SASB and IRT workshops in Utah April, 2005

SASB and IRT workshops in Utah April, 2005

Dear Friends, Colleagues
Finally, with the support of the University of Utah Neuropsychiatric Institute (UNI), I have a proposal for how to respond to your requests for additional training in Interpersonal Reconstructive Therapy (IRT) and clinical and research uses of Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (SASB). This EMAIL is an informal survey that asks for your feedback before plans are finalized. If you are interested, please send me an EMAIL at LSB_3@MSN.com inserting your remarks to indicate what you like about the proposal, what you don’t like, and what you think would better meet your needs, interests. PLEASE ALSO RATE THE FORM AT THE END OF THIS MEMO INDICATING YOUR PREFERENCE FOR LOCATION AND THE LIKELIHOOD YOU WILL ATTEND. Of course you are not committed to come until you have registered, and the cancellation date has passed. Many thanks for your consideration.
Lorna Smith Benjamin

Overview:
We are thinking of a 9 day package in 4 sections that can be chosen according to your preferences, with discounts allowed for subscribing to more sections. I will be assisted by Ken Critchfield, a SASB expert who is co-trainer and director of research in the IRT clinic at UNI. Details of the program appear later in this memoFees and benefits: If we have a minimum of 50 participants, we can afford to give these workshops at a fee of approximately $165 per day, with discounts for additional days, prorated down to a minimum of US$125 per day for people enrolled in all 9 days offered. This price includes continuing education credits (6 hrs/ day) for nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers. It also includes breakfast every day, coffee breaks, and dinner provided on the last night of each section). Profits will go to the University of Utah Neuropsychiatric Institute to support the IRT clinic, which works mostly with severely disturbed individuals who cannot afford to pay normal fees.

Venue: The workshops will be at Snowbird Resort in the high Canyons of Salt Lake City or in Park City, Utah, home of the 2002 Winter Olympics. Likely location in Park City is The Canyons Resort Hotel.. At the Canyons, the minimum room rates would be US$120 and up, depending on your choice of options. At the Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort, minimum room rates would range between US$99 to US$120, depending on days of the week, and options you select. All rooms are of fine quality at either resort.

In early April, spring skiing is almost always available, though it does depend on the depth of the snowpack and Spring weather. We will schedule workshops to allow mid-day vacation time. Meetings will be 7 to 10 AM; and 3 to 6 PM, leaving you free to ski or spend time with families during the optimum spring skiing hours. Ski instruction in Utah is excellent and highly recommended for enhancing your enjoyment of the sport. At that time of year, weather permitting, it is also possible to choose golf, tennis, hiking, mountain biking, mountain climbing, horseback riding and more. Park City offers wonderful shopping opportunities, ranging from quaint and high end shops on main street, to factory outlet discount stores where you can get designer or casual clothing, higher level household items, and more – all at very reasonable prices. Park City has a number of extraordinary restaurants offering a variety of cuisine at reasonable prices. Meals at Snowbird also are very fine. In the evenings, nearby Salt Lake City offers an array of options from open art galleries and cultural events to live music, clubs, and dancing. Please check the websites for Snowbird and for The Canyons Resort for further detail.

A number of interesting day trips, in addition to shopping in Park City or Salt Lake City are possible from either location. Examples would be skiing at nearby resorts including Deer Valley, Park City Mountain, Alta, Snowbird, Solitude, Brighton, Powder Mountain and Sundance. If you want to take a vacation before or after the workshops, it is a special treat to travel to southern Utah to the high desert, which always is breathtaking, but especially wonderful in Springtime when the wildflowers bloom, and amazing National Parks, like Bryce Canyon or Zion National Park are not very crowded. There are 3 other major national Parks in Utah, and the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Park all are within a day’s drive.

PROGRAM PROPOSAL

Section I: Introduction to Interpersonal Reconstructive Therapy (IRT). Lorna Smith Benjamin, Ph.D.

This Section will enrich understanding of Benjamin, L. S. (2003). Interpersonal Reconstructive Therapy: promoting change in nonresponders. New York: Guilford Press

IRT draws upon psychodynamic, cognitive behavioral, client centered, interpersonal and other treatment approaches. It is designed for use with severely impaired “treatment resistant” psychiatric patients who have a history of multiple hospitalizations and suicidal or homicidal behaviors. Its claim to uniqueness rests on the case formulation method that objectively identifies and targets underlying attachment-based motivations that sustain the maladaptive behaviors and their associated symptoms.

Clinical material (video of IRT case formulation interviews and of therapy sessions) will be shown, and for that reason, A prior reading of Benjamin’s IRT book, and also of Benjamin, L.S. (1996) Interpersonal diagnosis and treatment of personality disorders (New York: Guilford Press) is recommended but not required.

