Therapy process research has made surprisingly little headway during the past 25 years, which has been attributed to a range of methodological and conceptual problems. As a result, appeals have been made for fresh approaches to psychotherapy process research. Here we provide an experiential learning model as one promising way to crystallize conceptualizations of competence in therapy and to advance research. The model provides an integrative account of the moderators and mediators believed to explain the way that therapy achieves its outcomes. Its breadth takes it beyond the scope of its closest rival, the assimilation model. By way of illustration, the theoretical components of the experiential metaphor were operationalized and mapped onto an existing competence scale, the Cognitive Therapy Scale.