ISITDBT 2013 Due Dates Coming in September!

by Adam Payne | Aug 16, 2013 | Conference

Reminder that proposals to present ISITDBT Posters in our Poster Session and Cocktail Hour are due September 10, 2013. We have also received NO nominations for the Research Award.  A few paragraphs will suffice to get the ball rolling.  Honor your peers with a nomination please.

• Poster Session. Our poster session will be held at the end of the day in conjunction with a cocktail hour. There is always a lively and engaged audience! Appropriate topics include pilot trials of an adaptation or novel use of DBT, or, basic studies on DBT-relevant topics such as emotion regulation, borderline personality disorder, suicidal behavior, and/or team or therapist behaviors. Submissions should include a title, list of authors and affiliations, and an abstract, and should not exceed one page in length. ***Please clearly note in your submission if the first author is a student. Due Date: September 10, 2013.

REGISTRATION: Conference registration will open on September 5, 2013. All registration will occur online at isitdbt2013.eventbrite.com. Continuing education credits can be purchased (as a separate, optional ticket) at the time of registration.  Please see the Continuing Education page on this website for details.

NEW – Start your 2013 ISITDBT Experience with a little Mindfulness

by Adam Payne | Aug 15, 2013 | Conference

I would like to extend an invitation to any interested ISITDBT participants to a morning mindful sit prior to the start of the 2013 ISITDBT conference.

Having your own mindfulness practice is an important tool for every DBT practitioner. Mindfulness has been shown to decrease suffering and increase happiness I can’t think of a better way to start what will be a great day and a great conference.  I regularly try to find opportunities to sit with like minded friends as this is a great way to enhance my practice.
No preparation is required, just come to Ryman Studio Q at 7:30 AM.  We will engage in a period of sitting meditation.

See you all in Nashville.

Mindfully yours,
Randy

Randy Wolbert LMSW, CAADC, is the Clinical Director of InterAct of Michigan, Inc., an Assistant Adjunct Professor of Social Work at Western Michigan University, and a DBT trainer for Behavioral Tech, L.L.C. Randy received his Bachelors degree from Calvin College and his MSW from Western Michigan University. He has more than 30 years of Community Mental Health experience including Assertive Community Treatment, DBT, and Integrated Dual Disorders Treatment. Randy attended the 1995-1996 Seattle Intensive taught by Marsha Linehan PhD Randy has presented workshops, seminars, and DBT training at State, National and International conferences. In 2009, Randy was inducted into the Outstanding Alumni Academy of the College of Health and Human Services at Western Michigan University.

ISITDBT Program for 2013!

by Adam Payne | Aug 2, 2013 | Conference

It is with great pleasure that I announce the Program Schedule that will be presented at the 2013 ISITDBT Conference in Nashville, TN on November 21, 2013. The Planning Committee was given the research and workshop proposal abstracts, presented anonymously, and the top-rated presentations will be offered in November. I would like to extend thanks to all those who submitted proposals this year, all of which garnered positive attention from the program committee members.

Several of the ISITDBT 2013 offerings will be attended by all Conference registrants.

• After mindfulness, we are thrilled to start the day with our research panel. The titles of the research presentations are listed in the Conference Schedule page. Clients on wait lists for DBT? PTSD and BPD? Validation findings? Our research presenters certainly have topics relevant to DBT clinical practice.
• After lunch (and after a “Surprise Offering”), back by popular demand, the Clinical Seminar will return again this year. Drs. Korslund, Rizvi, and Sayrs will again take on the application of DBT strategies using video watched by all attendees. The new twist? This year, the video will be a sample of DBT Skills Group homework review!
• And of course, the afternoon culmination of the Program Day for all ISITDBT attendees will be Marsha’s “State of DBT” address.
• These events will be followed by our annual Poster Session and evening cocktail hour, which will give the chance for networking and for more in depth conversations around posters about DBT research and clinical practice. Poster proposals are due September 10th.

Morning workshop offerings will provide an element of choice for ISITDBT attendees.

• Morning workshop choices will be made at the time of registration (registration will open on or around September 5th), so please review the options now, so that you are ready for registration. Spots may become scarce for some workshops, so please consider registering early (and get the early bird discount, too). While the workshops were chosen by the committee based upon the applicability to DBT practice of the topics proposed, I am sure you will also be thrilled at the variety of topics, since we have been generously been granted four workshop rooms for this year by ABCT this year. Nashville has some wide open spaces!

Here are our four workshop choices for ISITDBT 2013 (choose one):

Come on in and tell us your problems: A clinical round table on DBT with Adolescents, presented by Lorie A. Ritschel, Alec Miller, Laurence Y. Katz, & Jill Rathus

Conducting DBT with adolescents (DBT-A) presents unique and varied challenges above and beyond those that arise in standard DBT. Working with suicidal, multi-problem youth can raise tricky questions around how best to adhere to the original DBT model while adapting the treatment to meet the needs of younger clients. In this workshop, four experts in the field will address issues that arise in conducting DBT with adolescents. Some of the most common issues will be presented first. Next, audience questions and problems will be addressed, with each of the experts weighing in on the issues and discussing the ways in which they and their consultation teams have chosen to address these issues. Finally, with time permitting and depending on audience needs and experience, the experts will field specific questions about teaching the Middle Path skills. This portion of the workshop will be experiential and interactive.

