Effective, person-centered treatment for psychotic spectrum disorders using dialectical behavioral therapy
There's a serious gap in clinical tools for treating psychosis.
As a result, many clinicians feel a deep sense of inefficacy and even hopelessness when working with clients whose lives are derailed by psychotic spectrum disorders.
But what if you had simple strategies to help clients respond more flexibly and adaptively to psychotic experiences?
Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) isn’t commonly thought of as an intervention in this area — but emotion dysregulation can worsen psychotic experiences and make them more likely to lead to unhelpful behaviors as a result.
Through DBT, you can help clients build critical skills for “surfing” intense emotions that often lead to additional challenges, allowing them to refocus on building lives worth living.
What's in the course
This 10 CE hour live online course taught by an author and expert in the space of psychosis will equip you with dialectical behavior therapy skills specifically tailored for psychotic experiences.
Inside, you’ll explore the four core modules of DBT: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness.
The focus will be on skills-building interventions that can be integrated with a variety of evidence-based approaches, rather than strictly adhering to traditional DBT protocols.
You’ll learn through interactive activities, such as engaging discussions, case examples, roleplay, and practical tools. You’ll also be encouraged to bring in your own cases to explore and practice with.
By adding these DBT skills to your toolkit you’ll be able to:
- Engage clients with psychotic spectrum disorders more effectively using accessible interventions adapted to their needs
- Work more confidently to help clients build lives worth living — while promoting their safety in therapy and the community
- Apply concrete and practical tools you can try out with clients and get immediate feedback on their efficacy
- Build clients’ skills in mindfulness so they can notice when they’re activated and take appropriate action
- Help clients “surf” intense experiences so they can see things clearly and choose responses that align with how they want to live their lives
All of this will make your work more hopeful and responsive to clients’ individual needs while giving them skills to navigate psychosis and build meaningful lives.