Introduction
Dr. Michaela Swales delivered a full-day workshop on conceptualizing and treating high-risk in clients with a personality disorder diagnosis.
Workshop Outline
People with complex difficulties, sometimes called personality disorder, and high-risk behaviours experience intense emotional pain. Clinicians frequently struggle to effectively engage people with these difficulties, and also experience intense emotions themselves in endeavouring to help. Dr. Swales is an expert in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, one of the most researched and efficacious treatments for people whose behaviours are often labelled as borderline personality disorder that has a central focus on emotions. In this workshop Dr. Swales will extract relevant principles from DBT that can be applied in routine practice to assist clinicians in these situations to both address their clients’ difficulties whilst taking care of themselves.
In this workshop Dr. Swales will cover:
The recent changes in conceptualizing personality disorder problems in ICD-11 (briefly)
Conceptualizing problems that receive a personality disorder label – the central role of emotions
Engaging clients in helpful psychological interactions
Structuring interactions around the resolution of emotional pain
Skills for addressing intense emotional distress
Treating yourself to remain effective
Content
Learning Objectives
By the end of this workshop, participants will learn to:
Understand the new diagnostic classification for personality problems within ICD-11
Identify the central role of emotions in driving high-risk behaviours
Recognize key steps in achieving engagement in a helpful psychological interaction
Conceptualize emotions from a DBT frame
Understand three key skills in intervening to address highly intense emotions
Recognize how to apply these skills to yourself to maintain effective therapeutic interactions
About the Presenter
Michaela Swales PhD is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Professor in Clinical Psychology and Programme Director of the North Wales Clinical Psychology Programme, Bangor University. She trained in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy in Seattle in 1994 / 95 with Dr. Marsha Linehan and for twenty years ran a clinical program for suicidal young people in an inpatient service. Dr. Swales is the Director of the British Isles Training Team, a training team recognized internationally for its quality. She has trained more than a thousand professionals in DBT, seeding over 400 programs, in both the UK and further afield. She co-authored, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy: Distinctive Features (2009; 2017) and Changing Behavior in DBT: Problem-Solving in Action (2015). She is the Editor of the Oxford Handbook of DBT (2019). Her primary research interest is the effective implementation of evidence-based psychological therapies in routine clinical practice. Dr. Swales was a member of the Working Group on Classification of Personality Disorders, reporting to the World Health Organisation (WHO) International Advisory Group for the Revision of ICD-10 Mental and Behavioural Disorders. She is President Elect of the European Society for the Study of Personality Disorders.
Training Modalities
Didactic content, videos, and role plays to illustrate key concepts
Who should attend
This event is suitable for any clinician working in mental health services who encounter people with difficulties that are often labelled as personality disorder. You do not need any background in DBT to come to this workshop as the focus is on the broader use of general principles. Clinicians who do have a background in DBT may find the event useful as a refresher of key points to remember in dealing with clients’ emotional pain.
Continuing Education (CE) Credits
Bespoke Mental Health Canada is approved by the Canadian Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. Bespoke Mental Health Canada maintains responsibility for the program.
After viewing this workshop live, participants have the option to complete an evaluation form in order to be eligible to receive a certificate confirming the number of credits awarded. This certificate will be sent via email.
Participants who view this workshop as a pre-recorded event will need to complete an additional content-related workshop knowledge quiz in order to be eligible to receive CE credits.
Participants who complete this workshop are eligible to receive 5.5 CE credits.
Fees
Professionals: $175 CAD + tax
Students*: $140 CAD + tax
* Proof of student status may be required in order to qualify for a student rate.
Key References
Bach, B., Kramer, U., Doering, S., di Giacomo, E., Hutsebaut, J., Kaera, A., ... & Renneberg, B. (2022). The ICD-11 classification of personality disorders: a European perspective on challenges and opportunities. Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation, 9(1), 1-11.
Dunkley, C. (2020). Regulating emotion the DBT way. A therapist’s guide to opposite action. Routledge Press.
Swales, M. A. (2022). Personality disorder diagnoses in ICD-11: transforming conceptualisations and practice. Clinical Psychology in Europe, 4(Spec Issue).
Swales, M & Heard, H. (2017). Dialectical Behaviour Therapy: Distinctive Features. Routledge Press.