Deliberate Practice Certification Courses
Research-based training for clinicians and supervisors ready to move beyond case discussion and build real clinical skill through practice, rehearsal, and feedback.
Why Deliberate Practice
Research confirms what many supervisors and clinicians already sense: traditional supervision and training do not reliably improve therapists' skills and effectiveness. Good intentions, conceptual knowledge, and case discussion often are not enough. Deliberate Practice offers a different path. It is a structured, evidence-based approach to skill building that emphasizes targeted rehearsal, immediate feedback, and progressively challenging practice focused on specific clinical micro-skills.
Sentio University has been at the forefront of developing Deliberate Practice theory, applications, and peer-reviewed research for psychotherapy. These certification courses bring that expertise to practicing professionals through two complementary tracks: one focused on how you supervise and train others, and one focused on building your own core clinical skills.
Deliberate Practice Supervision Certification
Learn the Sentio Supervision Model, a structured seven-step approach to supervision that integrates Deliberate Practice. Move from vague feedback to targeted skill rehearsal, behavioral checklists, and personalized training plans. Includes certification as a DP-Informed Supervisor and the exclusive Sentio Supervisor Toolkit.
4 weeks · Live online · CE credits available for California-licensed LMFTs, LCSWs, and LPCCs
Deliberate Practice for Helping Skills
A standalone training based on a forthcoming APA book, combining rigorous research review with a highly practical deliberate practice framework for core psychotherapy skills: empathic attunement, motivational skills, experiential and emotion-focused skills, and alliance repair. Includes templates for practice with peers, supervisors, or AI.
4 weeks · Live online · CE credits available for California-licensed LMFTs, LCSWs, and LPCCs
DP Supervision Course Curriculum
Week 1
The Sentio Supervision Model in Action
Learn the seven steps of the Sentio Supervision Model. Understand why traditional supervision often fails to improve therapist skill and how Deliberate Practice addresses those limitations. Watch video examples of real DP supervision sessions and identify what makes a strong supervision structure.
Week 2
Identifying What Is Stuck: Client Challenges and Therapist Deficits
Learn to help supervisees identify what is actually going wrong in sessions. Distinguish between conceptualization and observable clinical problems. Practice coding therapy segments for challenges and deficits using real clinical material, and begin using the Supervision Preparation Form.
Week 3
Setting Smart Learning Goals and Behavioral Rehearsal
Move from vague feedback to specific, practice-worthy skills. Learn to structure feedback and choose skills that are suitable for rehearsal. Engage in live role-plays and feedback loops, and discover how to tailor rehearsal to a trainee's zone of proximal development.
Week 4
From Session to Skill: Homework, Outcomes, and Integration
Create a personalized training plan for each trainee's specific needs. Implement skills practice for common factors and specific treatment models. Explore how DP supervision connects to therapist resilience and clinical presence. Participate in a live supervisory skills demo with feedback.
DP for Helping Skills Course Curriculum
Week 1
Common Factors and Helping Skills: Research and a Deliberate Practice Framework
Review major findings on common factors and helping skills and why they matter across therapeutic models. Learn a practical framework of helping skills that applies across orientations. Use hands-on tools and templates for practicing core skills with a peer, supervisor, or AI, and begin empathic attunement skill building.
Week 2
Motivation Skills: Working with Ambivalence and Change Readiness
Explore research on motivation, ambivalence, and stuckness across therapy models. Practice micro-skills for working with ambivalence and strengthening movement toward change. Use structured templates for deliberate practice on core motivational skills.
Week 3
Experiential and Emotion-Focused Helping Skills
Review major psychotherapy research on experiential factors that cut across therapy models. Understand the rationale for deepening emotional experience and tracking emotion in the room. Practice skills for deepening emotional experiencing and exploring avoidance, with a user-friendly framework for rehearsal, feedback, and refinement.
