Training Clinicians to Deliver Evidence-Based Psychotherapy

This tool was superseded by an updated version in December 2019.

The Training in Psychotherapy (TIP) Tool can be applied to community-based psychotherapy trainings to assess their alignment with elements that enhance effectiveness.

Ensuring the availability of evidence-based psychotherapy in the community is a critical component of efforts to address rising mental health needs across the United States. There are many psychotherapy trainings currently designed to increase the competencies of clinicians in community-based settings with respect to delivering evidence-based psychotherapies. However, little is known about the extent to which these trainings incorporate effective approaches for achieving clinical competency in those therapies. The TIP Tool was developed using results from an extensive literature review to identify the core components of trainings that were successful in demonstrating clinician competency in psychotherapy. The literature review focused on trainings for posttraumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, and substance use disorder. The literature review was supplemented with consultation with national experts in psychotherapy training and implementation. The tool is intended to be used by individuals interested in assessing the extent to which a training's approach aligns with evidence- and expert-derived core components for facilitating clinician competency.

The authors provide several recommendations for improving training of the mental health workforce for delivering evidence-based psychotherapies: Implement independent assessments of training programs, incorporate new requirements into licensure and certification exams, and offer new standardized certification opportunities.