Psychotherapy is highly effective and widely acknowledged for treating various mental disorders. Nevertheless, in terms of methods for teaching effective psychotherapeutic approaches and competencies, there has been a lack of investigation. Training and supervision are the main strategies for teaching therapist competencies, and standardized role-plays with simulated patients (i.e., trained individuals playing someone with a mental disorder) seem useful for evaluating training approaches. In medical education, this procedure is now internationally established. However, so far, little use has been made of standardized role-playing to evaluate training and supervision in the area of clinical psychology and psychotherapy. In this study, standardized role-plays are used to evaluate methods for training and supervision. Central cognitive behavioral approaches for treating depression are taught in the training. The first experiment compares an active training approach (i.e., model learning) with a passive one (i.e., reading manual-based instructions). The second experiment compares a direct supervision technique (i.e., supervision based on video analysis) with an indirect one (i.e., supervision based on verbal reporting). In each experiment, 68 bachelor’s and master’s students of psychology will be randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. Each student takes part in three role-plays (baseline, post and 3-month follow-up), which are all videotaped. Two independent raters assess therapist competencies in each role-play on the basis of a standardized competence scale. The research project aims to contribute to the development of specific training and supervision methods in order to improve psychotherapy training and patient care. ISRCTN Registry, ISRCTN19173895. Registered on 10 December 2019.

中文翻译：

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心理治疗培训和临床监督中的标准化患者：一项随机对照试验的研究方案

心理疗法在治疗各种精神障碍方面非常有效且广为接受。然而，就教授有效的心理治疗方法和能力的方法而言，尚缺乏调查。培训和监督是教授治疗师能力的主要策略，与模拟患者（即，受过训练的人扮演患有精神障碍的人）进行标准化的角色扮演，似乎对评估培训方法很有用。在医学教育中，这一程序现已在国际上确立。但是，到目前为止，很少使用标准化的角色扮演来评估临床心理学和心理治疗领域的培训和监督。在这项研究中，标准化的角色扮演用于评估培训和监督方法。在培训中讲授了治疗抑郁症的主要认知行为方法。第一个实验将主动训练方法（即模型学习）与被动训练方法（即阅读基于手册的说明）进行了比较。第二个实验将直接监督技术（即基于视频分析的监督）与间接监督技术（即基于口头报告的监督）进行了比较。在每个实验中，将68名心理学学士和硕士学生随机分配到实验组和对照组。每个学生都参与三个角色扮演（基线，后期和三个月的跟进），并且都进行了录像。两位独立的评估者根据标准化的能力量表评估每个角色扮演中的治疗师能力。该研究项目旨在促进特定培训和监督方法的发展，以改善心理疗法培训和患者护理。ISRCTN注册中心，ISRCTN19173895。于2019年12月10日注册。