Flexibility within Fidelity

This is a must-have book for any therapist treating patients with anxiety, depression, OCD, aggression, pain and a variety of other disorders. Although empirically-supported treatments are the clear gold-standard for treating these problems, clinicians often struggle with how best to balance the need for fidelity in applying manualized treatments with the flexibility necessary to meet the specific needs of a given patient and their family. This book provides expert and highly pragmatic guidance for how to achieve this balance. Dr. Kendall, one of leading developers of empirically-supported treatments, has assembled an all-star cast of clinical researchers and treatment developers to guide readers through the key steps for achieving flexibility with fidelity in service of optimal clinical outcomes. * John Piacentini, PhD, ABPP, Director, UCLA Center for Child Anxiety, Resilience, Education and Support (CARES) and Child OCD, Anxiety and Tic Disorders Program *
Our own research shows that it is important to train and evaluate psychotherapists along two dimensions, adherence to the evidence-based psychological protocol so that it is delivered as intended, but also competence in its administration. We have discovered that adhering too closely to the protocol in sessions is consistently associated with lower ratings of competence. But how can a therapist be trained to administer the treatment with integrity to achieve the best results while at the same time achieving maximal competence? Now, Phil Kendall, one of the experts in the world in this area, has put together leading developers of evidence-based psychological treatments that demonstrates how to be flexible, and therefore competent, in delivering these interventions with integrity. Every clinicians or clinician in training should be familiar with these strategies."