Dialectical Behavior Therapy
Prolonged Exposure Protocol (DBT-PE)
Hybrid - see details below
Fee: $125 full members; $650 nonmembers
Continuing Education Hours: 28.0
Note: Prerequisite: Completion of DBT Therapy training. Please email bhtp@uwgb.edu with questions.
Course Description
First 2-days in-person at UWGB, 1965 Room, 2420 Nicolet Drive, Green Bay; last 2-days via Zoom
Most DBT clients find that after they resolve the most pressing behavioral concerns in stage one of treatment (e.g. self-injury, suicide attempts, significant high risk behaviors) that they still struggle with many areas of life. Often, this can be driven by patterns of behavior associated with past traumatic experiences. Many clients diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder also meet criteria for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and even those who do not formally meet criteria may require some structured exposure treatment to decrease emotional and behavioral avoidance in order to reach their goals. The DBT Prolonged Exposure (DBT-PE) protocol developed by Melanie Harned, combines DBT principles with structured exposure strategies and protocols from the standard Prolonged Exposure treatment originally developed by Edna Foa. This approach has demonstrated effectiveness with DBT clients in multiple randomized control trials and directly treats symptoms of PTSD and other avoidance-based concerns. This 4-day in-person training will provide participants a foundation for who to use DBT-PE with and how to structure the treatment and gauge progress. Participants will walk through the trauma interview, learn how to provide orientation and education about the treatment, structure an in-vivo hierarchy, structure and guide imaginal exposure sessions, how to identify hotspots in the trauma narrative, and aspects of case formulation used to guide imaginal processing. The training structure combines didactic, discussion, modeling, and ongoing practice throughout and will require participants to actively engage in role plays and between session practice.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will understand the progression through the DBT-PE sessions 1-3 and session structure for sessions 4+
- Participants will practice assessing client readiness and conducting a trauma interview
- Participants will be able to explain the rationale for in-vivo exposure
- Participants will practice creating an in-vivo hierarchy
- Participants will be able to explain the rationale for imaginal exposure
- Participants will be able to identify problematic beliefs and emotions to target during processing
- Participants will learn about common challenges that surface in the DBT-PE process and how to address these
- Participants will learn how to determine completion and prepare clients for transition out of exposure therapy
About the Trainer
Neal Moglowsky, LPC
Neal Moglowsky received his Master’s degree in Educational Psychology from the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and is a Licensed Professional Counselor. He has been working as a psychotherapist since 1995. He has received advanced training in the treatment of anxiety disorders, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive disorder, Panic Disorder, and problems regulating emotions resulting in impulsivity. He has been intensively trained in Exposure Response Prevention for the treatment of anxiety disorders as well as Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for difficulties regulating emotions and has been conducting DBT skills training groups since 1997. He is the clinical coordinator of the DBT program at the Center for Behavioral Medicine. He also has an interest in integrating mindfulness practices into his clinical work to help increase self-awareness and teach clients how to better control their focus and attention. Neal has an infectious sense of commitment and motivation to the health of the clients he works with. His goal is to empower his clients let their values and ethics drive their life choices rather than their emotions and impulses.