Working with Parents, Couples & Families from a DBT Perspective
Presenter: Professor Alan Fruzzetti
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) has been shown in dozens of studies to be effective in treating the many problems associated with emotion dysregulation. DBT has been adapted by Dr. Alan Fruzzetti for use with couples, parents, and families, with several studies demonstrating successful outcomes. In this practical workshop, Dr. Fruzzetti will describe and demonstrate: 1) family interventions to reduce severe dysfunctional individual behaviour, including dangerous behaviours, and 2) interventions to improve family relationships in general, and thus to help families become less destructive, and more peaceful and loving.
After a brief orientation to the treatment model, lectures, role plays, and experiential exercises will be used to demonstrate how to: 1) build a treatment target hierarchy with families, including self-harm, aggression, substance use, angry outbursts, withdrawal, and relationship problems; 2) utilize traditional DBT skills and new DBT family skills with parents, partners, and other family members; 3) apply “chain analyses” with two or more family members simultaneously, to expose dysfunctional steps when emotion escalates out of control; 4) use principles and intervention strategies of DBT with families to make communication possible, and help rebuild relationships; and 5) integrate both acceptance and change strategies (and skills) into solutions.
This workshop is appropriate whether you have no prior DBT experience or are looking to improve your DBT skills.
Dr. Alan E. Fruzzetti is Professor of Psychology and the Director of the Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Research Program at the University of Nevada, Reno. He is also Co-Director of the DBT program at Willow Springs Center, a residential care facility for teens, the Director of Research for the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder, and on the Board of Directors of the Linehan Institute. In addition to his work with suicidal and self-harming adults and teens, Dr. Fruzzetti also has developed multiple applications of DBT for women victims of domestic violence, eating disorders, and for partners, parents and other family members of people with borderline personality and related problems. He has authored more than 100 research and clinical papers and book chapters, and two books, and is the co-creator of the NEA-BPD Family Connections program, for parents, partners, and other loved ones of people with BPD and related problems. He was honoured as the “Psychologist of the Year” in Nevada in 2010 and honoured by the International Society for DBT with its career “DBT Research Award” in 2013.