Abstract

A large body of research identifies therapist expressed empathy as one of the most important predictors of psychotherapy outcome. Deliberate practice (DP) is an effective method to improve skills in many fields. We asked if DP also can be used to enhance the skill of expressing empathy. Objective: The aim was to compare the efficacy of DP to didactical learning methods (DLM) in enhancing the skill of empathic expression in students. Method: A repeated measures randomized controlled group design was used. Novice students (N = 36) from psychologist-, medicine-, social work-, and nursing programs received two training sessions of either DP (n = 21) or DLM (n = 15). Participants’ skills in empathic expression were assessed with the Measure of Expressed Empathy (MEE) on three occasions: before the first, between, and after the last training session. Results: Participants in the DP-group showed improved empathic expression, whereas participants in the DLM-group did not. Conclusions: These findings suggest that DP is an effective training method for therapeutic skills such as empathic expression and holds implications for the future development of educational practices to incorporate active skill training methods.

摘要

大量研究表明，治疗师表达的同理心是心理治疗结果最重要的预测因素之一。刻意练习（DP）是提高许多领域技能的有效方法。我们询问DP是否也可以用来增强表达同理心的技巧。目的：目的是比较 DP 与教学学习方法 (DLM) 在增强学生共情表达技能方面的效果。方法：采用重复测量随机对照组设计。来自心理学家、医学、社会工作和护理项目的新手学生 ( n  = 36) 接受了两次 DP ( n  = 21) 或 DLM ( n = 15）。在三个场合使用表达同理心测量（MEE）评估参与者的同理心表达技能：第一次培训之前、之间和最后一次培训课程之后。结果： DP 组的参与者表现出同理心表达的改善，而 DLM 组的参与者则没有。结论：这些研究结果表明，DP 是一种有效的治疗技能（如共情表达）训练方法，对未来教育实践的发展以纳入主动技能训练方法具有重要意义。