Staff Perspective: Available CDP Resources to Enhance Clinical Skills

Staff Perspective: Available CDP Resources to Enhance Clinical Skills

Dr. Tim Rogers

What helps you to become a better clinician? There may not be a single answer to this question. In fact, most of us probably benefit from a variety of different experiences depending upon our learning style and what we are specifically seeking to improve. Literature on competency development also highlights that such improvement can focus on knowledge, attitude, skills, or any combination of these. Given the diversity of learning needs, learning preferences, pathways for competency development, and professional demands (i.e., continuing education requirements) it can be helpful to identify various existing resources to assist our professional development.

The Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP) provides a variety of resources that can be beneficial for enhancing clinical skills. This blog will review these resources and highlight how to access them via our CDP website. As most people are familiar with our EBP training workshops, this blog will highlight other helpful resources that CDP offers.

1) Evidence-Based Psychotherapy Videos. We often get positive feedback from individuals attending our EBP workshops on the various videos that we include as part of our training. These videos typically show a therapist working with a client demonstrating a particular type of intervention. What people may not know is that we have posted these videos on our website along with even more clinical content than what we could include in our EBP workshops. It is an excellent resource, and one that I have referred to interns, faculty members, and those seeking consultation on clinical cases. The videos cover working with patients who have PTSD (i.e., CPT, and PE), Insomnia, Depression, and struggle with Suicidal ideation. Reviewing these videos can help with learning and reinforcing good clinical skills with a variety patients. Check it out on https://deploymentpsych.org/videos.

2) Center for Deployment Psychology Presents (CDPP) Webinars. CDP offers monthly webinars on various clinical topics by both internal and external subject matter experts. These webinars are online and last 90 minutes. Participants can ask questions and receive continuing education credits for attending the live webinars. However, people might not know that these webinars are archived on CDPs website. You can listen to the archived material at your convenience like a podcast. Although this is an excellent resource, CDP is not able to offer continuing education credits for listening to this archived material. But attending the CDP Presents webinars or listening to the archived material is a great way to maintain clinical competency in working with service members. Check out upcoming CDP Presents Webinars at https://deploymentpsych.org/online-training-courses, and the archived webinars at https://deploymentpsych.org/archived-webinars.

3) Blogs and Practical for Your Practice Podcast. Every week CDP posts a new blog on various topics related to working with and issues facing service members, veterans, and their families. These blogs can cover recent research, clinical insights from subject matter experts, and raise awareness about issues facing military personnel, veterans, and their families. In particular the research updates blogs a great way to stay up-to-date on current research with military populations. You can check out the various blogs by going to https://deploymentpsych.org/blog. CDP has also started a podcast called “Practical for Your Practice.” The focus of this podcast is to help providers implement evidence-based psychotherapies with greater fidelity and effectiveness. You can hear tips from CDP faculty and external subject matter experts on various ways to enhance outcomes with military connected patients. To learn more and check out the content of CDP’s podcast go to https://deploymentpsych.org/CDP-Podcasts.

4) Consultation Services. While CDP is well known for the training it provides, people may not be as aware of the consultation services that we provide. It is not uncommon to have questions after completing a training, or when trying to implement a new treatment protocol with patients. CDP trainers will often share their emails after a training and encourage participants to reach out. CDP also has a page on our website devoted to consultation. Depending upon the level of demand, a consultation group may be offered. The benefits of consultation are well documented in training literature and is a great way to aid in competency development or reinforce effective clinical skills. To learn more about CDP’s consultation services go to https://deploymentpsych.org/resources/consultation-services.

5) EBP Conference. CDP recently held its second annual EBP Conference entitled “Making Space for Change: Focusing on Process in Evidence Based Treatment.” The focus of this conference centers on the notion that provider competence requires more than skillful implementation of protocol elements. Equal attention to the context and process in which change occurs is required for successful outcomes. Attending this conference is a great way to hear from a variety of subject matter experts on how to work more effectively with patients on various issues. Continuing education credits are provided for those attending pre-conference EBP workshops as well as the conference itself. If you like to learn about this opportunity or would to be a presenter for the next annual conference please go to https://deploymentpsych.org/EBPConference to learn more.

The mission of CDP is to lead the development of a community of culturally minded and clinical competent providers; to work towards a future where all Service members, veterans, and family members can receive quality care that meets their unique needs. As a training and education organization, we work hard to provide a variety of opportunities and tools to enhance the professional development of those working with military connected populations. In addition to the excellent resources mentioned in this blog, CDP has more resources for providers via its website. Take some time and check out what resources CDP can offer you as you seek to become a better clinician.

The opinions in CDP Staff Perspective blogs are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Science or the Department of Defense.

Tim Rogers, Ph.D., is a Senior Military Internship Behavioral Health Psychologist and serves as the Associate Program Director for the Air Force Clinical Psychology Internship Program at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland Texas.