Personality Disorders: A Clinical Roadmap

Description

This course is a live, interactive webinar held on September 25, 2026, from 11am-6pm Eastern Daylight Time.

Registration closes at midnight (EDT) the day before the event

Treating personality disorders can feel chaotic, overwhelming, and at times disorienting—leaving even experienced clinicians unsure where to begin or how to keep sessions from unraveling. Without a clear roadmap, therapy can start to mirror the client’s life: disorganized, emotionally charged, and difficult to navigate.

This course offers a structured, evidence-informed framework to help you move from confusion to clarity, giving you practical assessment and treatment strategies that restore direction, strengthen collaboration, and reduce therapeutic burnout.

Jeff Riggenbach, Ph.D., is a three-time best-selling author who trained personally with Marsha Linehan as well as Drs. Aaron and Judith Beck at The Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy. Over the past 20 years, he has directed clinical programs for personality disorders and helped develop an integrated DBT/CBT/Schema Therapy model that has been used to treat more than 600 patients across psychiatric hospitals and outpatient settings. He has trained clinicians in all 50 U.S. states and nine countries, bringing deep expertise in personality pathology, maladaptive schemas, and high-conflict interpersonal dynamics directly into this training.

Through didactic teaching, real-life case examples, and case studies, Dr. Riggenbach translates complex diagnostic material into simple but effective engagement, management, and treatment strategies. He begins by clarifying the five clinical characteristics that differentiate personality disorders from other psychological conditions and pairs each with targeted assessment strategies. From there, he presents an integrated cognitive treatment model that brings together empirically supported strategies from DBT, CBT, and Schema Therapy into a cohesive clinical roadmap.

You will analyze the diagnostic criteria for all 10 DSM-5 personality disorders and explore key differential diagnosis considerations for each. The course highlights 18 maladaptive schemas and three maladaptive coping styles that perpetuate dysfunctional cycles, then demonstrates how to design case conceptualization maps that drive treatment planning, agenda setting, documentation, and collaboration. Clusters A and C disorders are addressed first, followed by Histrionic, Antisocial, Narcissistic, and Borderline Personality Disorders, with expanded focus on Borderline Personality Disorder due to its frequency in clinical settings and the level of therapist concern it often generates. Both individual and group therapy applications are incorporated into an integrated CBT/DBT/Schema Therapy treatment approach.

Key Takeaways:

• Diagnostic Clarity Across All 10 Disorders: Analyze DSM-5 criteria and confidently differentiate personality disorders from other psychological conditions using five defining characteristics and targeted assessment strategies.
• Schema-Driven Case Conceptualization: Identify 18 maladaptive schemas and three maladaptive coping styles, then translate them into collaborative case maps that guide treatment planning and documentation.
• Integrated Treatment Framework: Apply a cohesive CBT/DBT/Schema Therapy model—particularly for Borderline Personality Disorder—across both individual and group therapy settings.

Why This Course?

• Practical Tools You Can Use Immediately: Rather than abstract theory, this training provides structured assessment strategies, conceptualization maps, and engagement techniques that bring order to complex cases.
• Developed by a Clinician-Trainer Who Helped Build the Model: Dr. Riggenbach’s training with Linehan and the Beck Institute directly informs an integrated approach that has been refined through treating over 600 patients across 15 years of clinical programming.
• Delivered by Telehealth Certification Institute: Guided by a mission to equip healthcare professionals with exceptional continuing education, TCI prioritizes clinically rigorous, ethically grounded, and application-focused training designed to improve real-world practice.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze the diagnostic criteria and explain key differential diagnosis considerations for each of the 10 DSM 5 personality disorders.
• List the 5 characteristics that differentiate PDs from other psychological conditions.
• Describe the 18 maladaptive schemas driving target behaviors.
• Design case conceptualization maps that enhance collaboration and drive your treatment planning, agenda setting, and documentation.
• Apply an integrated CBT/DBT/Schema therapy model to treat clients with BPD, incorporating both individual and group therapy components.
• List 3 maladaptive coping styles and explain how they perpetuate dysfunctional cycles of behavior.

When sessions feel chaotic, and treatment feels stalled, what’s often missing is not effort but structure. This training offers a clear, integrated roadmap so you can approach personality pathology with confidence, precision, and renewed direction in your clinical work.

Format and Access

This course is a live, interactive webinar.

