Pre-Conference Workshops

The Pre-Conference Workshops will run from 9.30am to 5.00pm on Wednesday 20th July 2022.
Each workshop will last for seven hours including breaks. All the Pre-conference workshops will be run in person only.

Workshop 1. A practical introduction to providing psychological therapies to diverse communities
Andrew Beck, Bradford Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust, UK

Workshop 2. Working with parents to overcome child anxiety: Addressing common challenges
Cathy Creswell, Gemma Halliday and Chloe Chessell, University of Oxford, UK

Workshop 3. Learning how to feel good: How to overcome anhedonia and build wellbeing using Augmented Depression Therapy (ADepT
Barney Dunn, University of Exeter, UK

Workshop 4. This workshop has been cancelled

Workshop 5. Fears, blocks and resistances: a Compassion focused therapy approach
Paul Gilbert, University of Derby and the Compassionate Mind Foundation, UK

Workshop 6. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): Flexibly Promoting Open and Engaged Behavior
Andrew Gloster, University of Basel, Switzerland

Workshop 7. This workshop has been cancelled

Workshop 8. Mindfulness (-based Cognitive Therapy) for Life: Ancient Wisdom meets Modern Psychology in the Contemporary World
Willem Kuyken, University of Oxford, UK

Workshop 9. This workshop has been cancelle

Workshop 10. Clinical Skills for Working with Uncertainty
Layla Mofrad & Ashley Tiplady, CNTW NHS Foundation Trust, UK

Workshop 11. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS): Treating IBS symptom severity and impact.
Rona Moss-Morris, King’s College London, UK

Workshop 12. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for pathological doubting and checking: Strategies to help those who aren’t sure at all
Adam S. Radomsky, Concordia University Montréal, Canada

Workshop 13. Helping those OCD and related problems to change their lives: sharing up to the minute practical lessons from 45 years of clinical and research work.
Paul Salkovskis, University of Oxford, UK

Workshop 14. Tackling the ‘Tyranny of the Shoulds’: CBT for Perfectionism
Roz Shafran, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health., London , UK

Workshop 1:

A practical introduction to providing psychological therapies to diverse communities

Andrew Beck, Bradford Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust, UK

This 1 day workshop is designed to introduce staff working in mental health services to the broad ideas that underpin adapting therapies largely developed for white majority populations to increase their effectiveness and accessibility for minority communities. The workshop is based on the key principles of the IAPT BAME Positive Practice guide which Andrew was lead author of.

This engaging workshops start with first principles of why adaptation of therapies is important and then using case examples steers participants through the key skills necessary to make those adaptions. The workshop includes consideration of the way that culture shapes people’s understanding of mental health difficulties and so informs the way they seek help, looks at the role of spirituality and faith in mental health treatments, outlines the impact that experiences of racism and other forms of discrimination can have on mental health and provides therapists with the skills to respond to this effectively.

Key learning objectives

Understanding the needs of therapist’s communities
Asking about the ethnic and religious background of service users
Understanding the role of family systems in different cultures
Understanding how therapists can work with cultural and spiritual beliefs about the causes of emotional distress
Recognising the impact of discrimination and racism on mental health

Andrew has been a Consultant Clinical psychologist since 2006 and as a service lead and supervisor has focussed on developing staff to ensure they provide high quality patient care and remain in good emotional and physical health while they do so. He was project lead for the IAPT BAME Positive Practice Guide (2019) which has been the key document guiding IAPT services in England to provide more accessible and culturally responsive services (https://legacy.babcp.com/files/About/BAME/IAPT-BAME-PPG-2019.pdf) and author of Transcultural CBT for Anxiety and Depression (Routledge 2016). Dr Beck is involved in training in culturally adapted therapies at a national and international level and led on establishing India’s first stand-alone CBT training course in Chennai. He has published widely and is also Associate Editor of the Cognitive Behaviour Therapist journal with a responsibility for research on cross cultural therapy. He is current President of the BABCP.

Key References

The IAPT BAME Positive Practice Guide. Beck et al (2019). BABCP / NHSE
(https://legacy.babcp.com/files/About/BAME/IAPT-BAME-PPG-2019.pdf)

Transcultural CBT for anxiety and depression. Beck, A (2016). Routledge.

