October 21, 2022

Good Psychiatric Management: A Generalist Approach for BPD


Good Psychiatric Management: A Generalist Approach for Working with Borderline Personality Disorder

(Conference given in English)

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is common and challenging diagnosis for many professionals, due to the nature of its symptoms and complexity. Good Psychiatric Management (GPM) was developed as a generalist approach to treating BPD that can be used widely and implemented by any health care provider, including non-expert psychiatrists, general practitioners, and other frontline professionals.

This 1-day workshop offers training in GPM, an approach that has been empirically shown to be nearly as effective as Dialectic Behavioral Therapy (DBT) across different outcomes such as distress reduction, suicidal behavior and overall BPD symptoms. GPM contrasts with many manualized treatments for BPD, which emphasize lengthy complex psychotherapies aimed at bringing about deep psychological change. This workshop focuses on the majority of individuals with BPD who are not seeking such psychotherapy, and to the majority of professionals who are neither primarily psychotherapists nor BPD specialists. It is intended for practitioners to be able to offer evidenced-based treatment for people with BPD, without referring out.

Training clinicians in this modality offers the opportunity to improve clinical skills to effectively help this population. In contrast to specialized BPD treatments that require high cost and time commitments, training in GPM involves only a six-hour course. Not only is it easy to learn, but GPM training has been demonstrated to reduce clinician avoidance, dislike, and hopelessness concerning the care of individuals with BPD, while improving feelings of competence, and beliefs in the efficacy of BPD treatments and the capacity to make positive differences, even six months after training. Improved attitudes towards BPD likely influence how hypersensitive individuals with BPD experience their clinicians, which can affect retention and the therapeutic alliance. Training in GPM may increase access to care by fostering generalists’ optimism that they can effectively treat individuals with BPD.

Dr. Choi-Kain will teach the basics of what non-specializing professionals who work with individuals with BPD would benefit from knowing to become more capable and comfortable in working with this population. Management strategies involving practicality, good sense and flexibility will be emphasized. Techniques and interventions that facilitate patient/client trust and willingness to be proactive collaborators will be described. Guidelines for how to approach the common and usually most burdensome issues of managing suicidality and self-harm will be reviewed. Content will also include how and when a patient/client can usefully integrate group, family intervention or be referred to specialized clinics.

Dr. Choi-Kain will present dynamic cases, video clips, and clinical vignettes to promote interactive learning and a comprehensive understanding of the approach. There will be ample time for questions. Previous participants from her workshops have reportedly noted improvements in their ability and confidence when workings with people with BPD while applying GPM key principles.

Short Biography of Dr. Lois Choi-Kain

Dr. Lois Choi-Kain is a driving force in the BPD treatment world. She is the director of the Gunderson Personality Disorders Institute at McLean Hospital in Boston. The institute provides training and supervision for numerous proven treatments, including mentalization-based treatment (MBT), dialectical behavioral therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (DBT-PTSD), transference focused psychotherapy (TFP), and general psychiatric management (GPM). She works nationally and internationally to expand teaching efforts on borderline personality disorder and its evidence-based treatments and engages in research to study resources for training clinicians who need direction and patients who need access to informed care. With Dr. John Gunderson, with whom she worked alongside most of her career, Dr. Choi-Kain developed a training program for GPM and has been expanding its applications. By providing education to clinicians, GPM aims to increase access to and quality of care for patients with BPD and related comorbidities.

Dr. Choi-Kain is assistant professor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Gunderson Personality Disorders Institute Research Program. She actively conducts research and publishes original studies, reviews, and clinical perspectives on BPD and its evidence-based treatments. Her research focuses on personality disorders, attachment, psychotherapy, and implementation of care.

Target Audience

Physicians, psychologists, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, social workers, psychoeducators, occupational therapists, and other professionals.

Objectives

At the conclusion of the day, participants will be able to better:

1) Explain the diagnosis to patients/clients and families and establish reasonable expectations for change;

2) Manage the problem of recurrent suicidality and self-harm;

3) Use the core components of GPM as a basic approach to clinical management of individuals with BPD;

4) Recognize when to prioritize BPD symptoms vs. a comorbid disorder, and when to refer to BPD specialists.


COVID-19 Situation: Important Information Regarding Health and Safety at the Conference

By popular demand and in full compliance with existing health measures, we are very excited to be hosting our 5th BPD conference as an in-person event in October 2022 with online webcast options available for those unable to attend live. The entire personality disorders community has been looking forward to reconnecting in-person—and we can't wait to see you there.

The COVID-19 situation continues to evolve in Quebec. If in October 2022 the situation does not permit us to hold the conference in person, conference registrants will be given the option to attend the conference online (with reimbursement of the difference in cost) or cancel their participation entirely.

Proof of vaccination will be required to access the event. These measures are subject to change as per public health standards.


Organizing Committee:

  • Deanna Casanova, Occupational Therapist, MUHC Personality Disorders Program
  • Ronald Fraser, Psychiatrist, Director, MUHC Personality Disorders Program
  • Lauranne Gendron-Cloutier,Pre-doctoral Psychology Resident, MUHC Personality Disorders Program
  • Lori Isaif, OT Psychotherapist, MUHC Personality Disorders Program
  • Lise Laporte, Psychologist, MUHC Personality Disorders Program
  • Laurence Morin, Psychologist, MUHC
  • Joel Paris, Psychiatrist, Director, Jewish General Hospital BPD Clinic, and Founder and Past Director of MUHC Personality Disorder Program
  • Poppy Wilkinson, Psychologist, MUHC Personality Disorders Program

Accreditation

The conference is accredited for 6 hours of continuing education in psychotherapy by the Ordre des psychologues du Québec. No of accreditation : RA04246-21

Accessibility

The conference will be held at McGill's New Residence Hall.

New Residence Hall
3625 avenue du Parc
Montreal, Quebec H2X 3P8

The best option for getting to the conference is public transportation. The Residence is a 10-minute walk from the Place des Arts metro station. Paid parking is available on Parc Avenue.

Location

Hybrid event

McGill New Residence Hall Ballroom

3625, Avenue du Parc Montréal, Québec Canada, H2X 3P8

Registration period

February 21, 2022 - 08:00 until October 20, 2022 - 23:30

Contact us

If you have any questions, please contact BPDconference@muhc.mcgill.ca .

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