The Psychotherapy and CBT Track

This track is designed for second and third year residents with an interest in learning how to integrate psychotherapy techniques such as cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational interviewing into their management of psychiatric conditions. While most undergraduate medical education rightly indicates that psychotherapy is an important element of psychiatric treatment, there is not typically a significant amount of time spent discussing what psychotherapy actually is. What happens when you send your patient to a mental health counselor for some CBT? We try to help residents answer this question by creating space in a longitudinal manner for residents to learn about CBT and other techniques, allowing them to integrate what they learn into their own encounters and accurately describe how counseling typically works when advocating for patients to pursue it.

Residents who are in the track step away from their current rotation every other Friday morning to complete didactic modules in the first few blocks and then see their own panel of counseling patients for the rest of the year. Residents in the track are encouraged to use some of their elective time to shadow therapists in the area. The track is overseen by Dr. Byler and our behaviorist Jenni Cook, who precept after patient visits and lead monthly didactic sessions discussing various elements of psychotherapy. Guest speakers with expertise in other areas of behavioral health, such as trauma or sports psychology, present during this time as well.

If you have questions about the Psychotherapy Track, please email Dr. Byler at dorvan.byler@ohiohealth.com for more details.