Beck, A. (2019). Understanding Black and Minority Ethnic service user’s experience of racism as part of the assessment, formulation and treatment of mental health problems in cognitive behaviour therapy. The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, 12, E8.

Workshop 2:

Working with parents to overcome child anxiety: Addressing common challenges

Cathy Creswell, Gemma Halliday and Chloe Chessell, University of Oxford, UK

Anxiety problems are extremely common in children, can interfere with life at home, at school, and with friends and, if untreated, can run a chronic course. Parent-led CBT approaches provide a means to deliver treatment efficiently, bringing potential to increase access to evidence-based treatment. However, therapists can face a range of challenges in implementing the approach, including:

challenges with engaging parents with the approach (e.g. where parents lack parenting efficacy, where the problem is located outside of the home, where parents/carers have competing priorities due to challenging circumstances or co- occurring difficulties, including working with children looked after, families who are receiving early help/social care support, and in the context of physical health conditions);
making the program work for children across the age range (5-12 years)
managing parents’ differences of opinion about the nature of the problem and how to manage it;
challenges in applying specific techniques, including working with parents to collaboratively identify maintenance cycles and supporting parents to design exposures that effectively test children’s fears.

We will focus on how to address these common challenges in ways that adhere to the treatment model.
This workshop is aimed at practitioners, trainers, and supervisors who have some experience and/or knowledge of parent-led CBT for anxiety problems in pre-adolescent children.

Key learning objectives

For attendees to develop an understanding of the common challenges that may be
encountered whilst delivering and/or supervising parent-led CBT for child anxiety problems.
For attendees to develops skills in how to overcome these challenges (through the use of case discussions and role-plays) whilst adhering to the treatment model.

Cathy Creswell is a Professor of Developmental Clinical Psychology who leads The Oxford Psychological Interventions in Children and adolescents (TOPIC) research group at the University of Oxford. Cathy’s research focuses on the development, maintenance and treatment of anxiety disorders With Lucy Willetts, she developed the parent-led CBT programme ‘Helping Your Child with Fears and Worries’.
Chloe Chessell is a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner (PWP) at the University of Reading. Chloe has extensive experience of delivering parent-led CBT to parents of children with anxiety disorders and training Educational Mental Health Practitioners (EMHPs) and Children’s Wellbeing Practitioner (CWPs) to deliver this approach.
Gemma Halliday is a Clinical Psychologist in the TOPIC research group (University of Oxford). She is working on two child anxiety prevention/early intervention studies which involve online delivery of parent-led CBT. Gemma has extensive experience of delivering and supervising CWPs to deliver Parent-led CBT. She has previously worked with children, young people and their families in CAMHS, paediatrics, and in the care system.

Key References
Creswell, C., Waite, P., & Hudson, J. (2020). Practitioner Review: Anxiety disorders in children and young people–assessment and treatment. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 61(6), 628-643.
Creswell, C. & Willetts, L. (2019). Helping your child with fears and worries. Robinson, UK.

Creswell, C., Parkinson, M., Thirlwall, K., & Willetts, L. (2019). Parent-led CBT for child anxiety: helping parents help their kids. Guilford, US.

Workshop 3:

Learning how to feel good: How to overcome anhedonia and build wellbeing using Augmented Depression Therapy (ADepT)

Barney Dunn, University of Exeter, UK

The primary focus in CBT for depression has been on down-regulating negative thinking and feeling. However, it is increasingly realised that anhedonia, a reduction in the ability to experience pleasure, is also central to the onset and maintenance of depression and should be paid more attention in treatment. Clients describe the repair of positive emotion experience and broader wellbeing as a critical element of recovery from depression. This workshop will focus on ways to reduce anhedonia using Augmented Depression Therapy (ADepT) – a novel therapy targeting positive emotions and wellbeing. The workshop will introduce ADepT as a standalone approach and also consider ways therapists could integrate elements from ADepT into their routine CBT practice. While the primary clinical focus will be on depression (with an emphasis complex and comorbid cases), the material covered will also be relevant for a range of other clinical presentations that involve anhedonia and reduced wellbeing.

