Deliberate Practice in Assessing Self-Directed Violence

by Scholz, Robert; Hall, Susan R.; Van Brunt, Brian; Vaz, Alexandre; Rousmaniere, Tony

• ISBN13: 9781433843433
• ISBN10: 1433843439
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2026-03-24
• Publisher: American Psychological Association

Summary

To help address the suicide public health crisis, this book presents deliberate practice exercises to reduce clinicians’ fears of talking about suicide and self-injury with clients and assessing for risk with skill and empathy.
 
These exercises present role-playing scenarios in which two trainees act as a client and a therapist, switching back and forth under the guidance of a supervisor. The therapist improvises appropriate and authentic responses to client statements organized into three difficulty levels—beginner, intermediate, and advanced.
 
The first 10 exercises review skills that can be incorporated into any approach to assess self-directed violence (SDV), such as exploring the deeper meaning behind statements that indicate a desire to engage in SDV, asking scaling questions to assess the likelihood of acting on these desires, collaborative safety planning, and communicating with clients about the therapist’s ethical and legal responsibilities. Two comprehensive exercises follow in which trainees integrate these skills into a transcribed session and mock therapy sessions.
 
Step-by-step instructions guide participants through the exercises, identify criteria for mastering the skills, and explain how to monitor and adjust difficulty. Guidelines to help trainers and trainees get the most out of training are also provided.

Author Biography

Robert Scholz, MA, LMFT, LPCC, LPC, is a licensed marriage and family therapist and professional clinical counselor in California and a licensed professional counselor in Arizona. He has provided specialized assessment, counseling, training and consultation services in the states of Arizona, Connecticut, and California for over 25 years. He has conducted hundreds of trainings locally and nationally for professionals in the fields of mental health, higher education, community corrections, and clergy, and he serves as a regular adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Education and Psychology at Pepperdine University. Visit https://roberttherapy.com/.

Susan Hall, JD, PhD, is associate professor in the Graduate School of Education and Psychology at Pepperdine University. She earned her law degree and her doctorate in clinical psychology, and psychology, policy, and law at the University of Arizona. Her scholarship not only aims to help clinicians better understand the law, but also examines the clinical and forensic needs of children and youth exposed to violence and maltreatment and how religion/spirituality can serve as a protective factor in their lives.

Brian Van Brunt, EdD, is the national director of Behavior & Threat Management for D-Prep Safety where he trains K-12 schools, colleges, universities, law enforcement, and workplace on issues related to threat assessment, crisis preparedness, crisis response, emergency operations, behavioral intervention, mental health, diversity, equity and inclusion. He is also the lead content expert for InterACTT, the International Alliance for CARE and Threat Teams.

Tony Rousmaniere, PsyD, is program director of the Sentio Marriage and Family Therapy graduate program, and executive director of the Sentio Counseling Center. He has authored many books on deliberate practice and psychotherapy training and is coeditor of the book series The Essentials of Deliberate Practice(APA Books). In 2017, Dr. Rousmaniere published the widely cited article in The Atlantic Monthly, “What Your Therapist Doesn’t Know.” Dr. Rousmaniere supports the open-data movement and publishes clinical outcome data at drtonyr.com. He is president of Division 29 of APA.

Alexandre Vaz, PhD, is director of training at the Sentio Marriage and Family Therapy graduate program and Sentio Counseling Center. He has authored many books on deliberate practice and psychotherapy training and is coeditor of the book series The Essentials of Deliberate Practice (APA Books). Dr. Vaz has held multiple committee roles for the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI) and the Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR). He is founder and host of “Psychotherapy Expert Talks,” an acclaimed interview series with distinguished psychotherapists and researchers.

Table of Contents

Series Preface
Tony Rousmaniere and Alexandre Vaz

Acknowledgments
Part I. Overview and Instructions
Chapter 1. Introduction and Overview of Deliberate Practice and Self-Directed Violence Psychotherapy Skills
Chapter 2. Instructions for the Self-Directed Psychotherapy Deliberate Practice Exercises
Part II. Deliberate Practice Exercises for Self-Directed Violence Psychotherapy Skills
Exercises for Beginner Self-Directed Violence Psychotherapy Skills
Exercise 1. Exploring Client Meaning
Exercise 2. Assessing Precipitating Factors
Exercise 3. Asking Scaling Questions
Exercise 4. Activating Social Support
Exercises for Intermediate Self-Directed Violence Psychotherapy Skills
Exercise 5. Safety Planning
Exercise 6. Working with Ambivalence
Exercise 7. Using Measures
Exercises for Advanced Self-Directed Violence Psychotherapy Skills
Exercise 8. Providing Rationale for Focusing on Suicide
Exercise 9. Repairing Ruptures
Exercise 10. Communicating Therapist Boundaries
Comprehensive Exercises
Exercise 11. Annotated Practice Session Transcript
Exercise 12. Mock Sessions
Part III. Strategies for Enhancing the Deliberate Practice Exercises
Chapter 3. How to Get the Most Out of Deliberate Practice: Additional Guidance for Trainers and Trainees
Appendix A. Difficulty Assessments and Adjustments
Appendix B. Deliberate Practice Diary Form
Appendix C. Sample Self-Directed Violence Psychotherapy Skills Syllabus With Embedded Deliberate Practice Exercises
References
Index
About the Authors