Alliance Building with Challenging Clients
Mental health clinicians routinely encounter individuals with challenging personalities and behaviors. With these clients, we can become stuck in patterns of interaction that are not therapeutic, leave us feeling frustrated, and block us from engaging in healing relationships with our clients. This workshop will offer a deeper understanding of personality functioning and provide insights into improved working relationships with challenging individuals. In this workshop we will move toward a deeper understanding of the concept of personality and learn how to form therapeutic alliances in challenging professional relationships. Initially, the workshop will cover DSM-5’s alternative model for personality disorders with a focus on the elements of identity, self-direction, empathy, and intimacy and how individuals exist along a continuum for each of these elements. The workshop will examine how these elements manifest for clients along the spectrum, from little to no impairment through severe impairment. With insight into these personality elements, practical case examples will be reviewed along with exploration of how to form alliances with individuals who fall on the far ends of the spectrum. The outcome of the workshop will be a deeper understanding of personality more generally as well as some take-home tools for creating stronger therapeutic alliances with challenging clients.
https://nefesh.org/workshops/BecomeUnstuck/viewFREE WEBINAR
Become Unstuck:
Alliance Building with Challenging Clients
Friday, March 28, 2025, 10:00 AM EDT
Presenter: Sharen Barboza, Ph.D.
Course Length: 3 Hours
Learning Objectives:
- Review the four basic elements of DSM-5’s alternative theory of personality functioning.
- Describe how all personalities fall along the continuum of these four elements
- Explore practical skills for developing a more effective working alliance with patients whose personality traits fall on the ends of the spectrum
This workshop Offers 3 Live Interactive Continuing Education Credits
Mental health clinicians routinely encounter individuals with challenging personalities and behaviors. With these clients, we can become stuck in patterns of interaction that are not therapeutic, leave us feeling frustrated, and block us from engaging in healing relationships with our clients. This workshop will offer a deeper understanding of personality functioning and provide insights into improved working relationships with challenging individuals. In this workshop we will move toward a deeper understanding of the concept of personality and learn how to form therapeutic alliances in challenging professional relationships. Initially, the workshop will cover DSM-5’s alternative model for personality disorders with a focus on the elements of identity, self-direction, empathy, and intimacy and how individuals exist along a continuum for each of these elements. The workshop will examine how these elements manifest for clients along the spectrum, from little to no impairment through severe impairment. With insight into these personality elements, practical case examples will be reviewed along with exploration of how to form alliances with individuals who fall on the far ends of the spectrum. The outcome of the workshop will be a deeper understanding of personality more generally as well as some take-home tools for creating stronger therapeutic alliances with challenging clients.
Learning Objectives:
- Review the four basic elements of DSM-5’s alternative theory of personality functioning.
- Describe how all personalities fall along the continuum of these four elements
- Explore practical skills for developing a more effective working alliance with patients whose personality traits fall on the ends of the spectrum
Agenda:
The elements of the alternative theory of personalty
How individuals with little to no impairment in the elements of self (identity and self-direction) and interpersonal functioning (empathy and intimacy) present in treatment
(30 minutes)
Personality disorder and how it is expressed
How personality elements are manifest in clients with severe impairment
Results of these impairments in the therapeutic relationship
(30 minutes)
Professional relationships
Empathic Validation
Effective strategies for working with these clients
(30 minutes)
Case examples with interactive discussion
(20 minutes)
Review and summarize
(10 minutes)
This presentation is open to:
- Social Workers
- Professional Counselors
- Therapists
- Psychologists
- Licensed Mental Health Practitioners
- Medical Doctors and Other Health Professionals
- Other professionals interacting with populations engaged in mental health based services
- New practitioners who wish to gain enhanced insight surrounding the topic
- Experienced practitioners who seek to increase and expand fundamental knowledge surrounding the subject matter
- Advanced practitioners seeking to review concepts and reinforce practice skills and/or access additional consultation
- Managers seeking to broaden micro and/or macro perspectives
Participants will receive their certificate electronically upon completion of the webinar and course evaluation form.
- Therapist Express is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0774.
- Therapist Express is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists #MFT-0129.
- Therapist Express is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0325.
- CE You! is an approved sponsor of the Maryland Board of Social Work Examiners for continuing education credits for licensed social workers in Maryland.
CE You! maintains responsibility for this program.