Assessment and Management of Personality Disorders

Personality disordered individuals are often described as “resistant,” yet what looks like noncompliance is frequently a “hidden agenda” shaped by extreme perceptual differences that drive dysregulated emotion and impulsive or destructive coping—meaning that assessment and management often improve most when we understand what the client is perceiving, and adjust how we communicate in response.

When you can recognize personality disorders as disorders of perception—rather than simply “difficult behavior”—you gain a more workable pathway to differential diagnosis, realistic expectations about treatability, and practical management strategies that increase cooperation and keep sessions moving toward clear, goal-oriented work.

"Assessment and Management of Personality Disorders: Understanding the Hidden Agenda" is one of two courses that comprise the Personality Disorders Counseling Certificate (PDCC). Enroll in the full program and earn 12 total CEs and the PDCCC.

Jeff Riggenbach, Ph.D., is a speaker/trainer/coach with the John Maxwell Team and a 3-time best-selling author who has trained audiences internationally, and he has devoted the past 20 years to developing advanced expertise in thinking and personality styles. He trained personally with Marsha Linehan and with Drs. Aaron and Judith Beck at The Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research, bringing a strong CBT foundation to the clinical complexities of personality disorders. In addition to directing clinical programs for treating personality disorders with cognitive behavioral therapy, he consults and trains across clinical, educational, and organizational settings—keeping the course grounded in what actually helps clinicians communicate effectively and manage patterns that derail treatment.

In this training, Jeff teaches from an integrated DBT/CBT/Schema Therapy model developed over 15 years of clinical application and refinement. The emphasis is on translating diagnostic understanding into moment-to-moment communication choices and behavioral management interventions, so you can connect with each disorder’s “agenda” rather than getting stuck in power struggles, misattunement, or repeated ruptures.

You’ll begin with an overview of how personality disorders have been conceptualized across DSM versions, then move into the key characteristics that make this population clinically unique and easier to “spot” in real practice. From there, you’ll walk through the agendas and management approaches associated with each of the 10 DSM-5 personality disorders, including differential diagnosis considerations, etiological and epidemiological factors, treatability, and the 18 early maladaptive schemas driving target behaviors (including historical, cultural, and other environmental risk factors). The day is structured to cover Cluster A and Cluster C disorders first, followed by non-borderline Cluster B disorders, and concluding with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).

Key Takeaways:

• Diagnostic confidence across all 10 PDs: Strengthen your ability to analyze DSM-5 criteria, differentiate overlapping presentations, and recognize the key characteristics that set PDs apart from other psychological conditions.
• A schema-informed map of “what’s driving it”: Learn to identify the 18 early maladaptive schemas and the historical, cultural, and environmental risk factors influencing the agendas behind target behaviors.
• Management strategies that improve cooperation: Leave with practical, disorder-specific plans for communication and behavioral management, grounded in an integrated DBT/CBT/Schema Therapy approach and linked to realistic expectations about treatability.

Why this course?

• A clinician-first framework (not just theory): Telehealth Certification Institute is built to equip healthcare professionals with exceptional continuing education that makes real clinical work easier—especially when cases feel “stuck,” high-conflict, or chronically derailed by misunderstandings and ruptures.
• Instruction shaped by deep, relevant expertise: Jeff’s background in thinking and personality styles, his CBT training lineage, and his long-term focus on effective communication provide a direct fit for mastering differential diagnosis and management strategies for PD presentations.
• A focus on the “hidden agenda” you can actually use: Rather than treating “resistance” as the primary problem, this course centers on the reality that agendas differ, perceptions differ, and communication must shift accordingly—an approach that supports clearer assessment, stronger connection, and more goal-oriented treatment.

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze the diagnostic criteria and explain key differential diagnosis considerations for each of the 10 DSM 5 personality disorders.
• Identify etiological and epidemiological factors associated with each.
• List the 5 characteristics that differentiate PDs from other psychological conditions.
• Assess the treatability of each of the 10 personality disorders.
• Describe the 18 early maladaptive schemas driving target behaviors, including historical, cultural, and other environmental risk factors influencing them.
• Plan management strategies for all 10 DSM 5 personality disorders.

By the end of this training, you’ll be better equipped to assess, diagnose, and manage individuals with personality disorders uniquely based upon their specific agendas, and you’ll have a clearer way to connect with clients whose perceptual differences have long been misunderstood as “resistance.” If you want a more structured, clinically grounded approach that reduces session derailments and increases cooperation without compromising boundaries or standards of care, this course offers an actionable foundation you can start applying right away.