A Manual by Any Other Name: Identifying Psychotherapy Manuals for Resident Training

Teaching Psychotherapy

Although there is debate about the importance of a strong foundation in psychotherapy for psychiatrists, the literature provides ample evidence of the positive impact on patient care outcomes when psychiatrists are competent to provide this important form of treatment. Despite financial pressures and increases in managed care posing a threat to the maintenance of psychotherapy as a core skillset for psychiatrists, psychotherapy training should not only be maintained within psychiatry residency training but should in fact be given a renewed focus and priority within training programs.

Training Psychiatry Residents in Psychotherapy: The Role of Manualized Treatments

Evidence-based treatment and manualized psychotherapy have a recent but rich history. As interest and research have progressed, defining the role of treatment manuals in resident training and clinical practice has become more important. Although there is not a universal definition of treatment manual, most clinicians and researchers agree that treatment manuals are an essential piece of evidence-based therapy, and that despite several limitations, they offer advantages in training residents in psychotherapy. Requirements for resident training in psychotherapy have changed over the years, and treatment manuals offer a simple and straightforward way to meet training requirements. In a search limited to only depression, two treatment manuals emerged with the support of research regarding both clinical practice and resident training. In looking toward the future, it will be important for clinicians to remain updated on further advances in evidence based manualized treatment as a tool for training residents in psychotherapy, including recent developments in online and smartphone based treatments.