Adding CIRCuiTS™ to My Skill Set
by Julia Segerer BSc MSc, Research Assistant at LMU Klinikum München
During my 4-month research internship at King’s College London, I had the valuable opportunity to undergo the therapist training for CIRCuiTS™. This is designed for clinicians worldwide to share the knowledge and skills necessary to deliver expert cognitive remediation therapy for those with psychosis who are experiencing thinking difficulties. I am a student from Germany at the end of my master’s in clinical psychology and cognitive neuroscience at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) in Munich. I came to London to learn more about cognitive remediation from experts in the field and treatment options for psychosis in general.
CIRCuiTS™ is a fully computerised programme, supported by a therapist, with interactive tasks to practice a range of key cognitive skills. The focus is on learning new cognitive strategies to support attainment of personally relevant goals in everyday life and so improve psychosocial and occupational functioning as well as the quality of life of people with psychosis. It is currently available in eight languages, including English, French, and Spanish, but not yet in my native language - German.
To prepare therapists to work with patients, 11 remotely accessed modules equip the trainee with all the knowledge and skills required to provide cognitive remediation using CIRCuiTS™. The training combines three case studies of patients undergoing CIRCuiTS™, presented in videos and texts, with information about the rationale behind the tasks and structure of the programme.
Each module begins by revising the material learned previously in a quiz format. Next, theory and the evidence base are taught, providing a foundation for concepts such as metacognition, goal setting, formulation, motivation, and therapist skills. Here, trainees will also carry out many of the tasks themselves and will develop their own strategies. At the end of each module, the learned material will be put into practice, for example, reviewing a video of a therapy session between a client and a therapist and working out which therapist skills are most relevant to the given scenario. Another example of practising the skills learnt from the module is identifying a patient’s most challenged area of cognition by combining knowledge from different sources, such as information provided by the patient’s mental health professionals or relatives, their performance on different tasks, or their neuropsychological assessment.
One of the most valuable aspects of the program was the opportunity to take on the role of the client, learn about my own cognitive strengths and needs and actually enhance the strategies I already use to support them. I think every person can, on some level, relate to having challenges with memory or attention. This personally introspective experience creates a deeper empathic understanding of what it’s like to experience cognitive difficulties which is valuable as a therapist.
The course is well structured and sufficiently varied in its design – the theoretical background and basic knowledge doesn’t even make you bored! The content that I enjoyed the most was the roleplay videos of therapeutic interactions between therapists and patients. And, since you can work through the training at your own pace, it is easily implemented into your existing workload. And everything that is learnt can be revised later, as extensive revision resources are provided.
Overall, I really recommend this training to anyone who works with or is aiming to work with patients with psychosis to support them to improve their cognitive skills. The training provides the opportunity to, deepen your knowledge of cognitive impairments and facilitates therapists to offer a broader range of therapeutic interventions to people with psychosis.
If you or your team are interested in joining the growing global community of Cognitive Remediation therapists and completing our online course, visit our Training page to find out more or Get in touch to book your place today.
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