Description
Dealing with Personality Disorders
Although widely acknowledged to be the most difficult of all mental health conditions, few professionals are properly trained to assess and intervene in cases involving personality disorders.
Gregory W. Lester – Personality Disorders and the DSM-5: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Management of PD
These disorders are almost always the driving force behind stalled treatment; stressful and frustrating case management; and confusing, resistive, and seemingly unmanageable clients. Unless practitioners understand how personality disorders are unique, and learn the specific methods that are required to treat and manage them, their effectiveness will be sharply diminished and the stress caused by this clientele will be unnecessarily high.
This recording is the long-anticipated DSM-5 update of the longest running, largest attended seminar on personality disorders in the world (formerly titled, “Personality Disorders in Social Work and Health Careâ€). This revised recording features an updated and expanded intervention section; the DSM-5 diagnostic changes; and the most current and comprehensive information available about the identification, treatment, and management of personality disorders. Designed for practitioners who know very little about the phenomenon as well as those with highly developed assessment and intervention skills, attendees gain new understanding of the phenomenon and acquire powerful interventions for the management and treatment of their most difficult and frustrating cases.
Handouts
Manual – Personality Disorders and the DSM-5 (817.8 KB) 188 Pages Available after Purchase
Outline
THE ESSENTIALS OF UNDERSTANDING A PERSONALITY DISORDER
How personality disorders differ from psychiatric disorders
Why the DSM-5 eliminated Axis II
Why so few professionals understand personality disorders
The unique mindset required to deal with personality disorders
THE PHENOMENON “PERSONALITY DISORDERâ€
Defining a “personality disorderâ€
Why personality disorders are the most difficult conditions to assess
Why personality disorders are difficult to identify accurately
Why psychiatric medication does not work with personality disorders
Why traditional psychotherapies do not work with personality disorders
Why personality disorders appear to be increasingly prevalent
THE EFFECTS OF A PERSONALITY DISORDER
What a personality disorder does to the patient
What a personality disorder does to the family
Why people with personality disorders make problems worse
How professionals keep from getting caught
EFFECTIVELY IDENTIFYING PERSONALITY DISORDERS
The DSM-5 and personality disorders
Effective and quick screening for a personality disorder
Clinical confirmation of a personality disorder
The four essential pieces of data that a diagnosis provides
What each DSM-5 diagnosis actually means
Research findings about the cause of personality disorders
AVOIDING INTERVENTION MISTAKES MADE BY 90% OF PRACTITIONERS
The single reason most professionals do poorly with personality disorders
The relationship style that is effective in dealing with personality disorders
Why patient “history†is not the important element in effective interventions
How treatment repairs a disordered personality
EFFECTIVE INTERVENTIONS FOR PERSONALITY DISORDERS
The common principle guiding all effective interventions
“Treating†versus “Managing†personality disorders
Treatment that is designed to produce optimal functioning
Treatment that is designed to produce adequate functioning
Treatment that is designed to produced targeted improvement
Management for harm-reduction
The fundamental reframing management procedure
The fundamental behavioral management intervention
ADDITIONAL TOPICS COVERED IN THE MANUAL
Typical marriage pairings of individuals with personality disorders
The occurrence of personality disorders in youth
Prognosis of the different personality diagnoses
How to evaluate the “treatability†of individuals with personality disorders
Self-care for the practitioner
Crises
Faculty
Gregory W. Lester, Ph.D.
Gregory W. Lester, Ph.D., is a clinical, consulting, and research psychologist with practices in Colorado and Texas. Dr. Lester has presented over 2,000 personality disorders trainings to over 200,000 professionals in every major city in the United States, Canada, and Australia. In his nearly 40 years of clinical practice, Dr. Lester has treated over 1,000 personality disorder cases and has performed psychological evaluations on over 2,500 individuals.
Dr. Lester has served on the graduate faculty of The University of St. Thomas and as a special consultant to The United Sates Department of Justice. Dr. Lester’s office served as one of the original research sites for the DSM-5® revision of the personality disorders section where he collaborated with Emory University, the New York State Psychiatric Group, The University of Missouri, The University of Kentucky, and the late Dr. Robert Spitzer, chairman of the DSM-3 committee.
Dr. Lester is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Texas Psychological Association, and the Colorado Psychological Association. He is the author of nine books, including Power with People, a manual of interpersonal effectiveness, Shrunken Heads, an irreverent memoir of his graduate school training, and Diagnosis, Treatment, and Management of Personality Disorders, which is the largest-selling front-line clinical manual on diagnosing, treating, and managing personality disorders.
Dr. Lester’s research and articles have appeared in publications including The Journal of the American Medical Association, The Western Journal of Medicine, The Yearbook of Family Practice, The Journal of Behavioral Therapy, The Journal of Marriage and Family Therapy, The Handbook of Depression, Transactional Analysis Journal, Living Word Magazine, The Priest Magazine, and The Houston Lawyer.
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Gregory Lester is in private practice. He receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc.
Non-financial: Gregory Lester is a member of the American Psychological Association; the Colorado Psychological Association; and the Texas Psychological Association.
