The Clinician's Guide to Conceptualizing and Assessing Personality Disorders

Course overview

According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), nearly 10% of the adult U.S. population has met the diagnostic criteria for one or more personality disorders (PDs) in the past year, and the majority of Americans with PDs (85%) meet criteria for at least one other mental disorder. Yet, not even half of Americans with PDs have been treated for their disorder. Sometimes, therapists feel "stuck" working with clients with depressive and anxiety disorders who don't seem to be making much progress. At times, an undiagnosed PD might be part of the complex clinical picture, and perhaps a change in treatment approach would help the client to start getting some traction. Forensic evaluators are sometimes presented with scenarios in which a referral source is asking for clarification on whether an individual has one or more PDs, but PDs can often be very challenging to diagnose over brief periods of time, especially if a client has poor insight, is defensive, or is not forthcoming with information suggestive of a PD. To further complicate matters, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) introduced a new dimensional-categorical hybrid model of PDs that is expected to be replace the current system of diagnosing PDs. This new system is very different than what mental health professionals are accustomed to. This webinar was designed to equip you with several tools and resources to help better conceptualize and detect PDs, whether in therapy or in forensic evaluation settings.