Evidence-Based Treatments for Personality Disorders

When you’re treating personality disorders, insight alone rarely changes the patterns that keep showing up in-session—because rather than having a conversation about the problem, clinicians treating personality disorders need to be capable of having a conversation with the problem, in real time, inside the therapeutic relationship. This training focuses on the advanced, crucial skill of making accurate process observations “in the here and now” so you can work effectively with the patterns as they unfold, without drifting into name-calling or getting pulled into the very cycles you’re trying to help clients change.

In this training, you’ll be guided through a structured, evidence-based approach that helps you move beyond discussing diagnoses and into doing the work that actually shifts entrenched interpersonal and behavioral cycles—especially when the therapy itself becomes the “lab” where those cycles emerge.

"Evidence-Based Treatments for Personality Disorders" 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., brings 20 years of clinical experience and specialized training to this topic, having trained personally with Marsh Linehan, as well as with Drs. Aaron and Judith Beck at The Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research, and Dr. George Lockwood at the Midwest Schema Therapy Institute. Drawing from that foundation, he developed an integrated DBT/CBT/Schema Therapy model that has treated over 600 patients with borderline and other personality disorders over a 15-year period in two different psychiatric hospitals and outpatient clinics, and he has consulted faculties and trained clinicians in all 50 United States and 9 countries around the world on this topic.

Jeff’s teaching style is highly applied and “tricks of the trade” focused, blending didactic instruction with real-life case examples, “video case studies,” and practical tools you can use immediately in both individual and group settings. As you will discover in this training, the goal is not simply to understand these presentations, but to learn how to intervene skillfully when the dynamics show up in the room.

Across the training, you’ll take a deep dive into an integrated model for treating personality disorders, including eight evidence-based treatments and five essential things to know before treating this population effectively. You’ll learn how early maladaptive schemas and modes drive target behaviors (including historical, cultural, and environmental risk factors), how to build clear case conceptualization diagrams that support treatment planning, agenda setting, and documentation, and how to apply DBT/CBT/Schema-focused skills—ending with relapse prevention and “ending treatment well.”

Key Takeaways:

• Evidence-based treatment clarity: Leave with a clear, practical map of multiple evidence-based approaches so you can choose and apply interventions more confidently with complex personality presentations.
• Schema-driven case conceptualization: Build usable case conceptualization diagrams and schema/mode formulations that directly inform treatment planning, session structure, and documentation.
• Stronger endings and relapse prevention: Apply structured relapse-prevention strategies that fit the course of care and help clients break long-standing cycles with a plan for maintaining gains.

Why this course?

• Advanced “here-and-now” skill-building: This course centers on the crucial ability to make process observations in the moment—so you can address the pattern as it happens, not only talk about it afterward.
• Integrated model grounded in deep training + real-world application: You’ll learn an approach shaped by Jeff’s training with leaders in DBT, CBT, and Schema Therapy and refined through extensive clinical work treating this population over time.
• Practical, clinician-ready teaching: Through didactic teaching, real-life case examples, and “video case studies,” you’ll gain tools you can use immediately to motivate an unmotivated population, strengthen collaboration, and renew your hope in what’s possible with these clients.

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss 8 evidence-based treatments for personality disorders.
• Describe 5 characteristics unique to treating these diagnoses effectively.
• Explain 18 early maladaptive schemas driving target behaviors, including historical, cultural, and other environmental risk factors influencing them.
• Design case conceptualization diagrams to drive treatment planning, agenda setting, and documentation.
• Describe 3 schema modes in narcissism and design mode work strategies.
• Compare the 2 types of relapse prevention sessions with the typical course of care sessions.

If you want to treat personality-disordered behavior with deeper level, evidence-based strategies that strengthen collaboration and promote long-lasting, meaningful change, this training will give you a structured way forward. You’ll walk away with a clearer framework for staying grounded, making accurate “in-the-room” observations, and guiding sessions toward real behavioral and relational change—especially when the work gets challenging.