Training as Usual: Can Therapist Behavior Change After Reading a Manual and Attending a Brief Workship on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Youth Anxiety?

Abstract

There exists an ongoing movement to transport empirically supported treatments (ESTs), developed and evaluated in research clinics, to service providing clinics. ESTs refer to psychological interventions that have been evaluated scientifically (e.g., randomized controlled trial; RCT) and satisfy the Chambless and Hollon (1998) criteria (Kendall & Beidas, 2007). Dissemination research encompasses both dissemination (purposeful distribution of relevant information and materials to clinicians) and implementation (adoption and integration of EST in clinical practice) of ESTs (Lomas, 1993). However, for a variety of reasons (Addis & Krasnow, 2000; Riley, Schuman, Forman-Hoffman, Mihm, Applegate, & Asif, 2007), resistance to dissemination and implementation exists. We focus on training therapists in ESTs (i.e., dissemination). Thus, a key question arises: Do current training efforts practice in the community (i.e., reading a manual and attending a brief training workshop) effectively influence therapist behavior in those who are naïve to fundamental principles of an EST?