The Journey to Create CBT Trainer

When I began my psychology studies at UCL a few years ago, I experienced firsthand the challenges that have plagued psychotherapy training for decades. While my classmates and I were passionate about developing our therapeutic skills, we faced a frustrating reality: limited opportunities to practice, inconsistent feedback, and training methods that hadn't evolved with technology.

After spending an entire afternoon trying to coordinate schedules with peers for role-play practice, we finally managed a session where I got to practice for about 25 minutes. The rest of the time was spent playing the patient for others or waiting for my turn. As the assessment date approached, I felt increasingly anxious about my limited practice opportunities. When I finally had my turn, I found myself stumbling over questions, worried about being judged by my peers who were watching. I knew the competencies I needed to demonstrate, but translating them into natural conversation under observation felt overwhelming. What made it worse was receiving feedback days later when I could barely remember the specifics of what I'd said or done. I wondered: shouldn't there be a way to practice these critical therapeutic skills more frequently, in a lower-stakes environment, with immediate guidance on how to improve?

That question sparked the beginning of CBT Trainer.

The Problem I Couldn't Ignore

As both a computer scientist and psychology student, I saw a disconnect that bothered me deeply. While other fields embraced technological innovation in education, psychotherapy training remained largely unchanged:

• Trainees had few opportunities to practice with diverse cases
• Scheduling practice sessions with peers was logistically challenging
• Performance anxiety in front of instructors and peers limited authentic learning
• Feedback was often delayed rather than immediate
• Access to supervision was limited and inconsistent

Most importantly, I saw talented peers struggling with confidence, not because they lacked ability, but because they lacked sufficient practice opportunities in a safe environment.

From Vision to Reality

Taking this challenge from concept to creation wasn't easy. I spent countless hours researching clinical competency frameworks, consulting with experienced clinicians, and developing machine learning models that could simulate realistic therapeutic conversations.

What began as a personal project soon evolved into something much larger when our pilot study with 59 participants from UCL training programs revealed just how impactful this approach could be. Participants spent an average of 95 minutes engaging with the platform voluntarily, creating multiple roleplay sessions and reporting significant skill improvement.

One trainee's feedback particularly moved me: "Practice without fear of judgment helped me apply the framework concepts." This captured exactly what I'd hoped to create – a judgment-free space where trainees could build confidence alongside competence.

What Makes CBT Trainer Different

Our team designed CBT Trainer with the specific pain points of psychotherapy education in mind:

• Practice anytime, anywhere: No need to coordinate schedules with peers or supervisors
• Diverse patient presentations: Expose yourself to different diagnoses, severities, and response styles
• Immediate, evidence-based feedback: Understand your strengths and areas for growth in real-time
• Reduced performance anxiety: Practice in private without the pressure of being observed
• Complementary to supervision: Make the most of precious supervision time by focusing on complex challenges

As someone who has experienced both sides – the frustration of traditional role-play and the potential of technology-enhanced learning – We built CBT Trainer to bridge this gap.

Join Our Community

Today, I invite you to experience CBT Trainer for yourself. Whether you're a trainee looking to build confidence before your next assessment, a program director seeking innovative ways to supplement your curriculum, or a qualified therapist wanting to refine specific skills, CBT Trainer can support your professional development journey.

Our iOS app is available now on the App Store, and we're building an Android version (join the waitlist by contacting contact@soymh.com).

For program directors interested in making this solution available to your students, please reach out to us for a demonstration. We're already working with several training programs to integrate CBT Trainer into their curricula, and we'd love to explore how we can support your educational goals.

The preprint of our study is available for those interested in the research behind our approach: https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/h84qn_v1.

Looking Forward

This is just the beginning of our journey. I firmly believe that by combining the best of human expertise with thoughtful technological innovation, we can transform how mental health professionals develop their skills – ultimately improving care for the millions who need it.

I'd love to hear your experiences, questions, and ideas as we continue developing CBT Trainer. Together, we can reimagine psychotherapy training for the future together.