half day workshop

BRINGING INTERPERSONAL PROCESS INTO MAINSTREAM CBT
Vivien Twaddle, Newcastle Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies Centre, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust/University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK and Peter Armstrong, Newcastle Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies Centre, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust, UK

Princess Hotel Room: Estrella del Mar

Although mainstream cognitive therapy recognises the importance of interpersonal process (IPP), the level of specification has generally been lower than in some other psychological models. Our collective experience of IPP is that much of the understanding remains implicit, there is a pull towards pathologising some aspects of these processes and that we often rely on concepts from other therapeutic traditions that have a high resonance, but a low level of specification. In Newcastle we have been developing a framework and concepts that are more consistent with the cognitive behavioural approach – in that they are explicit, normalising and more highly specified. This workshop is aimed at those with experience treating complex emotional disorders and/or where interpersonal process (IPP) affects their work. The presenters will be speaking from the perspective of working with adults, but there will be opportunities for participants to use examples from their own areas of work.

Vivien Twaddle (clinical psychologist/cognitive behavioural therapist) and Peter Armstrong (clinical nurse specialist/cognitive behavioural therapist) work in the Newcastle Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies Centre, a regional specialist NHS service in the North East of England. They are both highly experienced therapists who work with broad-ranging and complex emotional disorders and have substantial experience of training and supervising others in CBT. They have a particular interest in how to work explicitly with interpersonal processes within mainstream CBT. More specifically, over the last three years, they have been working with colleagues, (from Newcastle, the North of England and throughout the United Kingdom), to develop an IPP framework for CBT.

Key References:
This is an experiential workshop where no formal reading is required. However, participants should review their clinical cases and reflect on those where interpersonal issues have been a particular issue in treatment. Participants will be required to use their own examples in the group work.