Personality Disorder and Psychotherapy: Themes and approaches in contemporary practice

• Critically appraise contemporary developments related to treatment approaches in working with those given a personality disorder diagnosis (including an exploration of the historical developments within psychotherapy that have shaped current treatment choices)

• Evaluate the challenges practitioners encounter when working with the complexity of personality disorder presentations through reflecting on your current client work (involving reflective exercises related to formulation of complex presentations)

• Reflect on the importance of the collaborative therapeutic relationship and the development of the working alliance with this client group (with particular reference to the work of John Livesley and David Wallin)

• Critically reflect on the range of theoretical models which underpin treatment approaches and focus on the rationale for adopting an integrated approach based on core therapeutic principles (with particular reference to Schema Therapy, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Mentalization Based Therapy and Cognitive Analytical Therapy)

• Examine the role of supervision and support systems in maintaining the health of practitioners and assisting them to process their interpersonal reactions to clinical work (Including an exploration of systemic models of supervision that have been developed to address these challenges)