Key learning objectives

Provide an overview of the rationale, style and structure of Augmented Depression Therapy (ADepT)
Present a rationale for a positivity focus that is not perceived by clients as “PollyAnna-ish” and develop skills in a positive, solution focused therapy style
Identify, formulate, and learn ways to target mechanisms that maintain anhedonia and inhibit wellbeing
Optimise use of existing CBT techniques to build positivity (including activity scheduling, positive data logs, and working with values)

Barney Dunn is a research and clinical psychologist, currently employed as a Professor at the University of Exeter Mood Disorders Centre. He leads a research programme characterising positivity deficits in depression and developing novel ways to build positivity in CBT. From 2015 to 2020 his positivity research programme was funded by an NIHR Career Development Fellowship, where he focused on developing and evaluating Augmented Depression Therapy. He has recently completed the Beck Scholar programme at the Beck Cognitive Therapy Institute in Philadelphia. He is BABCP accredited and was awarded diplomate membership of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy in 2013. He co-directs the AccEPT clinic, a NHS commissioned research clinic developing novel treatments for mood disorders and in his ongoing clinical practice works with treatment resistant depressed clients. He is a regular CBT trainer and supervisor in national and international settings.

(see: http://psychology.exeter.ac.uk/staff/index.php?web_id=Barney_Dunn).

Key References

Dunn, B. D., et al (2020). Changes in positive and negative affect during pharmacological treatment and cognitive therapy for major depressive disorder: A secondary analysis of two randomized controlled trials. Clinical Psychological Science, 38, 6-51.

Dunn, B.D., Widnall, E., Reed, N., Owens, ., Campbell, J., Kuyken, W. (2019). Bringing light into darkness: A multiple baseline mixed methods case series evaluation of Augmented Depression Therapy (ADepT). Behaviour Research and Therapy, 120, 103418.

Dunn BD. (2019) Augmenting Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to build positive mood in depression. Oxford Handbook of Positive Emotion and Psychopathology.

Workshop 5:

Fears, blocks and resistances: a Compassion focused therapy approach

Paul Gilbert, University of Derby and the Compassionate Mind Foundation, UK

This workshop is for people who are interested in and have some familiarity in compassion focused therapy and some of the typical fears blocks and resistances that arise. In fact the core work of (CFT) is on the fears blocks and resistances. However, we will also be looking at face blocks and resistances in the therapeutic in general.

Nearly therapies recognise that helping clients deal with their fears and resistance to the process of change can be a central part of successful therapy. Freud Identified a number of processes while behaviour focuses on experiential and situational avoidance. CFT however also helps clients cultivate and utilise evolved motives for caring that come with a particular psychophysiological profiles. these partly evolved out of the evolution of attachment. However what individuals who have come for ‘problematic’ backgrounds may have various trauma memories coded within the attachment system which can be activated through compassion process is and needs to be addressed. facilitating the big three emotions associated with these difficulties such as anger anxiety and grief can be central to the capacity to develop a compassionate mind.

We will explore

Fears: Feels alien, doesn’t feel right, not sure what will happen, makes me sad, could make me weak
Blocks: misunderstanding compassion, lack of insight, don’t know what to do, lack of support
Resistances: too costly, don’t deserve, negative consequences
Core steps to building a biopsychosocial approach to car passion cultivation

Key learning objectives:

To have

an overview of CFT
understand the importance of a biopsychosocial approach to compassion -why is it such a fundamental issue in therapeutic change
why compassion is feared
how to build a step by step the cultivation of a compassionate mind for self and others

Paul Gilbert, FBPsS, PhD, OBE is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Derby and honorary visiting Prof at the University of Queensland. Until his retirement from the NHS in 2016 he was Consultant Clinical Psychologist for over 40 years. He has researched evolutionary approaches to psychopathology with a special focus on mood, shame and self-criticism in various mental health difficulties for which Compassion Focused Therapy was developed. He was made a Fellow of the British Psychological Society in 1993, pre-post president of the BABCP 2002-2004, and was a member of the first British Governments’ NICE guidelines for depression. He has written/edited 23 books and over 250 papers and book chapters. In 2006 he established the Compassionate Mind Foundation as an international charity with the mission statement To promote wellbeing through the scientific understanding and application of compassion.

Key References
Gilbert, P. (2022). Formulation and fears, blocks and resistances. To appear in P. Gilbert & G. Simos. (eds). Compassion Focused Therapy: Clinical practice and applications (chap 6). London. Routledge.

