Can a whole agency help its therapists improve?

The study: A case study of one agency over seven years: 5,128 clients seen by 153 therapists. The agency combined routine outcome monitoring, ongoing consultation and deliberate practice.

What they found: Client outcomes across the agency improved over time, and individual therapists improved within their own caseloads. The effect per year was small, but it ran against earlier findings that therapists don't improve with experience, and it did not seem to come from hiring better therapists or losing weaker ones.

Why it matters for practice: Improvement is possible when the setting supports it. Measuring outcomes and building a practice culture around them may be what separates this agency from the typical picture of flat growth.

Goldberg, S. B., Babins-Wagner, R., Rousmaniere, T., Berzins, S., Hoyt, W. T., Whipple, J. L., Miller, S. D., & Wampold, B. E. (2016). Creating a climate for therapist improvement: A case study of an agency focused on outcomes and deliberate practice. Psychotherapy, 53(3), 367–375. https://doi.org/10.1037/pst0000060