Deliberate practice exercises help trainees achieve competence in essential accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy skills and apply them in a variety of contexts while honing their own personal style.

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.

Each of the first 12 exercises focuses on a single skill to help clients access core emotions, process past traumas, and build secure attachments. The skills include moment-to-moment tracking, validating and reframing anxieties and defenses, and initiating portrayals (i.e., speaking to an imagined other or self). Two comprehensive exercises follow in which trainees integrate these skills into a single session.

Step-by-step instructions guide participants through the exercises, identify criteria for mastering the skills, and explain how to monitor and adjust difficulty. Guidelines to help trainers and trainees get the most out of training are also provided.