Sentio’s Facilitative Interpersonal Skills (FIS) Videos

Open-source video stimuli for therapist training, research and practice

Sentio University created these video clips as a practice tool for our students, inspired by the Facilitative Interpersonal Skills (FIS) test developed by Tim Anderson and colleagues. The clips show simulated clients in challenging therapy moments. Watch each one, then respond out loud as if you were the therapist in the room.

These clips are also freely available to therapists, supervisors, educators, and training programs outside Sentio for practice, teaching, or research. They are open-source and free to use with credit to Sentio University (see "Use and attribution" below).

Instructions for Sentio students

  • Watch all 8 clips below, one at a time, as if the person in the video were your client.

  • After each clip, respond out loud as the therapist, naturally and in the moment, saying what you'd actually want to say to this client.

  • Record yourself using Zoom or any app that produces a video file with your face and voice clearly visible and audible.

  • Record one response per clip. Your videos should show only you responding, not the clip itself.

  • Keep responses around 20-60 seconds long.

  • Once you've recorded all 8 responses, submit them here: Facilitative Interpersonal Skills Video Submission Form (make sure you are logged into your sentio.org email when you submit)

  • Upload each response in its matching numbered field (your Clip 1 response goes in the Clip 1 field, and so on).

CLIP 1 - BIANCA

CLIP 2 - GABRIEL

CLIP 3 - JASON

CLIP 4 - MAY

CLIP 5 - EVA

CLIP 6 - TREVOR

CLIP 7 - VANESSA

CLIP 8 - SARAH

Use and attribution

These videos are provided by Sentio University as free, open-source educational materials for therapist training, teaching, supervision, and practice.

You may link to, share, and use these clips for educational and training purposes. Please credit Sentio University when using or adapting these materials.

Recommended readings on the Facilitative Interpersonal Skills method

Allen, J. J., Parker, A., & Ogles, B. M. (2024). A review of the facilitative interpersonal skills performance task and rating method. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice. doi: 10.1037/cps0000187

Anderson, T., Finkelstein, J. D., & Horvath, S. A. (2020). The facilitative interpersonal skills method: Difficult psychotherapy moments and appropriate therapist responsiveness. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 20(3), 463–469. doi: 10.1002/capr.12302

Schöttke, H., Flückiger, C., Goldberg, S. B., Eversmann, J., & Lange, J. (2017). Predicting psychotherapy outcome based on therapist interpersonal skills: A five-year longitudinal study of a therapist assessment protocol. Psychotherapy Research, 27(6), 642–652. doi: 10.1080/10503307.2015.1125546

Anderson, T., Crowley, M. E. J., Himawan, L., Holmberg, J. K., & Uhlin, B. D. (2016). Therapist facilitative interpersonal skills and training status: A randomized clinical trial on alliance and outcome. Psychotherapy Research, 26(5), 511–529. doi: 10.1080/10503307.2015.1049671

Anderson, T., McClintock, A. S., Himawan, L., Song, X., & Patterson, C. L. (2016). A prospective study of therapist facilitative interpersonal skills as a predictor of treatment outcome. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 84(1), 57–66. doi: 10.1037/ccp0000060

Anderson, T., Ogles, B. M., Patterson, C. L., Lambert, M. J., & Vermeersch, D. A. (2009). Therapist effects: Facilitative interpersonal skills as a predictor of therapist success. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65(7), 755–768. doi: 10.1002/jclp.20583