F1W1.1 - Building Mastery in Group Schema Therapy: Applying Deliberate Practice to Core Interventions - Part 1
Tracks
Track 2
Deliberate Practice
Group Therapy
| Friday, May 31, 2024 |
| 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM |
Overview
In Conference Workshop
Details
If the presenter suggests breaking into groups then you should access the Breakout Foyer HERE
Building Mastery in Group Schema Therapy: Applying Deliberate Practice to Core Interventions
This in-conference workshop will present the application of the deliberate practice model to three of the most challenging interventions of group schema therapy (GST): maintaining a safe space, setting limits on disruptive overcompensating modes, and managing conflict, and provide attendees with opportunities to practice these skills using the format of the deliberate practice model. Deliberate Practice is a breakthrough approach in building mastery of clinical skills. GST presents therapists with additional challenges and complexity as the needs, schemas and modes of a group of patients must be simultaneously considered and safety and connection for all must be established and contained. One of the particular challenges of GST is management of the naturally occurring stages of a group’s process described by Yalom (2019). These can be summarized as: forming, storming, and norming. In contrast to the interpersonal process model of group therapy, which allows these stages to develop in an uncontrolled manner to increase emotion, in GST the therapists either facilitate or manage the stage to provide and maintain the safety and connection required to reach and heal the Vulnerable Child mode (VCM). In the treatment of personality disorder patients allowing anxiety or other distress to increase unchecked would trigger maladaptive coping modes to appear in some group members, often derailing or creating ruptures in the safety and connection of the group. The importance of managing the storming phase and group conflict is supported by a large randomized controlled trial of GST for borderline personality disorder. In the related qualitative study, patients reported that when aggression from other members was not firmly and confidently managed by the therapists, the ruptured connections and violation of safety of the group that occurred negatively affected their ability to do Vulnerable Child mode work and often led to premature dropout.
We have observed as supervisors that setting limits is one of the more difficult skills for Schema therapists to learn and feel comfortable with. For this reason, we decided to apply the deliberate practice model to the skills of maintaining safety, limit setting, and managing conflict to allow participants to practice within the supportive structure of deliberate practice.
The majority of the workshop time will be spent practicing in triads. Using the deliberate practice model, each participant will take a turn playing the role of a client, therapist, or supervisor. Three roleplay sessions will be conducted so that participants will have a turn in each role. The participant playing the therapist will form their response based upon the criteria of the micro skill. After this brief intervention, the client will give feedback followed by the supervisor role participant’s feedback about whether the criteria of the micro-skill were met and suggestions about how to improve the response. The ideal therapist response will be read at this time and used for discussion. The therapist in the roleplay will then have a second chance to respond to the repeated client's statement using the feedback and discussion.
Building Mastery in Group Schema Therapy: Applying Deliberate Practice to Core Interventions
This in-conference workshop will present the application of the deliberate practice model to three of the most challenging interventions of group schema therapy (GST): maintaining a safe space, setting limits on disruptive overcompensating modes, and managing conflict, and provide attendees with opportunities to practice these skills using the format of the deliberate practice model. Deliberate Practice is a breakthrough approach in building mastery of clinical skills. GST presents therapists with additional challenges and complexity as the needs, schemas and modes of a group of patients must be simultaneously considered and safety and connection for all must be established and contained. One of the particular challenges of GST is management of the naturally occurring stages of a group’s process described by Yalom (2019). These can be summarized as: forming, storming, and norming. In contrast to the interpersonal process model of group therapy, which allows these stages to develop in an uncontrolled manner to increase emotion, in GST the therapists either facilitate or manage the stage to provide and maintain the safety and connection required to reach and heal the Vulnerable Child mode (VCM). In the treatment of personality disorder patients allowing anxiety or other distress to increase unchecked would trigger maladaptive coping modes to appear in some group members, often derailing or creating ruptures in the safety and connection of the group. The importance of managing the storming phase and group conflict is supported by a large randomized controlled trial of GST for borderline personality disorder. In the related qualitative study, patients reported that when aggression from other members was not firmly and confidently managed by the therapists, the ruptured connections and violation of safety of the group that occurred negatively affected their ability to do Vulnerable Child mode work and often led to premature dropout.
