MHT02 – Personality Disorder Training

The UK’s leading personality disorder training providers. With a key focus on EUPD/Borderline Personality Disorder,

Please click the leaflet images to download a PDF overview of this training

Personality disorder psychology & psychiatry is a complex area of medicine. This workshop will help organisations and staff better-understand the vulnerabilities and behaviours associated with EUPD and Borderline Personality Disorder diagnosis. It will improve interactions, safeguarding, advocacy and support to improve safeguarding and better-manage the potential risks with greater insight and efficacy.
This workshop offers an accessible understanding of personality disorder pathology and its inherent challenges and risks. It will improve client safety and staff interactions through a better understanding of client sensitivities, typical clinical traps and potential risk scenarios. We offer a unique event that offers evidence-based content delivered by experts in this field.

The training can be expanded to include appropriate psychotherapy and skills-based training frameworks. All training is delivered by psychiatry-trained experts.
We provide tailored workshops for NHS, CMHT, Primary & Secondary Care including Crisis Teams and frontline A&E. We also work extensively with supported living and residential care providers, charities, the Police, advocacy support, housing & forensic mental health Services.

Understanding the vulnerabilities associated with Personality Disorder diagnosis:

  1. Better-understand the internalised world of an individual with personality disorder symptoms, particularly Borderline Personality Disorder / EUPD, Dissocial / Antisocial.
  2. The common vulnerabilities, expectations and experiences of individuals indicated for the disorder.
  3. Understand attachment seeking in relation to self-harm risk.
  4. Knowledge, insights and formulations to improve understanding of common presentations, trigger events, common vulnerabilities, common perpetuating factors and protective factors that can mitigate risk.

Improved communication skills and relationships

  1. Communication strategies and skills to better-support individuals vulnerable to BPD / EUPD. Improving the effectiveness of advice and strategies to support mental wellbeing, reduce self-defeating behaviours and improve outcomes for all.
  2. Risk stratification to improve general safeguarding.
  3. Skills to maintain boundaries and manage expectations whilst still maintaining healthy relationships.
  4. Skills to manage conflict to improve staff confidence and improve patient / staff relationships.

Skills to improve patient safeguarding and safety planning.

  1. Advocacy skills – confidence to challenge any negative or prejudicial responses from other services (crisis team / CMHT / ED etc).
  2. Associated externalising personality disorders and forensic risk factors, particularly the
  3. factors associated with violence risk where indicated.
  4. Risk assessment processes – Using the HCR-20 and other risk assessment models.
  5. Keeping staff safe – learning from other’s mistakes and developing a safe model of lone working, reporting and interactional / communication models to support lone-working risk management.
  6. This training is delivered by a psychology / psychiatry qualified training consultant and free post training support is available on an informal basis. Available onsite or via MS Teams / Zoom Webinar.

The training can include a more detailed focus on safeguarding and self-harm support if required. This commonly includes:

  1. Care planning and assessment of individuals vulnerable to self-harm risk.
  2. The functions of self-injury and its relationship with personality disorder.
  3. The risk factors for suicide – improving risk assessments and safety planning.
  4. Improving insights, communication skills and fine-tuning the suicide assessment conversation.
  5. Understanding the limitations and obligations of the NHS / CMHT / Local authority. Particularly in relation to capacity, right to privacy, duty of care to protect life and the Mental Health Act 1989
  6. Escalating concerns to CMHT and the role of the AMHP.
  7. The role of the Police in safeguarding.

All training is delivered by psychiatry-trained experts. We provide tailored workshops for NHS, CMHT, Primary & Secondary Care including Crisis Teams and frontline A&E. We also work extensively with supported living and residential care providers, charities, the Police, advocacy support, housing & forensic mental health Services.