Week 4
Alliance-Focused Skills: Feedback, Rupture Repair, and Progress Monitoring
Examine what we know about alliance processes and why they predict outcomes across modalities. Practice frameworks for client feedback, detecting strain early, and responding to alliance ruptures. Build a simple ongoing routine so these skills keep improving across your career.
What Is Included
Sentio Certificate upon completion
36 CE credits for California-licensed LMFTs, LCSWs, and LPCCs
Live training with interactive practice and feedback
Exclusive Resources Toolkit with fill-in forms, guides, and skill sheets
Sentio AI safety and ethics guidelines
Video examples and live demos
Early-access content from forthcoming APA books
Who These Courses Are For
Clinical supervisors and educators looking for structured methods that reliably build trainee skill
Training directors and site leads responsible for clinical training programs
Therapists and trainees who want a clear, evidence-based way to practice core skills, not just discuss them
Clinicians who know the concepts but want skills that hold up under clinical pressure and complex cases
Anyone who wants a deliberate practice method they can use solo, in supervision, or with peers
Professionals new to Deliberate Practice or already experimenting with it and looking for more structure
Built on Years of Research and Practice
Sentio University has been at the forefront of Deliberate Practice in psychotherapy for years, contributing to the development of DP theory, publishing peer-reviewed research, and training clinicians around the world. Dr. Alexandre Vaz and Dr. Tony Rousmaniere have co-authored the Essentials of Deliberate Practice series published by the American Psychological Association, along with over 15 additional books on psychotherapy training. These courses distill that body of work into practical, repeatable frameworks you can begin using immediately.
The DP for Helping Skills course draws directly from a forthcoming APA book on deliberate practice for helping skills by Dr. Vaz and Dr. Rousmaniere, giving participants early access to structured practice methods and templates before publication.
About the Instructor
Alexandre Vaz, Ph.D.
Dr. Vaz is cofounder and Chief Academic Officer of Sentio University. He provides deliberate practice workshops and advanced clinical training and supervision to clinicians around the world. Dr. Vaz is the author and co-editor of over 15 books on deliberate practice and psychotherapy training, including the Essentials of Deliberate Practice series published by the American Psychological Association. He has held multiple committee roles for the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI) and the Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR). Dr. Vaz is also founder and host of Psychotherapy Expert Talks, an acclaimed interview series with distinguished psychotherapists and therapy researchers.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Deliberate Practice in psychotherapy?
Deliberate Practice is a structured, research-informed approach to skill building that emphasizes targeted rehearsal, immediate feedback, and progressively challenging practice. In psychotherapy, it means moving beyond case discussion and conceptual learning to actively practicing specific clinical micro-skills through roleplay, behavioral checklists, and feedback loops. Research shows that traditional training does not reliably improve therapist effectiveness, while Deliberate Practice provides a concrete method for building and refining real clinical skill over time.
What is the difference between the two courses?
The DP Supervision course focuses on how to supervise and train other clinicians using Deliberate Practice, covering the Sentio Supervision Model, identifying skill deficits, structuring behavioral rehearsal, and creating personalized training plans. The DP for Helping Skills course focuses on building your own core psychotherapy skills through structured practice, covering empathic attunement, motivational skills, experiential and emotion-focused skills, and alliance repair with templates for practice alongside peers, supervisors, or AI.
What is the Sentio Supervision Model?
The Sentio Supervision Model is a structured, seven-step approach to clinical supervision developed at Sentio University. It addresses the limitations of traditional supervision by integrating Deliberate Practice principles into the supervisory process, including identifying observable clinical problems, setting specific behavioral learning goals, conducting targeted rehearsal, and creating personalized training plans for supervisees.
Do I earn continuing education credits?
Sentio certification courses award 36 CEUs to LMFTs, LCSWs, and LPCCs licensed in California upon completion.
Do I need prior experience with Deliberate Practice?
No. Both courses are designed to be accessible whether you are new to Deliberate Practice or already experimenting with it. The DP Supervision course starts with the foundations of the Sentio model, and the Helping Skills course builds from a comprehensive research review into hands-on practice. You will leave with a complete framework regardless of where you start.