Clinical Training Archive

The Unified CBT Series

Advanced frameworks for common clinical presentations.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: The Unified CBT Approach

In this workshop will provide an overview of recent conceptualisation of CBT and all the evidence-based treatments for PTSD including the interaction between medication and psychological treatments.

Foundation Intensive: Unified and Experiential CBT

Have you ever wondered how to practise CBT which combines skills and approaches from all the three waves of therapy: Cognitive, Behavioural and Mindfulness-based 3rd wave approaches?

This is perhaps the only course in North America which brings all this together. The course will take you through an experiential journey of the three waves of CBT combined systematically and coherently. The course provides a robust overview of techniques, session structure and learning strategies with hands-on practice. There is an emphasis on identifying key cognitions, working with specific behaviours and experiments, using value-based goal setting and more. You will also experience a framework for understanding mindfulness and acceptance approaches based on their original principles.

Unified CBT for Generalized Anxiety Disorder

This course covers the key theories on worrying including intolerance of uncertainty, metacognitive beliefs, experiential avoidance and failures in problem-solving.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is one of the commonest anxiety disorder and cognitive behavioural therapy is the first-line treatment condition for this condition with several clinical trials supporting the interventions. Clients with generalized anxiety often suffer silently and worrying often affects their relationships. Therapists may find the incessant stream of worrying difficult to manage in sessions. Common techniques used for other anxiety disorders may not be as effective for generalized anxiety.

Unified CBT for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

OCD is a complex condition with multiple features. Treatment success in OCD requires systematic and specific approaches with CBT. This workshop covers the current DSM classification of OCD and related disorders as well as theories and models explaining causation. Participants see an overview of all treatment options (including medications) for OCD.

Experience a step by step by step integrated and updated protocol for the treatment of OCD with behavioural, cognitive and experiential techniques.

Unified CBT for Social Anxiety

This workshop provides an overview of DSM diagnosis, key theories and treatment modalities for social anxiety disorder.

Get an insightful understanding of experiential cognitive and exposure-based exposure treatment of social anxiety. Enhance your confidence in providing therapy by following a step by step specific protocol rather than all too common generic ‘thought mood’ stereotypes of CBT formulation.

Hear an expert present with illustrated real case examples and tips to manage co-morbidities. Reinvigorate your practice by using high yield techniques from specific CBT for social anxiety based on research-tested formulations.

Unified CBT for Health Anxiety

This course will review the phenomenology and DSM-5 diagnoses of Health Anxiety. The CBT approach and evidence will be discussed. Attendees will work with a step by step protocol with suitable modifications to address health conditions.

Health or illness anxiety is often a challenge for therapists and family physicians. They have a significant co-morbidity with mental health disorders and medical conditions. Not managing these conditions can lead to disability and increased cost of healthcare due to frequent presentations, investigations and treatments. Avoiding unwarranted treatments is crucial to improving the clients’ wellbeing.

Unified CBT for Panic Disorder

The course will combine principles of learning, cognitive change, attention, mindfulness, and acceptance strategies for the treatment of panic disorder and agoraphobia in a variety of settings. The Unified CBT approach provides a systematic integration of theories & techniques from all the three waves of CBT.

Attendees will get hands-on practice of an effective unified and experiential protocol for the treatment of panic disorders. The workshop will include practice, demonstrations, role plays and discussions.

An approach to common co-morbidities with panic disorder will be included in the course.

Schema Focused Approaches with Unified CBT

The workshop will discuss both generic/transdiagnostic and specific approaches to schema formulation. The latter requires specific schema models across different mental health conditions and personality disorders. This includes how and when to use schema focussed approaches.

Participants will be presented with a useable map to understand schema’s and enhance effectiveness and the therapeutic alliance in clinical practice through this approach.

Rumination Focused Unified CBT

Several interventions have been tried for rumination including cognitive behavioural, mindfulness and metacognitive approaches. The workshop will review the applied research on rumination. It will focus on developing skills to recognise this commonly occurring phenomena and learn interventions using a structured approach. The interventions involve understanding the adaptive and maladaptive role of rumination, analysing the process, emotions and content of rumination, tracking rumination and applying a stepped approach to intervention for rumination.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Anger

Anger is a serious problem in clinical practice and society at large but is not considered a primary clinical problem. The mental health professionals continue to recognize anger as secondary to depression, mania, impulse, and personality disorders. There is a great need to address anger as a primary and secondary mental health concern.

The presence of anger and aggression in a psychiatric patient however, often alerts clinicians to future risk of aggression/violence. This workshop will provide a review of the research on anger as the basis for understanding dysfunctional anger and strategies for assessing and treating patients presenting with dysfunctional anger and impulsive aggression.

Unified CBT for Procrastination

In a new, first-of-its-kind hands-on workshop, Dr. Sanjay Rao will review the up-to-date literature on procrastination outlining common patterns, causes, and presentations in therapy practice. The links between procrastination and mental health will be included in the decision-making process to effectively manage this problem.

There is plenty of pithy social media wisdom on managing procrastination. This workshop will go beyond that to teach a systematic protocol that can be applied in different areas of life such as work, home, educational institutions, and more.

Behavioural Activation Treatment of Depression

The course covers the theory and model for diagnosing and treating depression. Approach BAT through the functional analysis of avoidance and loss of rewards in depression. By understanding the skilled use of the activity diary, you will learn to identify ‘stuck’ points and effective treatment strategies to get clients unstuck.

The nuances of BAT rest in its simplicity and attention to detail. Avoid the common pitfall of techniques which may be incompatible with BAT formulation and approach.

The course will also describe how medication strategies interact with psychological treatments.

Treating Comorbid Conditions with CBT

Co-morbidity is a rule rather than an exception in the management of mental health disorders. Missing co-occurring conditions can lead to treatment resistance. This workshop will review a range of approaches to understand comorbidity. Data on common forms of comorbidities across mental health disorders will be reviewed. Evidence for the treatment of common comorbid mental health conditions will be presented.

Differentiating primary and secondary conditions is an important step, in conceptualising comorbidity. Participants will do hands-on work to formulate co-morbidity and use a unified cognitive behavioural approach to develop specific intervention plans. Impact on functioning and client choice are important considerations in developing an approach to managing co-morbidity. Cognitive behaviour therapy and medication interactions in comorbid conditions will also be examined.

Workshop attendees will develop a roadmap for conceptualising, formulating, and treating co-occurring conditions.