The transformative work of Dr. Henny Westra and Alyssa Di Bartolomeo in their paper, "Developing expertise in psychotherapy: The case for process coding as clinical training," represents a significant advancement in therapeutic practice.

They introduce a novel framework called "process coding" to enhance therapists’ skills by using session recordings to better understand and refine therapeutic techniques. This method addresses common issues such as therapists' misremembering interactions, enabling a more accurate and effective review and improvement of their sessions. Their approach promises to dramatically enhance therapists' ability to assist clients by offering a systematic way to analyze therapy tapes, which uncovers subtle dynamics and missed opportunities within sessions.

The importance of their work lies in providing a clear, evidence-based path toward refining therapeutic skills beyond traditional training, shifting the focus from theoretical knowledge to practical, observable outcomes. This innovative method could potentially revolutionize the way therapists train and develop their expertise, ultimately leading to more effective client interventions and outcomes.

Links and resources mentioned:

Why tough tactics fail and rapport gets results: Observing Rapport-Based Interpersonal Techniques (ORBIT) to generate useful information from terrorists.

This is the article summarizing the early research Laurence Alison et al conducted on police interrogations. I believe it was in this paper they discuss, “you can’t always make things better, but negative interactions can sure make things worse.”

Conditions for Intuitive Expertise: A Failure to Disagree

This is Gary Klein and Daniel Kahneman’s article on the areas where expertise can develop and the areas where it can’t. My big takeaway was areas with clear and quick feedback are the ones who produce expertise.

The wizards of deception detection - Maureen O'Sullivan and Paul Ekman

One of my favorite articles. O'Sullivan and Ekman show that most people, even trained therapists, just aren't that good at reading different facial expressions.

Meet You in McGinnis Meadows: Lessons in Attunement - Scott Miller and Brooke Mathews

Miller and Mathews discuss her path to becoming an expert therapist. I've not read this in a few years but I remember her learning a lot from her work observing horses.

Contact Dr. Henny Westra at hwestra[ at] yorku.ca

Contact Alyssa Di Bartolomeo alyssaad @] yorku.ca; Twitter/X @aadibartolomeo