Pre-Post Differences in Facilitative Interpersonal Skills and Self-Assessment Following Deliberate-Practice Training

Although deliberate practice (DP) has shown results in other areas of research, its potential benefits in the field of training psychotheraists are still unclear.

To analyze whether DP training improves facilitative interpersonal skills (FIS) and to understand whether the trainees' self-assessment is congruent with their performance.

A pre-experimental study with a quantitative analysis was carried out in order to analyze the data from the Facilitative Interpersonal Skills Performance Task and Facilitative Interpersonal Skills Self-Report instruments. The study utilized a convenience sample of 23 psychologists in the first year of an advanced specialization program in psychotherapy. In order to compare a hetero with a self-assessment of therapists' performance, the data were collected before and after a DP training.

Participants' observer-rated FIS were significantly higher after the DP training than before it. Their self-rated FIS exceeded observer ratings both before and after the training; nonetheless, self-ratings increased in parallel with observed performance, suggesting that participants were aware of their own pre-post change.