The inside track of how to get and keep your DBT program funded, presented by Nancy McDonald MS, CAC, LPC Quality Assurance Chester County, PA, with Shari Manning, PhD, and Helen Best, M.Ed.

Despite the fact that numerous systems have invested heavily in initiatives designed to educate staff in order to implement and utilize Dialectical Behavior Therapy, many systems have not succeeded in such efforts with long term sustainability. This presentation draws upon the authors’ extensive involvement in large scale system wide initiatives, which have succeeded not only with installing high quality DBT programs but also with navigating and securing increased reimbursement rates. The principles behind the implementations will be presented along with the clinician and team behaviors that were highlighted to funders to increase rates. An in-depth case study of the implementation of dialectical behavior therapy in a community mental health environment will be presented along with key findings regarding Chester County’s experience. An overview of key findings will be presented along with recommendations for applying the findings to teams in pragmatic ways. Challenges to sustaining the treatment over time will be discussed. There will be time allotted for participants to begin formulating their own plans with guidelines and consultation from the workshop leaders.

Life After DBT: Coaching Clients to Succeed in Usual Care Utilizing the DBT-ACES Approach, presented by Rhea Holler, PsyD and Adam Carmel, PhD

In this experiential workshop, participants will learn to help DBT clients collaborate and cope ahead in order to transition from DBT to ‘usual’ therapeutic care for the second stage of recovery. Presenters will introduce participants to the DBT-ACES (Accepting the Challenge of Exiting the System) skills series developed by Dr. Kate Comtois and her colleagues, specifically the skills module designed to increase self-sufficiency and effective interpersonal behaviors with mental health providers and prescribers. Presenters will review options for clients who have completed a trial of DBT and now face the task of reintegrating back into community mental health contexts. The purpose of this workshop is to give clinicians concrete interventions to help DBT graduates use skills to “be the best client they can be to get the best care they can get (Comtois et al.).” The workshop is intended for DBT trained clinicians or general practitioners who are interested in learning DBT-ACES skills designed to help prepare clients for success in usual care settings.

Engaging the Disengaged Client with DBT, presented by Charlie Swenson, MD

This experiential workshop will explore clinicians’ options and strategies for working with clients in pretreatment that cannot easily be engaged in DBT. What is a clinician to do? The workshop also intends to address the needs of a therapist when a client falls out of commitment and engagement during the course of an ongoing treatment. The workshop intends to address how clinicians “keep on keeping on” when there is little sign of progress, what clinicians do to address client behaviors that take them away from commitment to the treatment, and what clinicians do to address their own increasing helplessness and hopelessness during work with some clients.

We are looking forward to seeing you in November.  Choose your workshops wisely and look for information on the ABCT site about hotel accommodations.

Enjoy August,
Adam

ISITDBT 2013 Workshop and Research Proposals Update

by Adam Payne | Jul 1, 2013 | Conference

The second time is the charm. Thank you for the submissions that have started to roll in and/or those that have been promised will be coming soon.  If you are in the rainy, rainy USA, please finish building your Ark (or let Noah finish it for you) and then please do send along those promised proposals.

The window remains open for 2013 ISITDBT Research and Workshop submissions.  At the same time, I do want to get the proposals to the Program Committee shortly (so please “giddyup”), so that I can make a formal announcement of the Program Schedule to you all by the end of July 2013.  My hope is to give all of you the full month of August to digest the Program, so that you will be able to decide whether you will want to join us in Nashville in November (Registration will open on or around September 5^th).  Remember, ISITDBT 2013 is Thursday, November 21, 2013.

ISITDBT Poster Proposals are due September 10, 2013.

Thanks everyone,

Adam

ISITDBT 2013 Update and Request

by Adam Payne | Jun 20, 2013 | Conference

Many thanks to those of you who recently made submissions for presentations for the November 2103 ISITDBT Conference.  As previously announced, ISITDBT 2013 is November 21, 2013 in Nashville, Tennessee, immediately preceding the ABCT Convention.

We have had fewer submissions this year than in previous years.  I certainly hope that the fact that the conferences (ISITDBT and ABCT) are being held in Nashville (and away from the coasts) is not a deterrent to people (Historically, the conferences held on the coasts have had larger attendance).  Separate and apart from the conferences, the Opryland Hotel is “Bucket List Worthy” for its beautiful indoor gardens, as is the Grand Ole Opry for its music and history, and the city of Nashville has always been a favorite of mine.  We have more space this year for ISITDBT, so this year is the year to travel and have fun at ISITDBT.

