Demonstration videos of psychodynamic and systemic techniques in clinical psychology education

Why watching therapy matters before you ever see a patient

Modern psychology students are expected to learn not only what treatments work, but how to talk with patients in the therapy room. This study asks a simple, practical question with big implications: can short, carefully crafted demonstration videos help future therapists learn key conversation techniques better than studying from textbooks alone? The answer could change how universities prepare thousands of students for their first real encounters with people seeking help.

How students practiced therapy in a safe setting

The research followed 123 undergraduate psychology students at a German university who were all taking a basic clinical communication course. Before a graded role-play exam with a trained actor playing a patient, everyone read two short texts introducing two different therapy styles: psychodynamic therapy, which explores inner conflicts and hidden feelings, and systemic, solution-focused therapy, which centers on future-oriented questions and practical changes. Later, students were randomly assigned to one of four groups. Some watched a brief demonstration video that showed a licensed therapist using one of these approaches; others simply reread the matching text. All then had to apply the same kind of techniques in a 14-minute standardized conversation with a simulated patient.

Two different kinds of therapy skills on display

The study zoomed in on concrete therapist behaviors, not vague impressions. For psychodynamic techniques, students were expected to clarify what the patient meant, gently confront contradictions, and offer interpretations about deeper conflicts. For systemic, solution-focused techniques, they were asked to use the famous “miracle question” (imagining that problems are suddenly gone) and then explore the details of a better day to steer the talk toward solutions rather than problems. Trained psychologists, who did not know which students had seen videos or texts, watched each role-play and rated how well the specific techniques were used, item by item, on a detailed checklist.

Videos clearly boosted one approach, but not the other

When it came to systemic, solution-focused techniques, the video made a clear difference. Students who had watched the systemic demonstration video were rated as using the miracle question and the follow-up, solution-focused questions noticeably better than those who had only reread the text. This held true even after considering other factors such as prior experience, interest in psychotherapy, empathy, and psychological mindedness. In other words, actually seeing and hearing a therapist skillfully guide a patient toward imagining a different future seemed to help students move from just “knowing about” the technique to being able to “show how” to do it in practice.

Why the psychodynamic video did not provide an extra boost

Surprisingly, the pattern was different for psychodynamic techniques. Students who watched the video on clarification, confrontation, and interpretation did not perform better than those who simply reviewed the text. The authors suggest that these skills may be harder for beginners because they require a richer background in psychodynamic theory and more flexible adaptation to the specific patient story. Identifying unspoken conflicts and crafting a helpful interpretation usually depends on understanding subtle cues and the therapist’s inner reasoning, which are not always visible on screen. A short demonstration without explicit explanations of the therapist’s thought processes may not give novices enough guidance to move beyond what they can already achieve from reading.

What this means for training tomorrow’s therapists

This study suggests that demonstration videos are a powerful teaching tool when the techniques are concrete, structured, and easy to recognize in conversation, as in solution-focused therapy. For more complex, theory-heavy approaches like psychodynamic work, videos alone may not be enough; students likely need more background explanation and guided reflection to make sense of what they see. For universities and training programs, the message is clear: demonstration videos can meaningfully strengthen certain practical skills, but they work best when paired with the right level of theory and, for some approaches, with additional materials that “open up” the therapist’s thinking behind the scenes.

Citation: Hannse Reinhardt, C., Kröger, C. Demonstration videos of psychodynamic and systemic techniques in clinical psychology education. Sci Rep 16, 14390 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-51978-x

Keywords: psychotherapy training, demonstration videos, clinical psychology education, solution-focused therapy, psychodynamic techniques