2. Will I be compensated for my time?

YES! Therapists will be compensated for their time, at the rate of 75 dollars per client whom they enroll

into the Sign your Feelings study. Therefore, therapists working with:

•  2 clients (1 intervention client & 1 treatment as usual client) will be compensated for their time with 150 dollars

• 4 clients (2 intervention clients & 2 treatment as usual clients) will be compensated for their time with 300 dollars

• 6 clients (3 intervention clients & 3 treatment as usual clients) will be compensated for their time with 450 dollars

• 8 clients (4 intervention clients & 4 treatment as usual clients) will be compensated for their time with 600 dollars

• 10 clients (5 intervention clients & 5 treatment as usual clients) will be compensated for their time with 750 dollars

(The possibility to enroll 8 or 10 clients will be reserved for therapists who participated in the original study in the Spring of 2022)

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3. How do I know if I am eligible to enroll in the study? or if my clients are?

Please refer to the page on Therapist and Client Requirements.

 

4. When does the Sign your Feelings study start?

Requests for participation in the study will be answered in a rapid manner. As soon as a therapist is accepted into the study, they will receive all the tools necessary to start!

 

5. How long does the study take?

The study takes only 5 weeks. Prior to commencement the therapists are required to participate in (fun!) trainings on this website.

 

6. How long does it take to complete the trainings?

It takes from 1 to 1.5 hours to complete the trainings, plus about an hour to watch the videos on Deaf Culture and ASL. 

The 5 training quizzes take between 10 and 15 minutes in total to complete.

 

7. Will I need to audio or video record my clients?

No.

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8. How do I approach my clients to ask them if they wish to participate?

Therapists could inform their clients that in their ongoing desire to remain current with the latest techniques in psychotherapy, the client will be enrolling in a scientific study. To this end, they would like to know if their client would like to participate. Therapists can explain that just like medical products and treatments are trialed first to see if they work, therapeutic interventions are also tested, and the client's participation will advance the field of scientific research. So basically, we're talking 'Scientific Brownie Points,' here...

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Therapists could then inform the client that it is a randomized control trial, and that they will be either placed in:

• The intervention group, which lasts five weeks. Intervention group clients will experience a brand-new therapeutic intervention, led by the therapist and which incorporates all of the work which will have been done up until then. So it will be like a continuation of therapy, just in a different modality, or

• The treatment-as-usual group, which also lasts five weeks.

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As one of the requirements for clients to participate in the study is for them to NOT be fluent in any sign languages, therapists could ask clients at this point if they are fluent in any physical or verbal languages and see what they say. Please do NOT inform them that this is a study on sign language or give anything else away. For a sample text on how to approach your clients about this study, click here.

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9. Is it OK if I see my clients remotely during the study? 

Therapists enrolled in the study can either see their clients remotely or in person. I will be asking you to keep track of which sessions were virtual and which ones were in person. 

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10. What will be required of me as a therapist? 

1) Get in contact with the researcher on the Apply / Contact page. 

2)  Enroll clients who score at least a 5 on the PHQ-9 test for depression

3) Complete the Sign your Feelings training on this website. 

4) Complete the quizzes.

5) Provide your intervention group client(s) with 5 weekly sessions of the Sign your Feelings intervention and send in the pre- and post- measurements collected, and provide the control group client(s) 5 weekly sessions of treatment as usual, and send in the pre- and post- measurements collected.

That's it!

 

11. Learning 26 signs seems like quite a lot. Any tips? 

It's actually not as hard as one might think! The researcher tested the Therapist Trainings on many of her (unsuspecting yet extremely kind) therapist friends, who found it easier than they thought it would be. Learning something new can be daunting, and apparently a good occasion to battle our self-doubt gremlins! Also, keep in mind that during the intervention you will be teaching the client the signs, but that what matters is the process of learning them, not how well the client retains them.

 

12. I'm worried about forgetting how to do the signs once I am in front of the client...

Therapists can print out the Cheat Sheets prior to starting their four sessions with their intervention group client(s). This avoids therapists having to consult their computer during a session. This will be a great opportunity for therapists and clients to notice if any perfectionism kicks in!

 

13. Do I have to have a specific theoretical orientation in order to enroll?

Nope. The intervention is designed for therapists of all theoretical orientations.

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14. What should I do during my five sessions with my treatment-as-usual clients?

Other than giving them two measurements to fill out on their first and fourth sessions, therapists should just proceed as they have been up until then. It is important that therapists provide treatment as usual during these five sessions. 

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15. What if I or the client is left-handed? Does that make any difference?

Instructions for use of the left hand or right hand are interchangeable. Use which ever hand is dominant, if you have a dominant hand.

 

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16. Why is there so much importance placed on the therapeutic alliance?

The more the researcher, er... researched, the more she realized that instead of solely including the therapeutic alliance as a dependent variable, she could incorporate it into the intervention itself.

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The irony is that in our Master's program we learn over and over about the importance of the therapeutic alliance, but we spend little or no time bringing this up in therapy!  Never talking about the therapeutic alliance is like being in a relationship and... never, ever talking about the relationship!

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I likened the alliance between the therapist and the client akin to the 'elephant in the room.' Being a big fan of the cartoonist Gary Larson, I imagined this large, rolly-polly, African elephant being invited into therapeutic sessions and happily (finally) participating in a therapeutic intervention, to everyone's benefit. I know, I am weird...

 

 

17. Do I get one of those fabulous certificates at the end of this experience? Can I add this to my curriculum vitae?

Yes, and yes! (plus you will have the researcher's eternal gratitude, which goes without saying)...

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18. Why did you decide to run this study again after you finished your Ph.D.?

Given the results of the first study, my canine assistant and I decided to modify the format, the measurements and the population and try again. Intellectual curiosity got the best of us! 

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19. I still have questions!

Ask away! You can email me at glopezescoba2018@FAU.edu.

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