Kirby, J. N., Day, J., & Sagar, V. (2019). The ‘Flow’ of compassion: A meta-analysis of the fears of compassion scales and psychological functioning. Clinical Psychology Review, 70, 26-39.

Workshop 6:

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): Flexibly promoting open and engaged behaviors

Andrew Gloster, University of Basel, Switzerland

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an efficacious therapy approach for numerous disorders (Gloster et al., 2020). The ultimate goal of ACT is to increase clients’ well-being and vitality by increasing so-called psychological flexibility. Studies show that human suffering often results from attempts to avoid inner experiences (i.e., experiential avoidance). Such experiential avoidance is problematic because it often leads to rigid and inflexible behaviours that inhibit effective problem solving and goal attainment. ACT therefore teaches skills that promote psychological flexibility in place of previous rigid repertoires, which in turn is associated with a decrease in suffering (Gloster et al., 2017).

This workshop will demonstrate ACT skills while simultaneously concentrating on how these skills function within the course of psychotherapy. Thereby, the dynamic between experiential avoidance on the one hand and being Open and Engaged on the other will be flexibly practised.

Key learning objectives:

Learn to distinguish between ongoing rigid and flexible behaviours
Learn to flexibly switch between Open and Engaged skills during sessions

Andrew Gloster is a professor of psychology at the University of Basel where he heads the Division of Clinical Psychology and Intervention Science and is Director of Training in Process-based Psychotherapy. Dr. Gloster is active in international scientific associations, including the Association of Contextual Behavioral Science Foundation (President). He has over 150 publications in the area of clinical psychology and psychiatry. His research examines processes of change in psychotherapy; treatment non-response; social interactions; and prosocial behaviours. He is also a passionate mentor.

Key References
Gloster, A.T., Walder, N., Levin, M., Twohig, M., & Karekla, M. (2020). The Empirical Status of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: A Review of Meta-Analyses. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 18, 181-192. doi: 10.1016/j.jcbs.2020.09.009

Gloster, A.T., Klotsche, J., Ciarrochi, J., Eifert, G., Sonntag, R., Wittchen, H.-U., & Hoyer, J. (2017). Increasing Valued Behaviors Precedes Reduction in Suffering: Findings from a Randomized Controlled Trial using ACT. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 91, 64-71. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2017.01.013

Workshop 8:

Mindfulness (-based Cognitive Therapy) for Life: Ancient Wisdom meets Modern Psychology in the Contemporary World

Willem Kuyken, University of Oxford, UK

This workshop introduces mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) as a programme for learning foundational skills for life. MBCT was first developed to address one of the world’s most pressing public health challenges – depression. Depression affects some 230 million people across the world and will likely affect one billion people at some point during their lifetime. MBCT for depression uses psychological understanding of depression to help people learn the skills that can prevent depressive relapse and recurrence. Numerous randomized controlled trials have demonstrated it is effective, at least as effective as anti-depressant medication. It is increasingly accessible around the world.

But it is becoming increasingly clear that MBCT also teaches foundational skills of attention and self-regulation that can be used to support well-being and unlock human capital in different populations and contexts. Our work in Oxford has adapted MBCT to begin to support different groups of people (e.g., students, teachers and health care professionals), in different contexts (e.g., NHS, education, workplaces, prisons, parliaments) learn skills to support their well-being and effectiveness. The evidence for MBCT’s broader acceptability, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness is growing.

This workshop will explore these themes and applications.

Key learning objectives:

How do we define mindfulness? Where do values and ethics fit in? We’ll “unpack” mindfulness, distilling its myriad meanings and offering a coherent, practical definition.
What is the theoretical premise and evidence base for MBCT?

How can we as cognitive therapists use these skills to:

Support our well-being and effectiveness?
Embody these skills in our work?
Teach these skills to our clients?

Signpost further training opportunities.

Willem Kuyken is the Riblat Professor of Mindfulness and Psychological Science at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, and Director of the University of Oxford Mindfulness Centre. His work is focused on depression and its prevention and treatment across the lifespan. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, including key papers on the effectiveness, mechanisms, and implementation of both cognitive therapy and mindfulness-based programs.

