Content area
Full Text
Wendy Turton describes a series of student workshops that applied cognitive behaviour methods to students' own lives to foster an understanding of the theory behind the practice
Abstract
Learning to 'do' therapy is more than knowing the theory if real understanding, confidence and competence are to develop. One method of learning cognitive behaviour therapy, based on Kolb's (1984) work, involves a cycle of role play, concrete experience and reflection, based on and leading back to the theory. This strategy was followed in student workshops at the University of Southampton during the first module of their Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) postgraduate training.
Keywords
Cognitive behaviour therapy, experience, learning cycle
In the UK, since the development of the national Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme (IAPT 2011), many mental health nurses have moved from more traditional mental health nursing roles to train as cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) therapists with IAPT services. The training is a three-module, post-qualification or equivalent, nine-month course in evidence-based CBT for adults with anxiety disorders or depression. There is a well-defined national curriculum for each module:
* Fundamentals of CBT.
* CBT for anxiety disorders.
* CBT for depression.
The competencies required have also been defined and mapped by Roth and Pilling (2007).
The first module aims to 'level the playing field' or to align the psychotherapeutic skills, knowledge and understanding among a diverse group of students and to direct further learning. It includes the CBT evidence base and theory for mild to moderate anxiety disorders and depression in adulthood, and skills acquisition for CBT in clinical practice. There is an expert clinical supervision framework that runs concurrently with the teaching throughout the course.
I have been the lead for this module at the University of Southampton since it began in 2009. Theory is taught in parallel with 'doing' CBT and reflection on what it is to be engaged in a psychotherapeutic process.
When I began to design the 'Fundamentals of CBT' module for our first IAPT intake of students, the learning objective that intrigued me was 'demonstrating insightful knowledge of CBT and an ability to identify own values and beliefs, and CBT's application to [the students] lives' (IAPT 2011). Experiential learning was recommended as an educative method to...