EFFECTS OF BRIEF THERAPY TRAINING ON PRACTICING PSYCHOTHERAPISTS AND THEIR CLIENTS

A ten hour brief therapy training program with format representative o f postgraduate training workshops was delivered to practicing psychoth erapists at three public clinics. Training procedures and content were specified and provided to program participants in a manual. Clinician volunteers (n = 22) were randomly assigned to Training (n = 12) and C ontrol (n = 10) conditions. Pretraining assessments found no differenc es between Training and Control group therapists or their clients (n = 176). Relative to clients of Control therapists, Trained therapists' clients received more brief therapy, reported greater treatment satisf action, had lower client-reported dropout rates, and obtained better t herapist ratings of outcome. Possible causes of the training impact an d its limitations were discussed.