WEBVTT
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Deliberate practice is all well and good for simple things, like learning how to play a musical instrument or learning how to master a sport.
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But what about something complex like psychological therapy?
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When we think of our sporting or musical examples, it's easy to imagine David Beckham kicking the same ball a hundred times over and over again and honing his craft.
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It's just as easy to imagine Leonard Cohen struggling over hallelujah over the course of 20 years with that level of perfectionistic reiteration.
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But how do you do that for something that goes on for an entire hour and when often the feedback isn't known for at least a week?
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The answer is simulation.
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The closest that I've managed to find to psychological therapy in the deliberate practice research is actually American presidential debate preparation.
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And I saw this interview recently with the man who prepared Kamala Harris for his debate with Donald Trump.
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Just have a look at what he's got to say.
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So tell me, take me through the prep.
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First of all, what was your approach in that prep to playing Trump?
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And what are the kind of signature things he does in debates that you were doing?
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And then how was that kind of gamed out and prepared for?
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From my perspective, you just want the candidate to get used to what they're going to see and hear and experience.
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Did you do off the rails as him?
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You do everything.
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I mean, you do I'm the ball machine in my mind.
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You know, you get a good tennis player who wants to get better.
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Um I have friends who are obsessed with tennis.
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They get a tennis pro.
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You want to test your backhand, you set the ball machine to test your backhand.
00:01:48.159 --> 00:01:49.359
You want to do your forehand.
00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:53.920
If you want to use the ball machine as a target for your serve, great.
00:01:54.159 --> 00:01:56.640
Um it's really it's simulation.
00:01:56.719 --> 00:02:05.760
It's I think any kind of prep, whether it's congressional prep, deposition prep, or any kind of interview, you want people to have thought things through.
00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:09.120
It's not like you're sitting around saying, okay, here is a good line, memorize it.
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Right.
00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:32.879
So although we often think of role plays as being artificial and not truly representative of what's going on in the psychology room, actually they are an effective simulation that lets people practice something over and over again, as he said, setting the ball machine and practicing the same skill until you do it in a way that you're actually happy with.
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.959
Deliberate practice is all well and good for simple things, like learning how to play a musical instrument or learning how to master a sport.
00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:11.199
But what about something complex like psychological therapy?
00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:21.920
When we think of our sporting or musical examples, it's easy to imagine David Beckham kicking the same ball a hundred times over and over again and honing his craft.
00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:32.880
It's just as easy to imagine Leonard Cohen struggling over hallelujah over the course of 20 years with that level of perfectionistic reiteration.
00:00:33.119 --> 00:00:41.520
But how do you do that for something that goes on for an entire hour and when often the feedback isn't known for at least a week?
00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:44.399
The answer is simulation.
00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:54.000
The closest that I've managed to find to psychological therapy in the deliberate practice research is actually American presidential debate preparation.
00:00:54.159 --> 00:01:01.280
And I saw this interview recently with the man who prepared Kamala Harris for his debate with Donald Trump.
00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:03.359
Just have a look at what he's got to say.
00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:05.280
So tell me, take me through the prep.
00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:09.519
First of all, what was your approach in that prep to playing Trump?
00:01:09.599 --> 00:01:13.599
And what are the kind of signature things he does in debates that you were doing?
00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:16.319
And then how was that kind of gamed out and prepared for?
00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:25.120
From my perspective, you just want the candidate to get used to what they're going to see and hear and experience.
00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:27.840
Did you do off the rails as him?
00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:30.799
You do everything.
00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:34.799
I mean, you do I'm the ball machine in my mind.
00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:38.560
You know, you get a good tennis player who wants to get better.
00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:40.719
Um I have friends who are obsessed with tennis.
00:01:40.799 --> 00:01:42.319
They get a tennis pro.
00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:48.000
You want to test your backhand, you set the ball machine to test your backhand.
00:01:48.159 --> 00:01:49.359
You want to do your forehand.
00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:53.920
If you want to use the ball machine as a target for your serve, great.
00:01:54.159 --> 00:01:56.640
Um it's really it's simulation.
00:01:56.719 --> 00:02:05.760
It's I think any kind of prep, whether it's congressional prep, deposition prep, or any kind of interview, you want people to have thought things through.
00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:09.120
It's not like you're sitting around saying, okay, here is a good line, memorize it.
00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:09.360
Right.
00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:32.879
So although we often think of role plays as being artificial and not truly representative of what's going on in the psychology room, actually they are an effective simulation that lets people practice something over and over again, as he said, setting the ball machine and practicing the same skill until you do it in a way that you're actually happy with.
