Deliberate practice exercises help clinicians develop competence in fundamental motivational interviewing skills to better assist clients with change goals, like quitting addictive behaviors and developing healthier habits, and to improve treatment engagement and retention.

These exercises present role-playing scenarios in which two trainees act as a client and a clinician, switching back and forth under the guidance of a supervisor. The clinician improvises appropriate and authentic responses to client statements organized into three difficulty levels--beginner, intermediate, and advanced--that reflect common client questions and concerns.

The first 12 exercises focus on specific skills, such as offering simple and complex reflections and affirmations, eliciting change talk, supporting client autonomy, and collaboratively mapping session agendas. These are followed by two comprehensive exercises--an annotated transcript and free-form mock therapy sessions--in which trainees integrate essential skills into one session.

Step-by-step instructions guide participants through the exercises, identify criteria for skill mastery, and explain how to monitor and adjust difficulty. Guidelines and forms to help trainers and trainees get the most out of training are also provided.

Denise Ernst, PhD, is an Adjunct Professor at the School of Social Work, Portland State University. She has been a motivational interviewing (MI) consultant for over 25 years, providing training, evaluation, research and implementation support, and private coaching internationally. Dr. Ernst has helped develop and refine MI coding instruments, including the Motivational Interviewing Skill Code (MISC) and the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity (MITI) coding system. She participated in research efforts to enhance training effects, providing structured feedback and coaching for many professions. Dr. Ernst has been a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT) since 1997.

Tony Rousmaniere, PsyD, is cofounder and Program Director of Sentio Institute. He provides workshops, webinars, and clinical training and supervision around the world. He is the author/coeditor of six books on deliberate practice and psychotherapy training and two book series: The Essentials of Deliberate Practice (APA Books) and Advanced Therapeutics, Clinical and Interpersonal Skills (Elsevier). In 2017, he 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 https: //drtonyr.com/. He was awarded the Early Career Award by the Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy.

Alexandre Vaz, PhD, is cofounder and Chief Academic Officer of Sentio Institute. He provides deliberate practice workshops and clinical training and supervision around the world. Dr. Vaz is the author/coeditor of four books on deliberate practice and psychotherapy training and two book series: The Essentials of Deliberate Practice (APA Books) and Advanced Therapeutics, Clinical and Interpersonal Skills (Elsevier). He has held multiple committee roles for the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI) and the Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR). Dr. Vaz is founder and host of "Psychotherapy Expert Talks," an acclaimed interview series with distinguished psychotherapists and researchers.