Clinical case consultation and experiential learning in cognitive behavioral therapy implementation: Brief qualitative investigation

There has been an increased emphasis on the implementation of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to community mental health (CMH) systems due to its broad efficacy. Previous research has highlighted the importance of ongoing consultation in this process. The current study clarifies the role and process of clinical case consultation in the implementation of CBT to CMH from the consultants' perspective. Trainers from two large-scale implementation initiatives (n = 27) were surveyed regarding their strategies used in the consultation process. Historically, researchers have focused on trainees who view relational variables as the most effective elements of consultation; however, in the current study, trainers perceived experiential learning as being the most effective consultation strategy for helping CMH clinicians learn CBT. Other aspects of consultation such as case conceptualization and practice sample review are discussed in terms of their relative perceived utility in raising CMH clinician's competency to treat comorbid patients.