  • Tailored content – a masterclass in Personality Disorder knowledge:
  • Understanding the vulnerabilities associated with Personality Disorder diagnosis:
  • Better-understand the internalised world of an individual with personality disorder
  • symptoms, particularly Borderline Personality Disorder / EUPD, Dissocial / Antisocial.
  • The common vulnerabilities, expectations and experiences of individuals indicated for the disorder.
  • Understand attachment seeking in relation to self-harm risk.
  • Knowledge, insights and formulations to improve understanding of common presentations, trigger events, common vulnerabilities, common perpetuating factors and protective factors that can mitigate risk.
  • Improved communication skills and relationships
  • Communication strategies and skills to better-support individuals vulnerable to BPD / EUPD. Improving the effectiveness of advice and strategies to support mental wellbeing, reduce self-defeating behaviours and improve outcomes for all.
  • Risk stratification to improve general safeguarding.
  • Skills to maintain boundaries and manage expectations whilst still maintaining healthy relationships.
  • Skills to manage conflict to improve staff confidence and improve patient / staff relationships.
  • Skills to improve patient safeguarding and safety planning.
  • Advocacy skills – confidence to challenge any negative or prejudicial responses from other services (crisis team / CMHT / ED etc).
  • Associated externalising personality disorders and forensic risk factors, particularly the factors associated with violence risk where indicated.
  • Risk assessment processes – Using the HCR-20 and other risk assessment models.
  • Keeping staff safe – learning from other’s mistakes and developing a safe model of lone working, reporting and interjectional / communication models to support lone-working risk management.
  • Care planning and assessment of individuals vulnerable to self-harm risk.
  • The functions of self-injury and its relationship with personality disorder and the risk factors for suicide – improving risk assessments and safety planning.
  • Improving insights, communication skills and fine-tuning the suicide assessment conversation.
  • Understanding the limitations and obligations of the NHS / CMHT / Local authority. Particularly in relation to capacity, right to privacy, duty of care to protect life and the Mental Health Act 1989
  • Escalating concerns to CMHT and the role of the AMHP and the role of the Police in safeguarding.
  • The principles of Structured Clinical Management
  • The principles of Dialectic Behaviour Therapy

Training by qualified professionals

This is one of the most complex areas of general psychiatry and mental health. Training in this subject should only be provided by qualified and experienced professionals. We offer a unique event that offers evidence-based content delivered by experts in this field.

This workshop is designed to help staff better-understand the psychopathology of personality disorder and to improve interactions and the management of potential risks with greater insight and efficacy.

This workshop offers an accessible understanding of personality disorder pathology and its inherent challenges and risks. This workshop should improve client safety and staff interactions through a better understanding of client sensitivities, typical clinical traps and potential risk scenarios. The training can be expanded to include appropriate psychotherapy and skills-based training frameworks.

This event represents a commitment to help staff make sense of client reactions and responses within different contexts, to develop effective communication skills and to recognise the importance of managing risk and effective team work when working with clients indicated for personality disorder.

This training workshop will furnish delegates with a more comprehensive understanding of personality disorder psychiatry, the common risks and challenges and the general science of mental illness. It aims to support staff in their abilities to pre-empt, characterise and support this complex client / patient group.

Here’s an example overview of a typical training workshop:

1 – A clear focus on the diagnostic criteria and psychiatric field of personality disorder;

2 – A detailed focus on the psychopathology of the EUPD / Borderline patient with a key focus on the complex defence mechanisms associated with these disorders and common challenges for both patient and service provider;

3 – Forensic mental health risk factors;

4 – A clear understanding of attachment disorders, childhood neglect and abuse pathology and its relationship with externalising emotion-disorders;

5 – A clearer understanding of the pathology of self-harm / Non-Suicidal-Self-Injury, suicide risk and the appropriate management of safeguarding concerns;

6 – Working with individuals indicated for personality disorder, managing emotional conflict and improving outcomes for all;

7 – A focus on the risk-factors and risk management with a key focus on suicide risk and improved safeguarding;

8 – A focus on substance misuse in the context of personality disorder and supporting vulnerable people through the NICE Guidelines / Dual Diagnosis service;

9- The co-occurring mental health and physical health presentations associated with personality disorder;

10 – Improving interaction skills and putting behaviours into a clear context;

11 – Psychological interventions – via amended CBT based interventions and skills-based training;

12 – One day or longer workshops available. 15 participants per event.

13 – Delivered by a Psychiatry-trained consultant.

We have also developed an alternative course that may be a better-fit for some clients. A pdf overview of this training can be downloaded here:  Working with Emotionally Vulnerable Clients and Service Users Training 2018

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