References

Feldman, C. and Kuyken, W. (2019) Mindfulness. Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Psychology, published by Guilford Press.

Workshop 10

Clinical Skills for Working with Uncertainty

Layla Mofrad & Ashley Tiplady, CNTW NHS Foundation Trust, UK

Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) has been identified as both disorder specific and transdiagnostic in the context of anxiety disorders. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy treatment targeting IU (Making Friends with Uncertainty) has been developed for individual and group interventions. A more recent development of this work is the application of uncertainty interventions for people living with real life uncertainty (for example, a pandemic); the Uncertainty Distress Model and associated interventions for people living with real and actual uncertainty is presented here. This expands and builds on earlier versions of clinical work focussing on Intolerance of Uncertainty and can supplement threat based CBT formulation and interventions. The workshop offers a way to learn the model from the inside out, and upskill in a range of interventions that can target uncertainty distress in a targeted and specific way. We will consider how uncertainty manifests in therapists and use live and experiential exercises to exemplify the model.

This workshop could impact therapist awareness of how they experience uncertainty and how they could reflect and sit with it rather than reacting. Awareness of the transdiagnostic process of IU will be increased, as well as skills for working with people facing real life actual uncertainties such as COVID-19, the impact of climate change, and physical ill health. Learning about Uncertainty in this way can enhance formulation and understanding of distress associated with real life events and uncertainties.

Key learning objectives:

To build confidence in learning clinically with Uncertainty
To gain an overview of a transdiagnostic model of Uncertainty Distress and IU
To develop understanding of interventions for building tolerance to uncertainty and sitting with Uncertainty Distress
To consider the ways in which the practitioners own relationship with uncertainty might be relevant in using these approaches

Layla Mofrad is a Senior Psychological Therapist at the Centre for Specialist Psychological Therapies at CNTW NHS Foundation Trust. She is a Cognitive Behaviour Therapist and Supervisor with a special interest in Uncertainty. She has been involved in research focussing on IU and Uncertainty Distress since 2017.
Dr Ashley Tiplady is a Clinical Psychologist working into Occupational Health Services in the NHS. She has researched and developed IU interventions since 2015, including the “Making Friends with Uncertainty” group. She has a particular interest Uncertainty Distress & IU in healthcare settings and how practitioners manage their own experiences of uncertainty.

Key References
Freeston, M., Tiplady, A., Mawn, L., Bottesi, G., & Thwaites, S. (2020). Towards a model of uncertainty distress in the context of Coronavirus (Covid-19). The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, 13.
Mofrad, L., Tiplady, A., Payne, D., & Freeston, M. (2020). Making friends with uncertainty: experiences of developing a transdiagnostic group intervention targeting intolerance of uncertainty in IAPT. Feasibility, acceptability and implications. the Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, 13.

Workshop 11:

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS): Treating IBS symptom severity and impact.

Rona Moss-Morris, King’s College London, UK

Regul8, an eight-session tailored cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) programme for treating IBS, was developed as a potential cost-effective way of providing help to those individuals with IBS. Regul8 was developed over 18 years using rigorous empirical study. The cognitive behavioural treatment mechanisms included in Regul8 are based on empirical studies predicting the onset and maintenance of IBS symptoms (Spence & Moss-Morris, 2007). The CBT is therefore specific to IBS rather than CBT for a related mood disorder. The content was further developed and modified through early clinical trials (e.g. Kennedy et al., 2005; Moss-Morris et al., 2010). The effectiveness of the patient manual together with 8 hours of telephone therapist contact time has been confirmed in a large effectiveness RCT (n=520) with IBS symptom severity and impact at 12-months follow up the primary outcomes (Everitt et al., 2019a). Regul8 was also more effective than treatment as usual in reducing global ratings of relief of symptoms, depression and anxiety an increasing efficacy to cope with symptoms. Results were maintained at 24 months follow up (Everitt et al 2019b).

The Regul8 patient manual consists of 8 chapters including: (1) Understanding your IBS and the link between symptoms, thoughts, feelings and behaviours; (2) Assessing your symptoms in relation to stress and daily routines; (3) Changing behaviours in response to symptoms, developing consistent eating, activity and exercise routines; (4) Identifying your unhelpful thought patterns; (5) Generating alternative thoughts; (6) Managing stress and sleep (7) Managing emotions; (8) Managing flare-ups and the future.

