Collaboration, Scaffolding, and Successive Approximations: A Developmental Science Approach to Training in Clinical Psychology

As clinical psychology trainees, we have been encouraged to approach clinical work from a scientist perspective and research through the lens of what would be relevant and useful for applied clinicians. We have also been guided to assume a developmental approach, whereby both typical trajectories and individual differences in development are considered, in case conceptualization for patients, as well as our own training as developing clinical psychologists. Here, we highlight how our training model and supervisors' actions have helped to shape our clinical training through use of a junior colleague and peer-group mentoring model (Moss, Teshima, & Leszcz, 2008), as well as an adaptation of the teach-model-coach-review approach (Roberts, Kaiser, Wolfe, Bryant, & Spidalieri, 2014). Throughout our training, our supervisors have used scaffolding to encourage us to become more involved in leading therapy sessions and supervision meetings as we demonstrate competence and confidence in doing so (i.e., successive approximations; Agras, Leitenberg, & Barlow, 1968). Working with a team of supervisors and trainees at various levels has lent itself to supporting individual differences, such that trainees are met in the space between what they can competently do independently and what they cannot do without help (e.g., "zone of proximal development;" Vygotsky, 1978). Incorporating these practices in the training of clinicians across a wide variety of settings may lead to greater positive experiences for psychology trainees and patients alike. Public Significance Statement Despite regard for the importance of mentorship in academic settings and, more specifically, supervision in clinical psychology training programs, there has been a lack of attention to the specific aspects of supervision and training associated with optimal experiences in clinical psychology graduate students and to what extent these optimal experiences lead to improved outcomes in their patients (Johnson, Koch, Fallow, & Huwe, 2000; Reiser & Milne, 2014). In this article, we describe a collaborative approach to training that promotes competency and proficiency in clinical psychology by scaffolding (i.e., reinforcing successive approximations toward independence) involvement in a variety of clinical activities (e.g., training, supervision) and supports learning through a peer-group mentoring model and experiential learning. We believe that incorporating similar methods in the training of clinicians acr