Workshop Description • Learning Objectives • Readings • Advisements
Simplifying Personality Disorder Treatment: The NEW Paradigm for CBT
This workshop is designed to enhance your understanding and skills, whether you want to learn more about
working with a specific personality disorder
e.g., borderline personality disorder
a particular type of impasse
e.g., avoidance, rigidity or angry attacks
or your own reactions
e.g., irritation with a particular client
Too often theories and therapy approaches make
treatment of personality disorders seem so complicated that therapists and
clients become discouraged and frustrated. Over the last 20 years, Christine A.
Padesky, Ph.D. and her colleague, Kathleen A. Mooney, Ph.D. have developed the
NEW Paradigm for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) of personality disorders.
Their NEW paradigm is a 4-stage model that is simple to understand and can be
easily learned by therapists already familiar with CBT approaches for Axis I
disorders such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and other common
presenting issues.
The NEW Paradigm incorporates many of Padesky's signature therapy approaches:
collaboration, guided discovery, integration of client strengths, and methods
for building client resilience. In addition, it places increased emphasis on
client imagery, use of client-generated metaphors, kinesthetic awareness, and a
step-by-step therapy framework that is designed to help clients embrace change.
Rather than focusing on dysfunctional beliefs and behaviors, methods taught
target construction of new belief systems and interpersonal behavior patterns.
Behavioral experiments are used to build resilience in use of the NEW system.
Concrete steps are outlined and demonstrated using client examples. Participants
will practice applying skills in common clinical situations via structured
role-plays.
Learning is enriched through clinical demonstrations, structured participant exercises, didactic presentations, written handouts, and analyses of interpersonal clinical processes.
This workshop is designed especially for intermediate and advanced level CBT therapists. Although novice or non-CBT therapists are welcome to attend, knowledge of basic CBT is assumed and protocols for treating depression, anxiety and other Axis I disorders that co-occur with personality disorders will not be taught.
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Learning
Objectives
Practice NEW language in role play interviews
Identify therapist beliefs that provide boosts or barriers to personality disorder treatment
Employ a structured interview to help clients compassionately conceptualize their OLD personality system
Guide client construction of a NEW personality system via a structured interview
Identify client imagery and kinesthetic anchors
Increase awareness of the impact of nonverbal therapist communications on clients
Design behavioral experiments to test predictions based on OLD and NEW systems
Debrief behavioral experiments through a NEW lens
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Recommended Readings
Beck, A.T., Freeman, A., Davis, D.D., Pretzer, J., Fleming, B., Arntz, A., Butler, A., Fusco, G., Simon, K.M., Beck, J.S., Morrison, A., Padesky, C.A., & Renton, J. (2004). Cognitive therapy of personality disorders, 2nd edition. New York: Guilford Press.
This workshop
is an updated version of the workshop, Constructing a NEW Self: Cognitive
Therapy for Personality Disorders, taught in London in 2005 and 2006. Attendees
of that workshop will find this one offers a refresher on the concepts and an
update of the methods taught, but with substantial overlap.
This model does not apply to schizotypal and antisocial personality disorders
although it can apply to persons with antisocial behavior who have other
personality disorders such as borderline personality disorder.