This Worksop will focus on core aspects on this manualised approach. The first will be how to engage patients with physical symptoms in a behavioural based therapy. The use of explanatory models which include physical as well as psychological explanations of symptoms will be demonstrated. Specific IBS avoidance and safety behaviours will be identified alongside methods to address these. Finally, the importance of symptom and illness cognitions and high personal expectations will be discussed.

Key learning objectives:

Use the biopsychosocial model of IBS to provide a coherent, personalised explanation to patients as to why they experience IBS symptoms
Use this model to engage patients in future behavioural and cognitive change.
Identify IBS specific avoidance and safety behaviours and strategies for treating these.
Identify IBS-related unhelpful cognitive responses

Rona Moss-Morris is Professor of Psychology as Applied to Medicine and Head of the Department of Psychology at the Institute of Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience, King’s College London. She has been researching psychological factors that affect symptom experience and adjusting to chronic medical conditions, including multiple sclerosis for the past 30 years. This research has been used to design cognitive behavioural interventions, including digital interventions, for a range of patient groups. RCTs to test the clinical and cost effectiveness of these interventions form a key component of her research. In 2015 she was awarded the British Psychological Society Division of Health Psychology’s Outstanding Contribution to Research Award and in 2020 the British Psychological Society Distinguished Contribution to Practice Award. Her teams work on Multiple Sclerosis (MS) was awarded the MS Society Annual Award for MS Research of the Year in 2013 and the work on irritable bowel syndrome, the King’s Excellence in Innovation and Impact Award in 2019. She was National Advisor to NHS England for Improving Access to Psychological Therapies for People with Long Term and Medically Unexplained conditions from 2011-2016. She is a past editor of Psychology and Health and current editor of Health Psychology Review.

References

Everitt, H.A., Landau, S., O’Reilly, G., Sibelli, A., Hughes, S., Windgassen, S., Holland, R., Little, P., McCrone, P., Bishop, F., Goldsmith, K., Coleman, N., Logan, R., Chalder, T. & Moss-Morris, R. (2019a) Assessing telephone-delivered cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) and web-delivered CBT versus treatment as usual in irritable bowel syndrome (ACTIB): a multicentre randomised trial. Gut BMJ 0:1-11 doi:10.1136/gutjnl-2018-317805

Everitt, H.A., Landau, S., O’Reilly, G., Sibelli, A., Hughes, S., Windgassen, S., Holland, R., Little, P., McCrone, P., Bishop, F.L., Goldsmith, K., Coleman, N., Logan, R., Chalder, T. & Moss-Morris, R. (2019b) Cognitive behavioural therapy for irritable bowel syndrome: 24-month follow-up of participants in the ACTIB randomised trial. The Lancet http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2468-1253(19)30243-2

Kennedy T, Jones R, Darnley S, Seed P, Wessely S, Chalder T. Cognitive behaviour therapy in addition to antispasmodic treatment for irritable bowel syndrome in primary care: randomised controlled trial. BMJ. 2005 Aug 20;331(7514):435. doi: 10.1136/bmj.38545.505764.06. Epub 2005 Aug 10. PMID: 16093252; PMCID: PMC1188111.

Moss-Morris, R. Bogalo, L. Didsbury, L.P. and Spence, M.J. (2010). A randomised controlled trial of a cognitive behavioural therapy based self-management intervention for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in primary care. Psychological Medicine. 40(1) 85-94. doi:10.1017/S0033291709990195.

Workshop 12:

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for pathological doubting and checking: Strategies to help those who aren’t sure at all

Adam S. Radomsky, Concordia University Montréal, Canada

Doubt is an extremely common, ubiquitous phenomenon, but pathological doubt can be problematic across a broad spectrum of psychological problems. These include, but are not limited to, both anxiety and mood disorders (e.g., panic disorder, generalised anxiety disorder, depression). Pathological doubt can sometimes lead to physical and/or mental checking, which although commonly associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder, can also be evident transdiagnostically. Further, checking and doubting can amplify each other, leading to a progressive worsening of problems. Following a review of the theory and science behind doubting and checking, this workshop will continue with a focus on key empirically grounded strategies and techniques that might be helpful to understand and effectively treat different presentations of doubting and checking phenomenology. Strategies will include those associated with cognitive case formulation, and importantly, using behavioural experiments and other cognitive therapy strategies to freshly evaluate, and perhaps alter beliefs about beliefs about memory and personal significance attributed to aspects of doubting and checking. The workshop will cover a range of case presentations linked to both OCD and other problems (e.g., social anxiety disorder, depression, etc.), where doubt may be relevant.

