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MAY 12, 19, 26, JUNE 2: Deliberate Practice for Helping Skills / Common Factors with Dr. Alex Vaz, PhD
The “core” helping skills of psychotherapy are some of the most researched ingredients in the entire field. And yet they’re often misunderstood as “easy”, “simple”, or something you “should already have.” In real clinical work, they’re basic in the way dribbling is “basic” in basketball, or scales are “basic” in music: foundational and never truly “finished.”
Across modalities (CBT, psychodynamic, emotion-focused…) these are the skills clinicians return to again and again when clients get stuck, therapy deteriorates, or the work becomes increasingly complex. Skills like nuanced empathic attunement, tracking and deepening emotion, exploring ambivalence and motivation, and repairing alliance strain are the moment-to-moment building blocks through which much of therapy’s impact actually happens.
This 4-week certification is a standalone training based on an upcoming American Psychological Association book that Alexandre Vaz and Tony Rousmaniere are writing on deliberate practice for helping skills. It combines a rigorous review of the research with a highly practical, repeatable deliberate practice framework — including user-friendly templates to practice these skills with a peer, a supervisor, or (when appropriate) with artificial intelligence.
Course & Certification Details
Live Zoom Sessions: 4 weeks, 1 hour/week
Dates: Tuesdays — Starts May 12th, 2026 (May 12, 19, 26, June 2)
Time: 9:00 AM PST / 12:00 PM EST / 18:00 CET
Cost: $300
Spots: Limited to ensure live feedback and interaction
CEUs: LMFTs, LCSWs, and LPCCs in California will earn 36 Continuing Education Credits upon completion.
(Sentio offers CE credits only for therapists licensed in California.)
Includes
Certificate of attendance
Live training access plus post-course access to recordings and all materials (slides, handouts, resources).
Early-access frameworks and practice methods drawn from the forthcoming APA deliberate practice book
Sentio-exclusive handouts, skills checklists, practice scripts, and templates
Live demos, practice, and feedback
What You’ll Learn — Week by Week
Week 1: Common Factors & Helping Skills — Research and a Deliberate Practice Framework
Review of major findings on common factors and helping skills (and why they matter across models)
A practical framework of helping skills across orientations
Hands-on tools and templates to practice core helping skills with a peer, supervisor, or AI (roleplays, tight skill targets, behavioral checklists)
Empathic attunement skill building
Week 2: Motivation Skills — Working with Ambivalence and Change Readiness
What research shows about motivation, ambivalence, and “stuckness” (across therapy models)
Micro-skill practice for ambivalence and strengthening movement toward change
Templates for structured practice (with peer/supervisor/AI) on core clinical motivational skills
Week 3: Experiential and Emotion-Focused Helping Skills — Deepening and Working with Avoidance
Review of major psychotherapy research on experiential factors cutting across therapy models
Rationale for deepening emotional experience and tracking emotion in the room
Practicing skills for deepening emotional experiencing and exploring efforts to avoid/escape/control emotion
User-friendly framework for experiential skills rehearsal, feedback, and refinement
Week 4: Alliance-Focused Skills — Feedback, Rupture Repair, and Progress Monitoring
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
Building a simple ongoing routine so these skills keep improving across your career
Who This Is For
Therapists, trainees, supervisors, and educators who want a clear, evidence-based way to practice core psychotherapy helping skills (not just talk about them)
Clinicians who notice they “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
About the Trainer
Alexandre Vaz, Ph.D. is Co-Founder and Chief Academic Officer of Sentio University, and co-editor/author (with Tony Rousmaniere, Psy.D.) of 20 books on psychotherapy training and The Essentials of Deliberate Practice series (American Psychological Association Books). Dr. Vaz also directs Sentio’s AI Research Initiatives, pioneering one of the world’s first graduate-level AI and mental health curricula.
The “core” helping skills of psychotherapy are some of the most researched ingredients in the entire field. And yet they’re often misunderstood as “easy”, “simple”, or something you “should already have.” In real clinical work, they’re basic in the way dribbling is “basic” in basketball, or scales are “basic” in music: foundational and never truly “finished.”
Across modalities (CBT, psychodynamic, emotion-focused…) these are the skills clinicians return to again and again when clients get stuck, therapy deteriorates, or the work becomes increasingly complex. Skills like nuanced empathic attunement, tracking and deepening emotion, exploring ambivalence and motivation, and repairing alliance strain are the moment-to-moment building blocks through which much of therapy’s impact actually happens.
This 4-week certification is a standalone training based on an upcoming American Psychological Association book that Alexandre Vaz and Tony Rousmaniere are writing on deliberate practice for helping skills. It combines a rigorous review of the research with a highly practical, repeatable deliberate practice framework — including user-friendly templates to practice these skills with a peer, a supervisor, or (when appropriate) with artificial intelligence.
Course & Certification Details
Live Zoom Sessions: 4 weeks, 1 hour/week
Dates: Tuesdays — Starts May 12th, 2026 (May 12, 19, 26, June 2)
Time: 9:00 AM PST / 12:00 PM EST / 18:00 CET
Cost: $300
Spots: Limited to ensure live feedback and interaction
CEUs: LMFTs, LCSWs, and LPCCs in California will earn 36 Continuing Education Credits upon completion.
(Sentio offers CE credits only for therapists licensed in California.)
Includes
Certificate of attendance
Live training access plus post-course access to recordings and all materials (slides, handouts, resources).
Early-access frameworks and practice methods drawn from the forthcoming APA deliberate practice book
Sentio-exclusive handouts, skills checklists, practice scripts, and templates
Live demos, practice, and feedback
What You’ll Learn — Week by Week
Week 1: Common Factors & Helping Skills — Research and a Deliberate Practice Framework
Review of major findings on common factors and helping skills (and why they matter across models)
A practical framework of helping skills across orientations
Hands-on tools and templates to practice core helping skills with a peer, supervisor, or AI (roleplays, tight skill targets, behavioral checklists)
Empathic attunement skill building
Week 2: Motivation Skills — Working with Ambivalence and Change Readiness
What research shows about motivation, ambivalence, and “stuckness” (across therapy models)
Micro-skill practice for ambivalence and strengthening movement toward change
Templates for structured practice (with peer/supervisor/AI) on core clinical motivational skills
Week 3: Experiential and Emotion-Focused Helping Skills — Deepening and Working with Avoidance
Review of major psychotherapy research on experiential factors cutting across therapy models
Rationale for deepening emotional experience and tracking emotion in the room
Practicing skills for deepening emotional experiencing and exploring efforts to avoid/escape/control emotion
User-friendly framework for experiential skills rehearsal, feedback, and refinement
Week 4: Alliance-Focused Skills — Feedback, Rupture Repair, and Progress Monitoring
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
Building a simple ongoing routine so these skills keep improving across your career
Who This Is For
Therapists, trainees, supervisors, and educators who want a clear, evidence-based way to practice core psychotherapy helping skills (not just talk about them)
Clinicians who notice they “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
About the Trainer
Alexandre Vaz, Ph.D. is Co-Founder and Chief Academic Officer of Sentio University, and co-editor/author (with Tony Rousmaniere, Psy.D.) of 20 books on psychotherapy training and The Essentials of Deliberate Practice series (American Psychological Association Books). Dr. Vaz also directs Sentio’s AI Research Initiatives, pioneering one of the world’s first graduate-level AI and mental health curricula.