Advanced CBT
Overcoming Resistance and Treating Complex Cases

Most clinicians are familiar with standard CBT. But many practitioners in the trenches get “stuck" when dealing with clients with complex presentations, “challenging” symptom sets, longstanding problems, and more difficult to treat diagnosis.

Despite the myth that CBT only treats more surface-level problems, the reality is that cognitive-based approaches are amongst the most effective and oftentimes even frontline recommendations for treating what have been considered some of the most difficult to treat conditions, including BPD, Narcissistic and other Personality Disorders, and even paranoia, non-suicidal self-injury, and other cross-cutting symptoms.

"Advanced CBT: Overcoming Resistance and Treating Complex Cases" is one of three courses that comprise the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Training Certificate (CBTTC). Enroll in the full program and earn 15 total CEs and the CBTTC.

Jeff Riggenbach, PhD, trained at The Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research in Philadelphia, specifically to collaborate with the purpose of developing a personality disorder treatment program that has now treated over 500 patients with BPD and many individuals with other personality disorders at two facilities over a 15-year period. He has developed a reputation of being an international expert in “difficult to treat” patients and has trained clinicians in all 50 United States and 9 countries around the world on the topic.

Through didactic teaching, case studies, and humor - and drawing from the latest literature, Jeff will walk you through an integrated DBT/CBT/Schema-informed approach to helping you overcome the obstacles you face when treating clients with more difficult to treat conditions.

This course will describe common characteristics that can make a case “complex”, clarify 5 principles vital to have a grasp on when working with clients with longstanding and recurring problems, and present an integrated approach for treating this difficult-to-treat population. You will first learn the 18 maladaptive schemas underlying all deep-seated emotional problems. This will inform later topics, including differentiating a “bipolar “mood swing” from a “borderline mood swing,” discerning motivations for self-harm for appropriate intervention, having “the talk” (explaining the BPD Diagnosis to clients or family members) in a way that reduces defensiveness, and treating personality disorders in way that clients not only get better in short term, but stay well in the long term. The course concludes with a session on CBT for psychosis.

Key Takeaways:

• Advanced Clinical Insights: Get to the “root” of client problems and learn what graduate school didn’t teach you about treating difficult cases.
• Compassionate Psychoeducation: Explain the BPD criteria to clients (and family members) in a way that reduces defensiveness.
• Comprehensive Recovery Strategies: Integrate “top down” with “bottom up” strategies to promote long-term recovery.

Why this course?

• Enhanced Diagnostic Proficiency: Learn to provide a diagnosis and appropriate treatment.
• Evidence-Based PTSD Care: Debunk myths about exposure-based treatments for PTSD and offer clients first-line treatment recommendations.
• World-Class Instruction: Learn from a trainer who has written a best-selling book on the topic, trained clinicians worldwide, and has 20 years of CBT-based leadership and practice.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe 5 characteristics of a “Complex Case”.
• Analyze 3 types of resistance and utilize appropriate interventions for each.
• Discuss the 5 principles vital for treating clients with challenging conditions.
• Demonstrate 4 module skills training for personality-disordered individuals.
• Utilize a case study to assess the integrated treatment of one client with BPD.
• Compare “befriending” with cognitive-based interventions for individuals with psychosis and explain the indications for the usage of each.

Enroll today, and you will leave this training with a schema-informed understanding of how to assess, conceptualize, and treat even your most challenging cases in a way that will help clients with long-standing problems have an improved possibility of not only getting well in the short-term, but staying well in the long-term.