Key learning objectives

To understand the phenomenology of doubting and checking, relevant scientific evidence, and how it contributes to effective CBT.
To understand cognitive case formulation of selected doubting-related problems.
To gain new therapeutic skills stemming from the theory and from case formulation, and emphasizing novel, collaboratively developed behavioural experiments.

Dr. Radomsky is Professor of Psychology at Concordia University. He is the Director of the Anxiety and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders Laboratory, and a Core Member of the Centre for Clinical Research in Health (CCRH). His research investigates cognitive, behavioural and emotional aspects of OCD and a number of other anxiety disorders, as well as ways to enhance the effectiveness and acceptability of cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT) for anxiety disorders and related problems.

He is a Fellow of the Canadian Psychological Association (2014), was the Founding President of the Canadian Association for Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies (2010), and has received several institutional, national and international awards for his work. These include the being a Concordia University Research Chair (2015-20), the Concordia University Faculty of Arts and Science Mid-Career Award for Distinguished Scholarship (2012), the Canadian Psychological Association’s President’s New Researcher Award (2007), being named a Beck Institute Scholar (2005-06) and receiving a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) New Investigator Award (2004-09). Prof. Radomsky has published a number of peer-reviewed articles and book chapters related to his work on cognition, behaviour and the anxiety disorders, and is a frequent invited speaker at national and international conferences. His research is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), and has previously been funded by les Fonds de recherche du Québec – santé and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). He is also a member of L’Ordre des Psychologues du Quebec and is CACBT-ACTCC Certified in Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy and board certified in cognitive therapy by the Academy of Cognitive Therapy. In his clinical practice he specializes in CBT for adult OCD and anxiety disorders.

References
Alcolado, G.M., & Radomsky, A.S. (2016). A novel cognitive intervention for compulsive checking: Targeting maladaptive beliefs about memory. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 53, 75-83.
Rachman, S. (2002). A cognitive theory of compulsive checking. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 40, 625-639.
Radomsky, A.S., & Alcolado, G. (2010). Don’t even think about checking: Mental checking causes memory distrust. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 41, 345-351. Radomsky, A.S., et al. (2020). Cognitive therapy for compulsive checking in obsessive-compulsive disorder: A pilot trial. Psychiatry Research, 286, 112850.
A more thorough reading list will be provided in the handouts.

Workshop 13:

Helping those OCD and related problems to change their lives: sharing up to the minute practical lessons from 45 years of clinical and research work.

Paul Salkovskis, University of Oxford, UK

Fifty years ago, at the time of the founding of the BABP (as it then was), OCD was regarded as particularly difficult to treat and such treatment was typically both prolonged and horribly stressful for the person with OCD and their family. Effectiveness was also questionable

Things have changed and evolved in that time, with a clearer and more nuanced understanding of OCD and its treatment. Treatment has become both more effective and more tolerable.

In this workshop, Paul will describe our current understanding of how OCD works from a cognitive-behavioural perspective, and how this understanding is incorporated into treatment. The focus will be on the practicalities of how people experiencing this problem can be helped to deal with it to the point where, in many instances, it can be overcome and the person suffering can reclaim their life. The obstacles to achieving this (and how they can be identified and overcome) will be described. He will outline our deeper understanding of what OCD in its various forms is, and how this understanding can be applied in the context of collaborative working with sufferers and their loved ones. In doing so, he will share what he has learned in 45 years about OCD and how to empower those trapped by it can learn to overcome it and reclaim their lives. The news is mostly good, but there. there is much more to be done; further ideas will be discussed.