Course Details

Schedule: (listed in Eastern Daylight Time)

• 11:00 am - 12:00 pm Lecture
• 12:00 pm - 12:05 pm Q&A
• 12:05 pm - 12:15 pm Break
• 12:15 pm - 1:15 pm Lecture
• 1:15 pm - 1:20 pm Q&A
• 1:20 pm - 1:50 pm Lunch
• 1:50 pm - 2:55 pm Lecture
• 2:55 pm - 3:05 pm Q&A
• 3:05 pm - 3:15 pm Break
• 3:15 pm - 4:20 pm Lecture
• 4:20 pm - 4:30 pm Q&A
• 4:30 pm - 4:40 pm Break
• 4:40 pm - 5:50 pm Lecture
• 5:50 pm - 6:00 pm Q&A

How to Attend: 

Course access and completion instructions.

Who Should Attend:

This course is intended for clinicians who provide behavioral health services.

Teaching Methods: 

This is a live, interactive webinar. Enrollment includes access to live event(s) but does not include recordings of the presentations.

Instructor and Disclosures

Instructor

About Jeff Riggenbach, Ph.D.

Jeff Riggenbach, PhD, is a best-selling and award-winning author/speaker/clinician who has trained audiences in all 50 United States, Canada, Mexico, The UK, Ireland, Malta, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. He has devoted the past 25 years to developing advanced expertise in cognition and personality. He personally trained at The Beck Institute of Cognitive Therapy and Research to develop his hospital's Borderline Personality Disorder Treatment Program, which has not treated over 500 patients with BPD across multiple levels of care. He has since developed and directed cognitive-behavioral based programs for Depression, Anxiety Disorders, and Addictive Behavior Disorders. Jeff's approach of taking evidence-based treatments and presenting them in ways that can be used by everyday clinicians "in the trenches" has earned him the nickname "The Practical Toolbox Guy," and his trainings often receive the highest marks from conference participants.

Disclosure Statement: 

The instructor(s) for this course receive compensation for their services. There are no reported conflicts of interest to disclose.

CE Hours

Credit Hours:

This course consists of 6 continuing education hours of credit.

Counselors:

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No, 6693.  Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified.  Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Mental Health Counselors. #MHC-0048.

Marriage and Family Therapists:

Many MFT licensing boards accept our courses or one of the approvals which we have from professional associations.  You can check with your board to determine if your licensing board would accept this course.

Social Workers:

Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, #1609, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 05/02/2024 – 05/02/2027. Social workers completing this course receive 6 clinical continuing education credits.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Social Workers #SW-0435.

Addiction Professionals:
 

This course has been approved by Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits. NAADAC Provider #193104, Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is responsible for all aspects of the programming.

Psychologists:

Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Telehealth Certification Institute LLC maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Psychologists #PSY-0128.

Art Therapists:

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Creative Arts Therapists #CAT-0093.

Other Professionals:

This course qualifies for 360 minutes of instructional content as required by many national, state and local licensing boards and professional organizations.  Retain your certificate of completion and contact your board or organization for specific filing requirements.

This course is an-interactive, live online webinar.

Participants may request a printed version of their certificate of completion to be delivered by mail. A shipping/handling fee of $6.95 will be charged per request. Shipping internationally may require an additional charge.

Agreement

By registering for this event you are agreeing to the following:

• 24 hour notice is required if you are not able to make it to a live event. Recordings are not provided to webinar registrants.
• To update and test using Zoom.us/test before the event to ensure you are ready for the event.
• Since this is a live interactive event it means that your interaction during the event is expected.  Your name and image will be visible to other participants during the live event. You will NOT be included in any recording made.
• An evaluation must be completed within one week of the event. Continuing Education credit(s) cannot be issued unless you attend the event and the evaluation is submitted.  (Evaluation is not mandatory for APA hours)
• Partial CE credits are not possible; therefore you are required to be present throughout the event in order to receive CE credits.
• Respect all other participants during the event as though you would if you were sitting with the other attendees at a conference table:
  • Dress appropriately
  • Be in a private location void of distractions
  • Do not multitask
  • Do not drive during an event
  • Remain on mute unless you are sharing with the group

Accommodations and Policies

Close Captioning is available for live webinars and recorded video presentations.

You can click on the following links to view our policies:

• Accommodations for Individuals with Disabilities.
• Cancellation Policy
• Grievance Policy
• Support Options
• Disclosure Statement