Day 1: Basic principles of IRT
Principles of IRT Case Formulation; Videos of diagnostic interviews and outlines of case formulations; Principles of IRT Therapy ; Comparing and contrasting IRT with treatment as usual.
Day 2: Applications of IRT
Videos of IRT therapy;Role plays by volunteer participant of his or her most challenging casel Focus on use of IRT to avoid suicide attempts and rehospitalizations;Brief review of evidence supporting IRT theory and effectiveness

Section II. Intermediate IRT Lorna Smith Benjamin, Ph.D. and Kenneth Critchfield, Ph.D.
Day 1: Advanced Case formulation - Identifying and resolving common difficulties.
Linking symptoms through copy processes to key figures- the internalized persons whose affirmation is sought. Finding clinical details that define the gift of love (GOL)- the motivation that sustains the maladaptive behaviors. Talking about GOL collaboratively. Video illustrations of diversity of case formulations for a given symptom (E.g., distinctly different ways to end up with lots of anger; or to be very depressed; or highly anxious). Discussion of common elements; Sexual abuse and the case formulation; Physical abuse and the case formulation ;Informative and balanced report writing; Efficient and relevant record keeping

Day 2: Higher level Therapy- Illustrated with therapy videos showing excellence, and showing mistakes
Defining adherence and marking excellence.; Common therapy errors (i.e., non adherence); Transforming destructive to constructive versions of anger, grief, support, empathy, caring, distance, patience, self ; disclosure, transference.; Pointers that are frequently helpful in maintaining adherence - -Applying the case formulation in every intervention; -Finding and pursuing the therapy theme of the day. -Collaborating rather than “preaching.” (cheerleading is sometimes okay). -Working with toxic wishes such as: “Somebody else needs to change so I can be okay.” -Taking advantage of fact that IRT has clear therapy goals -Working with the Klute syndrome (eroticization of chief complaint) -Working with defenses, regressive pulls

Day 3: Applying IRT skills to symptoms that are frequently found in non responders.
Anger; Anxiety; Depression; Suicidal crises; Spousal or Child Abuse; Personality disorder frequently found in Nonresponders; -Passive Aggressive -Obsessive Compulsive –Borderline -Avoidant

Section III. SASB basics – Kenneth L. Critchfield
Day 1 – Overview of SASB (laptops recommended, but not required)
The models; Review of highlights in the manuals; Coding methods;-On line coding while in sessions;-Research coding; Tests of reliability; -Internal consistency;-Test retest;-Weighted Kappa; Tests of validity; -Dimensional ratings;-Factor analyses;-Convergent and discriminant performance
Day 2 – Practical Skills
Choosing ratings to include; Using software to gather and to process the data; -SASB Intrex questionnaires; -Coding of interactive videos. Choosing between parameters that measure patterns, and parameters that measure absolute levels. Using N = 1 features of SASB to address the fact that with any psychometric, average profiles do not necessarily characterize individuals.; Examples of group analyses that clearly have clinical relevance

Section IV. SASB applications – Kenneth L. Critchfield and Lorna Smith Benjamin
Day 1 = Clinical applications
Questionnaires; -Objectifying and testing the case formulation; -Giving SASB Intrex feedback to patients (checking for and showing copy process in action).; -Following changes in internalizations as therapy progresses;
Clinical coding -Using parallel models to relate presenting symptoms to copy process and key figures -Recognizing patterns in the therapy narrative that might otherwise be missed ; -Teaching patients interpersonal skills and correcting faulty interpersonal assumptions.; =Understanding how important it is to recognize and correct imbalances in focus; =Distinguishing control from assertion; =Learning about friendly differentiation (disagreement is not tantamount to hostility); =Listening does not mean submit. =Control is not necessarily hostile; -Demystifying via complex coding (e.g., unpacking what just happened when everybody felt crazy); -Predicting antecedent events, experiences ;-Predicting consequent events, experiences; -Identifying problematic therapy process; -Explaining therapy goals; -Other (e.g., parent training; management training; self help)

Day 2 – Research applications
Using SASB data to test clinical theory, therapy progress.; -Psychopathology ;-Individual psychotherapy-Family therapy; -Group therapy; Example of an optimal use - Three independent data bases, subjected to appropriate correlational and partial correlational analysis to yield; -Interpersonal correlates of anger, anxiety, depression, and specific personality disorders -Interpersonal patterns unique to anger, anxiety, depression and specific personality disorders; -Interpersonal antecedents to anger, anxiety, depression and specific personality disorders; -Interpersonal antecedents unique to anger, anxiety, depression and specific personality disorders; Q&A on gathering, processing, interpreting research data

Brief survey:

I will attend all or part of this conference