Blümel, StefanStefanBlümel0000-0002-8436-7840Steins-Löber, SabineSabineSteins-Löber0000-0002-7651-06272025-09-022025-09-022024https://fis.uni-bamberg.de/handle/uniba/110030Objective: Deliberate practice (DP) in psychotherapy has sparked considerable interest as a means to enhance skills, expertise and therapy outcomes. However, the field faces ongoing challenges in establishing assessment methods. Existing scales primarily rely on retrospective self-reported time tracking or diary methods , limiting either their robustness or being time consuming. Consequently, there's a need to devise more efficient, reliable, and valid assessment tools for measuring DP in psychotherapy and training. To address this gap, two scales were constructed: one assessing attitudes towards DP (DPA), and the other assessing DP related behaviors (DPB). These scales aim to enable more efficient assessments to deepen insights into the potential benefits of DP. Method: An initial item pool was created in German based on various descriptions of DP in the field of psychotherapy and following discussions by researches familiar with the topic. After content validity ratings of items, a pool of 15 items (DPA) and 34 items (DPB) for the respective scales was established and analyzed using exploratory factor analysis and furthermore tested for construct validity. Results: Results based on 138 responses from practicing psychotherapy trainees and undergraduate and graduate psychologists intending to become psychotherapists supported internal consistency, convergent and discriminant validity with a three-factor structure for the DPA and a two-factor structure for the DPB. Discussion: Both scales show promise in measuring DP within psychotherapy and training, offering efficient assessment of attitudes and behaviors. Future research should focus on confirmatory research and on establishing the link between diary measured DP time and DPB.engconferenceobject10.13140/rg.2.2.27196.04485https://www.psychotherapyresearch.org/m/event_details.asp?id=1754964