Training Psychiatrists in Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapy: Current Status and Horizons

The Residency Requirements Committee of the ACGME recommends that psychiatric residents receive training in cognitive behavioral psychotherapy (CBP). Despite these recommendations, some training programs are slow to implement these requirements and many struggle to develop didactic and clinical curricula to meet these criteria. This article provides a model for training psychiatry residents in cognitive behavioral therapy based on the extant literature. Literature on training psychiatrists and other mental health professionals in CBT is reviewed. A conceptual template representing declarative, procedural, and self-reflective knowledge domains is also presented. Characteristics of good candidates for CBP training are described. Ways of assessing competencies and training outcomes are discussed. Finally, the article concludes with the presentation of a training paradigm in CBP for psychiatrists.