Key learning objectives

To understand what happens when people develop OCD
To be able to understand the person who has OCD in a way which begins the process of helping them to understand their OCD
To develop the skills required to develop a shared understanding (formulation) of OCD and, where appropriate, its development
To develop and try out ways of supporting the person in the process of choosing to change, and then to facilitate that change
To consider how and when to consider and help the person deal with developmental issues which continue to impact on them in adult life
To be able to identify and modify treatment strategies and ways of working collaboratively for different types of OCD
To develop skills in helping the person with OCD to work

Professor Paul Salkovskis has worked clinically and in research and theory to improve our understanding of OCD for around 45 years. He has worked closely with service users and service user organisations to develop research and treatment options throughout this time. He says that he has learned more from his patients than he has from his colleagues with the specific exception of Jack Rachman. He believes that OCD is a cruel and unnecessary illness which blights lives. He has worked in London, Huddersfield, Leeds, Bath and Oxford.

From April 2018 he has been Director of the Oxford Centre for Psychological Health, part of Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Oxford. He and colleagues run a specialist NHS clinic which focuses on complex problems, including Obsessional and Hoarding Problems. https://www.oxicpt.co.uk/clinic . He is a Past President of the British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy (BABCP) and editor of the Journal Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy. He has published around 400 articles and chapters on the understanding and treatment of psychological problems and anxiety disorders and doesn’t seem to be slowing down yet.

References
Bream, V., Challacombe, F., Palmer, A., & Salkovskis, P. (2017). Cognitive behaviour therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Oxford University Press.

Salkovskis, P. M., & Millar, J. F. (2016). Still Cognitive After All These Years? Perspectives for a Cognitive Behavioural Theory of Obsessions and Where We Are 30-Years Later. Australian Psychologist, 51(1), 3-13.

Workshop 14:

Tackling the ‘Tyranny of the Shoulds’: CBT for Perfectionism

Roz Shafran, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London , UK

At the heart of clinical perfectionism is the overevaluation of achievement and striving that causes significant adverse consequences. Such perfectionism is associated with a range of mental health disorders including depression, anxiety, OCD and eating disorders. A specific cognitive-behavioural intervention (CBT-P) has been developed by Roz Shafran and the Oxford Eating Disorders Research Group, and enhanced by clinical research groups led by Tracey Wade and Sarah Egan in Australia. CBT-P is a brief intervention that can be delivered in a range of formats. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses indicate that the intervention is effective in reducing perfectionism as well as associated psychopathology such as anxiety, depression and eating disorders. The workshop will describe the cognitive-behavioural theory and therapy for clinical perfectionism. It will place CBT-P in the context of the broader literature on perfectionism, and will focus on the assessment and practical therapeutic techniques contained within the intervention. It will also include information about its structure and the therapeutic processes involved in delivery. Finally, the role of therapist perfectionism in treatment outcome will be considered.

Key learning objectives

To understand a cognitive-behavioural analysis of clinical perfectionism and the factors that contribute to maintenance of psychopathology
To learn how to conduct and assessment and formulation of clinical perfectionism and determine when it may warrant a specific intervention
To be familiar with the cognitive-behavioural strategies used to address clinical perfectionism

Roz Shafran is Professor of Translational Psychology at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health. She is founder and former Director of the Charlie Waller Institute. Her clinical research interests focus on the development, evaluation, dissemination and implementation of cognitive behavioural treatments for eating disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder and perfectionism across the age range. She is currently working to understand and integrate evidence-based psychological treatments in young people with mental health disorders in the context of physical illness. She has provided national and international training workshops in her areas of clinical expertise, has over 270 publications, and the lead author on ‘Overcoming Perfectionism’. She has received awards for Distinguished Contributions to Professional Psychology (British Psychological Society), ‘Making an Difference’ (NHS Positive Practice) and ‘Translational Research into Practice’ (Eric Taylor Award from The Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health).

Key References

Egan, S. J., Wade, T. D., Shafran, R., & Antony, M. M. (2016). Cognitive-behavioral treatment of perfectionism. Guilford Publications.

Galloway, R., Watson, H., Greene, D., Shafran, R., & Egan, S. J. (2021). The efficacy of randomised controlled trials of cognitive behaviour therapy for perfectionism: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 1-15.

Shafran, R., Cooper, Z., & Fairburn, C. G. (2002). Clinical perfectionism: A cognitive–behavioural analysis. Behaviour research and therapy, 40(7), 773-791.