Why is this so hard? Learning how to work alongside Personality Disorders

Are you a helping professional, frontline staff, crisis intervention worker, case manager, or non-clinician supporting individuals with personality disorders? This workshop is designed to help you navigate challenging interactions, improve client outcomes, and prioritize self-care in high-stress environments.

Serious mental illness scares many providers. A great deal of stigma exists about personality disorders; many believe that they cannot be treated - adding to the cloud of misunderstanding. Personality disorders are typically a long-standing impairment of mental health, identified by maladaptive thoughts and behaviors that arise during adolescence or early adulthood. These emotional disturbances can cause significant and pervasive distress to the whole person if left untreated. This presentation will develop an understanding of personality disorders and the latest evidence-based, science-driven treatments.

What You’ll Gain:

• Practical skills to interact effectively with individuals with personality disorders
• Self-care techniques to prevent burnout and maintain workplace safety at an individual and organizational level

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Discuss how personality disorders develop.
• Explore the stigma associated with personality disorders.
• Describe evidence-based, research-driven treatments available to providers.

Kate Leslie, MSW, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker, originally from Atlanta, GA. She received her Honors BA in Modern Culture and Media (Semiotics) from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island in 2001 where she focused on post-colonial literature and politics. Kate received her MSW from Smith College School for Social Work in Northampton, MA. She completed her post-masters training fellowship at the McAuley Institute at St. Mary's Hospital in San Francisco, a psychiatric inpatient unit for adolescents.

Kate is a member of the AAPCSW, NASW, and the mental health provider representative on the Colorado Medicaid MPRACC committee. Kate works with severe mental illness in families, eating disorders, and trauma, and is private practice in Boulder, CO.

Eligible for three hours Certificate of Completion