We have observed as supervisors that setting limits is one of the more difficult skills for Schema therapists to learn and feel comfortable with. For this reason, we decided to apply the deliberate practice model to the skills of maintaining safety, limit setting, and managing conflict to allow participants to practice within the supportive structure of deliberate practice.
The majority of the workshop time will be spent practicing in triads. Using the deliberate practice model, each participant will take a turn playing the role of a client, therapist, or supervisor. Three roleplay sessions will be conducted so that participants will have a turn in each role. The participant playing the therapist will form their response based upon the criteria of the micro skill. After this brief intervention, the client will give feedback followed by the supervisor role participant’s feedback about whether the criteria of the micro-skill were met and suggestions about how to improve the response. The ideal therapist response will be read at this time and used for discussion. The therapist in the roleplay will then have a second chance to respond to the repeated client's statement using the feedback and discussion.
Speaker
Joan Farrell
Schema Therapy Institute Indpls
Building Mastery in Group Schema Therapy: Applying Deliberate Practice to Core Interventions
Biography
Joan is a licensed clinical psychologist with 45 years of experience in the training and practice of psychotherapy. She is a certified Schema Therapy Trainer/Supervisor in individual and group and co-directs the Schema Therapy Institute Midwest- Indianapolis. Joan has given training internationally for over 20 years (24 countries to date). She receives outstanding evaluations for her enthusiastic and collaborative teaching style, which includes demonstrations and group role-play experiences for participants using the Deliberate Practice model. Joan is an adjunct faculty member in Clinical Psychology at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis. She was a clinical professor at Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM), for 25 years and the Research and Training director of the IUSM Center for Borderline Personality Disorder Treatment & Research. She was an elected ISST Executive Board Member and Coordinator for Training & Certification in ST 2012-2018. She is a founding member of ISST and was awarded an Honorary Lifetime membership in 2018.
In the 1980s, in collaboration with Ida Shaw, Joan developed a group treatment model consistent with individual Schema Therapy. They were influenced by their clinical experience with BPD and the work of Jeffrey Young and adapted ST interventions along with limited reparenting to a group setting. Their GST model included uniquely designed group interventions to accomplish ST goals. The GST model was evaluated in a randomized controlled trial, with a grant awarded from the US National Institute of Mental Health. That trial demonstrated strong effects in reducing BPD symptoms and improving global function, as well as high recovery rates. Joan co-led the international trial with Arnoud Arntz, which evaluated the GST model with 495 patients in five countries and was published in JAMA Psychiatry in 2022.
Together with Ida Shaw, she has authored three books on ST: Group Schema Therapy for BPD (Wiley, 2012), The Schema Therapy Clinician’s Guide (Wiley, 2014), and Experiencing Schema Therapy from the Inside-Out: A Self-Practice/Self-Reflections Workbook (Guilford Press, 2018). They also created a DVD Set demonstrating GST (IVAH, 2011) and contributed many book chapters and research articles on Schema Therapy. Her latest book, co-authored with Wendy Behary, Tony Rousmaniere, and Alex Vaz is The Deliberate Practice of Schema Therapy, APA Press in 2023.
Rita Younan
Training Coordinator
International Society of Schema Therapy (ISST)
Building Mastery in Group Schema Therapy: Applying Deliberate Practice to Core Interventions
Biography
Rita Younan is a clinical psychologist and advanced ST supervisor- trainer, and director of Schema Therapy Institute Australia. Rita is currently the training co-ordinator for the International Society of Schema Therapy and part of the executive board that represents the society. Rita has provided training, treatment and conducted research in Schema Therapy. Her area of interest include attachment theory, the neurobiology of attachment, trauma and personality pathology. Rita has presented as various international conferences and is actively involved in the Schema Therapy community. Rita has been a clinical psychologist seeing patients with varying presentations for almost 20 years.
Paul Kasyanik
Schema Therapy Institute St.Petersburg
Building Mastery in Group Schema Therapy: Applying Deliberate Practice to Core Interventions
Biography
PhD is the director of the Schema Therapy Institute in St.Petersburg, Russia. He is an Advanced Certified Schema Therapist, Supervisor and Trainer in Individual, Groups and Children-Adolescents ST. Since 2016, Paul served as Science & Research Coordinator and from 2018 till 2020 as Certification Coordinator on the Executive Board of the ISST.
Paul has presented advanced Schema Therapy training at EABCT and ISST Conferences and Summer Schools as well as in training programs in 18 countries.
