Date of Award

2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Psychology (Ph.D.)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Mark D Terjesen

Second Advisor

Raymond DiGiuseppe

Third Advisor

Tara Rooney

Abstract

Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is a clinical psychotherapeutic intervention that falls under the broad umbrella of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT; Matweychuk et al., 2019). While CBT and the varied models have demonstrated efficacy, a more targeted analysis of clinical competence (Liness et al., 2019), the role of training in a specific model of CBT, such as REBT, and its impact on clinician competency is warranted. From a review of the extant literature in the area, overall, research on the areas of training in DBT, ACT, and CT, and associated clinician competency are to a larger extent greater than that of one of the originators of CBT: REBT. This research addressed this gap in scientific inquiry by looking at the impact of training in REBT on clinical competency. Four clinicians, two of which participated in a REBT three-day clinical practica training at a mental health facility, and two who did not undergo this training, served as participants in this research. All four clinicians were fourth year doctoral students and on their 4th year of clinical externship. This paper investigated the impact that training has on clinician competency, both perceived and rated by experts in REBT. Those who participated in the REBT training had significantly higher ratings of perceived competency than those who did not participate in the training. However, similar ratings of competency when rated by experts was seen across both groups. Additionally, outcomes were mixed in regard to consistency between expert and perceived ratings across participants. The limitations of the current investigation and directions for future research are presented. Implications for the field of school psychology, graduate training programs, and formalized training programs are discussed.

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