A brief workshop on alliance and interpersonal skills: RCT

The study: A multi-site randomized trial with 58 graduate trainees and practicing therapists. A brief workshop combining alliance-focused training and facilitative interpersonal skills training (video simulations, role-plays and deliberate practice) was compared with a more traditional demonstration workshop.

What they found: Overall skill after training was only marginally higher in the practice-based workshop. In exploratory analyses, it produced clearly higher scores on the skills it targeted: empathy, alliance bond capacity, and responding to ruptures and repair.

Why it matters for practice: Even short trainings can shift specific relational skills when they include active practice. The gains show up most where practice is focused.

Perlman, M. R., Anderson, T., Foley, V. K., Mimnaugh, S., & Safran, J. D. (2020). The impact of alliance-focused and facilitative interpersonal relationship training on therapist skills: An RCT of brief training. Psychotherapy Research, 30(7), 871–884. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2020.1722862