Having been involved with the ISITDBT program selection for several years before becoming the Program Chair, I have noted that the Program Committee seems to do best when it has a greater selection of proposals to work through and discuss.  Having a greater selection allows themes to develop, and helps the committee  to form a coherent program day. Therefore, if you had been on the fence, and were considering submitting a research or workshop proposal (and did not do so for some reason), I would ask you to consider again.  If your spam folder ate the original announcements, or if ISITDBT fell off your radar, (first “Like” us on Facebook to make sure that does not happen again, and then) please go ahead and make your submission.  Please send your submissions to isit@isitdbt.net  Please consider sending an e-mail ahead, even as you get your submission ready, so that I can anticipate receipt of your one-page abstract.  Because of the numbers I am looking for, I’m going to wing this one regarding the final-final submission deadline, so please help me out by getting hopping, and at least inform me of your intent to submit. Thanks.

Please note that this request for additional submissions does not in any way reflect on the quality of the submissions so far.  In fact, I have quite consciously not reviewed them.  I very much leave that to the Program Committee to perform their duties.  For what it is worth, when all submissions are collected, I will de-identify the abstracts (as best I can) for all of the research, workshop, and poster submissions (poster proposals due Sept 10^th), and then will send the de-identified proposals to the committee.  In this way, decisions will be made based upon the content of the proposals and not on the notoriety of the presenters.  This method is a repeat of the method which I initiated last year. That’s just the way I roll.

I can extend the submission period because we remain well ahead of the game for November.  My request today hopefully will keep us there.  My recent trip to Seattle confirmed that  we are well underway for the second coming of the Clinical Seminar that was initiated last year with Katie Korslund, PhD, ABPP, Jennifer Sayrs, PhD, ABPP, and Shireen Rizvi, PhD  This Clinical Seminar is back on the proposed schedule for the afternoon session, with an aim to see if DBT Skills Group can receive the same fabulous analysis as Emily Cooney’s DBT Individual Session did last year.  Please anticipate a formally announced complete Workshop and Research Panel Program Schedule by the end of July 2013.

Poster people, the deadline for Poster Submissions is September 10, 2013, so you still have time, but please use your summer well in your preparations.  Registration for ISITDBT will also open in September (on or around September 5^th).  Lastly, PLEASE do not wait to make your nominations for the ISITDBT Researcher Award.  We will accept nominations at any time, so that hurricanes or not, we will have an honoree this year. See additional information on the isitdbt.net Conference page for more.

With hopes for pleasant days for all of you, wherever you may be.

Best Regards,

Adam

ISITDBT 2013 News!

by Adam Payne | May 13, 2013 | Conference

Good news from ISITDBT 2013. Hot off the presses.

As many of you know, the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) is the source of our room availability for our ISITDBT Conference space each year. Mary Ellen Brown at ABCT has been a wonderful supporter of our efforts each year and she grants us as much space as she possibly can spare from the other ABCT events that are ongoing on ABCT Thursday.  I have just heard back this morning from Mary Ellen about what she is able to provide for ISITDBT for 2013.

My hopes have come true that an ISITDBT Conference that is occurring in the “wider”, “opener” spaces of Nashville, TN would result in greater room availability for ISITDBT 2013!

• During years when we have a few rooms with which to work, our workshops must maintain a broad appeal across DBT practitioners.  This scenario has been the ISITDBT scenario for the past several years.

• During prior years when we have a greater number of smaller separate spaces, we have had the options for more “niche” workshops, where there are workshops on topics relevant to specific target populations, adaptations of DBT, etc.

This year, we have the best of both worlds. We have two larger rooms and several smaller rooms.  Therefore, I can truly open the door for workshop submissions of all kinds and will allow the Program Committee greater flexibility of options as we plan out our 2013 ISITDBT Program.

Since the last few years have not afforded us the options for smaller workshops (e.g., workshops from 30 to 50 people), people may not have been thinking along those lines.  As such, I am extending the Workshop Submission date and the Research Submission date to June 15, 2013 this year.  Submissions should be sent to isit@isitdbt.net

We still do have other budgetary and logistical constraints, so we will have to “crunch the numbers” after we see what the DBT community may propose to do for this year’s ISITDBT workshops.  We are excited that we can start with a wider net this year.

• Workshops. Workshops will be 90-105 minutes in length and should advance a participant’s knowledge of DBT. As noted above, both “broad spectrum DBT” and “niche DBT” workshops submissions will be accepted, although quality submissions will be the main variable used for workshop selection. Experiential components are encouraged for all workshops. Submissions should include a workshop title, list of presenters and affiliations, 3 learning objectives, and abstract. In addition, please specify whether material will be geared to one of three levels: basic (will be useful to all participants), novice (useful to individuals who are relatively new to DBT), or intermediate (requires a moderate degree of familiarity with DBT). Submissions should be no more than 1 page in length.

• Research Papers. As in previous years, we will have a research panel in which individuals will present new data on DBT and DBT-informed studies. Appropriate studies include: randomized clinical trials, pilot trials of an adaptation or novel use of DBT, or basic studies on DBT-relevant topics such as emotion regulation, borderline personality disorder, suicidal behavior, and/or team or therapist behaviors. Submissions should include a title, list of authors and affiliations, and an abstract and should not exceed one page in length.