Understanding Cluster B Personality Disorders

Therapy clients who present with chronic/complex trauma offer unique  challenges. They may enter therapy having been given multiple diagnoses,  and a history of treatment failure. Depending on how they present, they  may receive diagnoses of Complex Post Traumatic Stress, Borderline  Personality, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Bipolar, along with many  others. Some have been in therapy for many years, even decades without  achieving symptom relief and stabilization. This scenario can be  frustrating for both the client and the therapist leading to shame for  clients and burnout for the therapist. Why some clients get better more  quickly, and others show little sign of healing from their wounds can be  rooted in chronic trauma and how their personality is formed and  organized. Chronically traumatized individuals may have experienced  repeated developmental, relational, and acute types of disturbing and/or  traumatic experiences. This type of client presentation will often have  serious attachment injuries-ruptures, along with higher levels and  multiple types of dissociation making traditional therapy modalities  more difficult or impossible to administer.

This workshop will explore:

1. How personality disorders are a form of chronic trauma that lead to serious relational impairment. 2. How ineffective and disruptive attachment are the foundation to the  distinction between polytrauma and a diagnosable personality disorder. 3. How personality is formed in the early developmental years through  adulthood leading to narcissistic and borderline presentations. 4. The role of dissociation as an indicator of personality issues. 5. The key challenges clinicians face working with narcissistic and borderline presentations. 6. What makes narcissistic presentations unique and challenging. 7. What makes Borderline presentations unique and challenging.

Presented by: Michael Lillie LMFT, MHP

Continuing Education Credit Hours: 6 CEs | $175.00