Exercise 2. Compassionately Witnessing Strong Emotions
Exercise 3. Exploring Intentions and Expectations
Exercise 4. Cultural Considerations: Racially and Ethnically Diverse Communities
Exercises for Intermediate Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Skills
Exercise 5. Boundaries and Informed Consent
Exercise 6. Responding to Relational Ruptures
Exercise 7. Working With the Client's Internal Conflict
Exercise 8. Addressing Transference
Exercises for Advanced Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Skills
Exercise 9. Navigating Strong Emotions
Exercise 10. Making Sense of the Experience: Integration I
Exercise 11. Working With Disappointment: Integration II
Exercise 12. Embodying Insights: Integration III
Comprehensive Exercises
Exercise 13. Annotated Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Practice Session Transcript
Exercise 14. Mock Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Sessions

Part III. Strategies for Enhancing the Deliberate Practice Exercises
Chapter 3. How to Get the Most Out of Deliberate Practice: Additional Guidance for Trainers and Trainees

Appendix A. Difficulty Assessments and Adjustments
Appendix B. Deliberate Practice Diary Form
Appendix C. Sample Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Syllabus With Embedded Deliberate Practice Exercises

References
Index
About the Authors

What People are Saying About This

Pamela Kryskow

This manual is an indispensable resource for those seeking to integrate psychedelic-assisted therapy into their professional repertoire. The authors skillfully guide readers through practical exercises, addressing the myriad of therapy challenges that may arise when working with clients interested in psychedelic medicines. This book serves as a vital educational tool to support clinicians on their ongoing learning journey, enabling them to cultivate optimal healing environments for their clients.

Michael Mithoefer

This book emphasizes the critical importance of therapists’ presence and the personal work that is required to develop and maintain a capacity for “properly attuned flexibility” in the face of intense experiences. The authors then provide a rich collection of practice exercises that are a valuable resource for therapists to learn to embody this capacity. This resource is particularly welcome as psychedelic-assisted therapy approaches regulatory approval.

Zach Walsh

This thoughtfully organized book covers the key aspects of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. Any therapist in this emerging field is bound to find something practical and thought-provoking in these lovingly prepared pages.

Saundra Jain

What a book! It’s not just a book, it’s like having a group of experienced, tender-hearted, wise clinicians and guides by your side. They educate, support, encourage, and cheer on a psychedelic-assisted therapist at every stage of their career. I am wildly enthusiastic about this book and plan to keep it on my bookshelf throughout my career as a psychedelic-assisted therapist. The wisdom and knowledge within this book are exemplary, but it’s the presentation that makes it a knockout. I highly recommend it.

Jeffrey Guss

This book is just terrific. The authors have taken an unruly endeavor—teaching psychedelic-assisted therapy—and organized it in a lyrical, lovely, and thorough way. The focus remains resolutely on the patient–therapist relationship, and the practical exercises allow therapists to grow in skill and attunement, according to their own talent and personality. Most of all, the book allows for teachers to bring out the inner wisdom of each student, supporting the same kind of personal growth we hope to evoke in our patients.