Cognitive Therapy for PTSD - Jennifer Wild - Brisbane

Cognitive Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

with Professor Jennifer Wild

Learn the latest in working with trauma from a world expert!

Cognitive therapy is rooted in the idea that whilst people may face gritty times, it is the meaning they make of them that matters. CT-PTSD is based on a robust cognitive model that identifies three core processes that keep the disorder going (Ehlers & Clark, 2000). The treatment aims to modify these processes through intervention that targets trauma memories, triggers, and unhelpful behaviours and thoughts. Updating painful meanings linked to the trauma memory with information that addresses relevant cognitive themes is a key part of the treatment. Cognitive themes typically relate to anger, shame, guilt, betrayal, overgeneralised danger, loss, moral injury or permanent change. CT-PTSD is recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and numerous international guidelines as a first line treatment for the disorder. The treatment leads to high rates of recovery, is often described as life-changing, can be delivered in about 10 to 12 sessions and easily adapted for remote delivery during pandemic-working.

This workshop will build on Ehlers and Clark’s (2000) cognitive model of PTSD. The workshop will demonstrate how to deliver core interventions of CT-PTSD face-to-face and remotely, including how to update memories, carry out trigger discrimination and design highly effective behavioural experiments. A focus will be included on how to transform challenging cognitive themes, such as loss and permanent change, which arise after the death of a loved one or permanent injury. We will also discover how to work with trauma that the patient is likely to experience again, such as in the context of healthcare, emergency, or military work.

About this event:

The format will be an all-day workshop, and the presenter will use a range of teaching methods, including slides, videos, and experiential exercises.

Key Learning Objectives

1. Use the Ehlers and Clark cognitive model to understand PTSD and develop an individual formulation for patients
2. Identify core cognitive themes and ways of working with your patients
3. Describe ways of integrating updated meanings into trauma memories
4. Describe steps in transforming images of loss and permanent change
5. Identify ways of changing responses to triggers of reexperiencing
6. Identify ways of adapting procedures to working remotely

This session is suitable for all levels of clinicians/ therapists.

Duration & Format / Training Modalities

This event will be 7 hours for CPD. This event includes all catering in the ticket price - please indicate any dietary restrictions.

Doors open at 8:30am for a 9am start.

References – readings

1. Wild, J., Duffy, M., & Ehlers, A. (2023). Moving forward with the loss of a loved one: Treating PTSD following traumatic bereavement. The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1754470X23000041
2. Wild, J., Warnock-Parkes, E., Murray, H., Kerr, A., Thew, G., Grey, N., Clark, D.M. & Ehlers, A. (2020). Treating posttraumatic stress disorder remotely with Cognitive Therapy for PTSD. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 11:1, 1785818 doi: 10.1080/20008198.2020.1785818
3. Beierl, E., Murray, H., Wiedemann, M., Warnock-Parkes, E., Wild, J., Stott, R., Grey, N., Clark, D.M. & Ehlers, A. (2021). The Relationship Between Working Alliance and Symptom Improvement in Cognitive Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Front Psychiatry, 12, 602648. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.602648
4. Ehlers, A. & Clark, D.M. (2000). A cognitive model of posttraumatic stress disorder, Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38, 319-345.
5. Ehlers, A. & Wild, J. (2021). Cognitive behavior therapies for posttraumatic stress disorder. In A. Wenzel (Ed.), Handbook of cognitive behavioral therapy: Applications (pp. 99–147). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000219-004
6. Ehlers, A. & Wild, J. (2020). Cognitive therapy for PTSD. In L. F. Bufka, C. V. Wright, & R. W. Halfond (Eds.), Casebook to the APA Clinical Practice Guideline for the treatment of PTSD (p.91-121). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000196-005
7. Murray, H., Wild, J., Warnock-Parkes, E., Kerr, A., Thew, G., Grey, N., Clark, D.M. & Ehlers, A. (2020). Cognitive therapy for PTSD following critical illness and intensive care unit admission. The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist0, doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1754470X2000015X

Jennifer Wild is Professor of Military Mental Health at Phoenix Australia, University of Melbourne. She holds an affiliate position at the University of Oxford where she developed evidence-based interventions to prevent PTSD for emergency responders, now being delivered internationally.

Professor Wild is an international expert on how to build resilience to stress and trauma, and on how to overcome post-traumatic stress disorder. She has worked in an advisory role to the Cabinet Office in the UK on best practice for developing preventative interventions for high-risk occupations.

She regularly appears in the media giving expert advice on how to build resilience to severe stress. The documentary, Vertigo Road Trip, in which she treats five people to overcome anxiety and lead extraordinary lives, aired on BBC One, attracting 2.2 million viewers. She has written over 80 publications and two recently published popular science books, including Be Extraordinary: 7 Key Skills to Transform Your Life from Ordinary to Extraordinary. Professor Wild applies science to understanding and preventing mental ill health.

Professor Jennifer Wild

University of Melbourne & University of Oxford