Experiential Training for Community Therapists

Dissemination of Exposure-Based Treatment for Anxiety: Experiential Training for Community Therapists

The primary goal of this study is to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of employing an experiential training approach that targets community mental health therapists' attitudes toward and use of exposure therapy. In addition to assessing attitudes and use of exposure therapy, the study will evaluate the feasibility of recruitment, randomization, retention, and assessment processes, as well as the acceptability of the experiential training relative to training-as-usual. To assess these outcomes, community therapists will be randomized to experiential training or training-as-usual. A subset of therapists from each arm will also complete qualitative interviews to further assess acceptability of the training approaches. The training-as-usual condition will include a traditional one-day workshop that focuses on principles of exposure and incorporates active learning strategies. The experiential training will include a one-day workshop that teaches principles of exposure and has therapists themselves undergo a one-session phobia treatment for spiders. Therapists in both training conditions will be asked to attend weekly consultation phone calls for a three-month period following the trainings.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Participants will be aged 21 and older with degrees (masters or doctorate) in a mental health field. They must be working in a community mental health clinic, currently treating at least one client with anxiety, and planning to continue providing therapy to at least one client with anxiety for the duration of the study. Participants must be interested in participating in a training workshop and able to commit to the time requirements for study completion. They must also be willing to provide an email or mailing address to complete study-related surveys. Finally, they must be able to read and speak English.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Participants cannot have previously attended a full day (8+ hours) workshop on exposure-based treatments for anxiety.