The legendary cellist Pablo Casals was once interviewed by comedian George Carlin.  When asked why, at age 93, he continued to practice three hours a day, Casals replied, “I’m beginning to show some improvement!”

Hard not to feel inspired and humbled by such dedication, eh?  And while humorous, Casals was not joking.  Across a wide variety of domains (e.g., sports, computer programming, teaching), deliberate practice leads to better results.   Indeed, our recent study of mental health practitioners documented a growth in effectiveness consistent with performance improvements obtained by elite atheletes.

The January issue of the APA monitor includes a detailed article on the subject.   Staff writer Tori DeAngelis lays out the process of applying deliberate practice strategies to clinical work in clear, step-by-step terms.  Best of all, it’s free–even continuing education credits are available if you need them.

As mentioned in the article, each summer the International Center for  Clincal Excellence sponsors a two-day, intensive training on deliberate practice for therapists.  Daryl Chow, Ph.D. and I will be teaching together, presenting the latest scientific and practical information from our forthcoming book, Better Results: Using Deliberate Practice to Improve Therapeutic Effectiveness (APA, 2019).

As in prior years, we promise you will be participating in an intimate, cutting-edge, and highly-personalized learning experience.   Many practitioners return to year after year.  “I’ve attended the Deliberate Practice Intensive for three years in a row,” says therapist Jim Reynolds, “because there is such a warm camraderie.  We are all trying to do the best we can with our clients, but we go beyond that.  To do that, I need contact with others who are striving to do better.”

Until next time,

Scott

Scott D. Miller, Ph.D.