In this article, I discuss how engaging in focused practice on skills is conducive to optimal performance in a multitude of activities—including therapy.

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes.

A riveting book which I read over the Christmas holidays is Peak by Drs. Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool. Subtitled ‘How all of us can achieve extraordinary things’, the book focuses on the concept of deliberate practice. This is a concept which research indicates is conducive to peak performance in a multitude of endeavours such as chess, musical instruments and sports.

In the following sections, I will discuss this research and also indicate how the concept can be used by clients to make progress in therapy.

Features of deliberate practice

To borrow a phrase, not all kinds of practice are created equal. That is, in order to become an expert at a skill it is necessary to engage in deliberate practice. Here are some of the main features of this type of practice:

It is focused

Deliberate practice is focused on improving particular elements of a skill rather than on simply going through the motions by practicing the skill in an unfocused manner. For example, when I practice the piano I don’t typically play pieces from start to finish. Instead, I zero in on particular bars or sections of pieces until I can play these elements correctly.

It is time-consuming

There are no shortcuts to success with deliberate practice. Those who reach the top of their fields in music, chess, sports and other endeavours put in many hours of practice—often several thousand hours over many years. This great amount of time is necessary to achieve the high levels of performance in these activities by using deliberate practice.

It is difficult

Deliberate practice is also difficult. It entails the performer going beyond their comfort zone in attempting increasingly challenging elements of the skill in order to improve. It is also difficult in focusing on identifying errors in one’s performance rather than focusing on performing those elements at which one is already proficient.

Feedback is central

The notion of identifying errors is central to another key element of deliberate practice—its focus on the performer receiving ongoing feedback. This feedback focuses on letting the performer know which elements of the skills they are performing correctly and which elements they are performing incorrectly.  In the latter case, feedback regarding errors allows the performer to make adjustments until they have performed these elements correctly.

Working with a coach or mentor is usually necessary

Deliberate practice usually entails the performer working under the guidance of a coach or mentor who is an expert in the skills being practiced. The coach-performer relationship typically involves regular meetings at which the performer attempts the skills while being observed along with practice which the coach assigns for the performer to do between meetings.

Having ‘been there and done that’ in terms of having successfully acquired the skills in question, the coach or mentor can guide the performer to engage in focused practice sessions which will allow them also to acquire these skills. The coach or mentor can also quickly spot errors and provide advice on how they can be corrected.

How deliberate practice has been used to help clients make progress in therapy

Using deliberate practice to help clients make progress in therapy is discussed by Drs. Scott D. Miller, Mark A. Hubble and Daryl Chow in Better Results: Using Deliberate Practice to Improve Therapeutic Effectiveness. The book focuses on how therapists can use deliberate practice to improve their skills in helping clients.

The authors have identified particular skills for therapists to work on until they attain proficiency through deliberate practice. Feedback regarding therapists’ effectiveness in these skills is provided by colleagues, supervisors and clients. This allows the therapist to correct errors in using these skills until proficiency is attained.

How deliberate practice can be used to help clients make even more progress in therapy

The approach of having therapists use deliberate practice to improve their skills in working with clients has been found to be an effective way of helping clients to make progress in therapy.

Having said that, my experience as a therapist has led me to determine that there is an additional way that deliberate practice can be used by therapists to help their clients make even more progress in therapy. This way focuses on helping clients to apply deliberate practice principles to the learning and application of skills to address their issues in therapy under the guidance of their therapists. I will discuss this idea in my next article.

May you use deliberate practice to achieve peak performance in your chosen endeavours,

-Dr. Pat