Innovative CBT for Difficult Anxiety Disorders

Presenter

Dr. Clark is Professor Emeritus with the Department of Psychology, University of New Brunswick, where he served as the Director of the Clinical Psychology Training Program for over a decade. He received a PhD in psychology from the Institute of Psychiatry, University of London, UK in 1984, and obtained further training in cognitive therapy under Aaron T. Beck, MD.  Over the past 30 years he has trained dozens of students in cognitive behavior therapy and offered clinical skills workshops to hundreds of mental health professional worldwide.  He is a supervisor and certified trainer in cognitive behavior therapy with the Academy of Cognitive Therapy and the Canadian Association of Cognitive Behavior Therapies and a practicing clinical psychologist with a private practice specializing in the treatment of adults with anxiety, depression or stress-related conditions including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Dr. Clark’s research focuses on vulnerability, cognitive factors, assessment and treatment of depression and anxiety, especially obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).

synopsis

Approximately two-thirds of individuals with an anxiety disorder achieve clinically significant symptom improvement with standard cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) but only 25% – 40% achieve symptom-free status. Thus a significant number of anxious clients (25%-33%) show a poor treatment response. This one-day workshop addresses the problem of failed or, at best, minimal response to CBT in the anxiety disorders. It begins with an analysis of treatment failure, the nature of treatment-resistant anxiety, and the limitations of standard CBT. The remainder of the workshop focuses on innovations in theory, assessment, case conceptualization, cognitive restructuring, and behavioral experiments that target specific features of treatment resistant anxiety. This is an intermediate level workshop intended for mental health professionals with at least a basic understanding of CBT and clinical experience in the treatment of anxiety.

learning objectives

Course Schedule

8:00 – Registration & Breakfast
9:00 – Workshop begins
10:30 – Break
12:00 – Luncheon (served on-site)
13:00 – Workshop continues
14:30 – Break
16:00 – Concluding remarks