Introduction to Personality Disorder

This course offers participants to understand the key concepts and skills in working with personality disorder. This training helps understand personality development from both the nature and nurture elements of the debate. It explains the central differences between mental illness and personality disorder, the major sub-groups of personality disorder key issues in the diagnostic framework. Critical defence mechanisms are explored and the impact that this can have on staff working with this client group.

The programme then explores the use of relationships as the central driver of change for this group and how we can preservice working alliances with clients in what are at times psychologically intolerable pressures. In addition to this it looks at practical skills and intervention that can support the person with the personality disorder to make change and increase their capacity to manage distress.

Who is This Course For?

This course will be very helpful to a wide range of professionals whose work brings them into contact with clients with complex needs. This includes therapists, housing teams, Criminal Justice and mental health services, crises intervention services and related fields.

Course Aims:

• Understand the key influences on personality development and personality disorder.
• Differentiate between mental illness and personality disorder.
• Recognise the main sub-types and features of personality disorder, with particular emphasis on borderline personality disorder.
• Formulate episodes of borderline activation within relationships and understand how these patterns can emerge within therapy.
• Apply four transferable therapeutic approaches when working with borderline presentations: relationship, validation, mentalisation and rupture repair.

About the Trainer:

Phil Harris has worked with complex needs for over 37 years as a practitioner, trainer and manager. He has extensive experience across the field frontline substance misuse, homelessness, and mental health services. He has managed teams including family, young people, dual diagnosis & personality disorders and substance misuse. And designed a wide range of services from large scale multi-county treatment systems to specialist programmes for groups with complex needs.

Phil is a visiting lecturer at Bristol University Social Policy Unit, advisor to the US BICEP programme and World Health Organisation in the Balkans region. He has written over 20 scholarly articles on effective practice and has published five books on substance misuse, treatment effectiveness, family and young people with complex needs. Visit www.philharris.online for more information.