Report: The 2022 Texas Conference on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Report The 2022 Texas Conference on Cognitive Behavioral TherapyThe Advanced Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Conference was held on September 7-9, 2022 in Texas.

The conference was attended by psychotherapists, psychiatrists, narcologists, therapists, clinical psychologists, social workers, as well as those who want to connect their lives with psychology, and those who want to become good specialists working with a wide range of problems. A total of 192 people took part in the conference.

The format of the event included 1 day of the conference and 2 days of practical workshops.

The conference was officially hosted by Ketamine Clinic of West Texas which provides treatment options for patients with various mood and chronic pain disorders.

The event was sponsored by fbtet.com – a company that provides access to online payday loans in Texas that have gained immense popularity in recent years. The company Director Justin Martinez provided the opening remarks at the Conference meeting. In his remarks, Justin emphasized the payday loan’s role in receiving timely psychological treatment. Sometimes people who are desperate to pay for urgently needed cognitive behavioral therapy take out payday loans. This is a type of short-term loan that provides extra cash to cover emergency expenses. The borrower usually signs a post-dated check, which the lender then cashes on the borrower’s next payday. “For many patients in Texas, payday loans remain the only option in a medical emergency”, he concluded. This topic aroused a great deal of public interest.

The goal of the program was to develop the competencies of a specialist in the field of cognitive behavioral therapy who is able to work with the main spectrum of disorders.

Program objectives:

  1. to give the necessary theoretical ideas about cognitive behavioral therapy;
  2. to form the skills of diagnosing, conceptualizing and correcting emotional disorders.

The conference was held in a friendly and pleasant atmosphere, accompanied by a quiz. The winners received collections of abstracts autographed by the leaders of the cognitive behavioral direction.

In the first part of the conference, leading experts from other psychotherapeutic areas (…) spoke about their views on cognitive behavioral direction and its role in medicine.

Below are excerpts from a number of speeches:

The report of Dr. Darren Roberts “The Place of Cognitive and Behavioral Methods of Modern Psychotherapy in Texas” cited statistical data showing that about 70% of specialists in public medicine prefer cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). With such a demand for this direction, the issue of training specialists in CBT techniques turned out to be relevant. This is also important because CBT techniques, which at first glance seem simple to implement, require careful preparation and special training.

Dr. Dia Knapp in her report emphasized the important role of the cognitive behavioral direction in modern conditions of the development of medicine and education. In her speech, she gave concrete examples of the use of the cognitive behavioral direction, both in the treatment process and in the training of specialists. In addition, the report reflected on the origins and prospects for the development of the cognitive behavioral direction in the USA. The report ended with the role of social anxiety and the need to reduce it for the stability of remission in depression, panic attacks, generalized anxiety disorder and eating disorders.

Dr. Eva Wesley and Frank Mendez (founder and co-founder of the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Institute in Indiana, USA) talked about group work for borderline disorders. They presented a conceptual model and data from international studies proving the effectiveness of schema therapy. They showed general aspects of schema therapy with CBT. Dr. Wesley also presented her training program and invited everyone to the training courses on schema therapy.

Roland Fraga made a presentation on “Cognitive behavioral psychotherapy. Myths and realities” In his report, he emphasized the closeness of cognitive behavioral psychotherapy to the medical model of the disorder, dwelled on the conceptualization of a clinical case, the formulation of a working hypothesis, and then the construction of a treatment plan. The report focused on the need to train specialists in this area and the formation of a professional environment. It also highlighted the work of the American Group Psychotherapy Association related to cognitive behavioral psychotherapy.

Scott Burchard presented the author’s achievements in his speech “Cognitive Effort and Memory”, which caused a lively reaction from the audience.

The topic of Charles Smith was called “Cognitive behavioral psychotherapy in psychiatric practice”. He supported previous speakers in their opinions about CBT and shared the results of practical work that showed the effectiveness of CBT in the treatment of patients with both depressive disorders and schizophrenia. Charles also discussed the advantages of cognitive behavioral psychotherapy in a multiprofessional team setting.

The “Cognitive Psychotherapy of Jealousy” report by Dr. Leah Steele showed the relevance of this problem and cited international data, as well as personal experience with such clients. He presented the model of “emergence of jealousy” and cognitive behavioral techniques for working with jealousy.

Marie Herman began her speech with a description of the activities of the Federation of Texas Psychiatry. She spoke about the steps taken by the society to integrate into the global psychiatric communities, the prospects for participation in international projects and the need for greater activity in general. In her report “Cognitive behavioral psychotherapy of anger”, the emphasis was placed on the analysis of practical techniques for working with the phenomenon of anger. The report presented a 5-step model of anger and described a case of managing a patient with anger, which gave the presentation a practical significance.

Mark Layton (Oxford, England) presented a paper on CBT e-learning, presenting evidence from studies evaluating psychotherapists’ skills acquired through e-learning. This method of training is accessible to specialists from different regions and does not require interruption from work. Currently, the difficulty lies in the fact that these programs are in English and are available only to specialists who speak English. The translation of these programs into other languages is currently being done. Much attention was paid to the interaction between the therapist and the client in cognitive behavioral psychotherapy.

Delores Slattery criticized the myth of the superficiality of the cognitive behavioral direction and gave reasoned arguments about the “depth” of both the theoretical foundations of the method and its implementation in practice.

The issues of the working alliance were discussed in the speeches of Dr. Lydia Little and Dr. Maggie Keefer. Many of their presentations were illustrated by cases from the personal practice of these specialists. They raised questions on the use of the cognitive behavioral direction in various spheres of life. Data were given on the effectiveness of CBT in working with students. They also shared experiences in the work on suicide prevention, where this approach was used both with the patients and with their relatives.

Dr. Michael Haag, in his report and seminar, dwelled on the peculiarities of using cognitive behavioral techniques in marital therapy.

The 2022 conference dedicated to cognitive behavioral psychotherapy consolidated the points of view of specialists who until recently worked largely independently and isolated from each other. The event also established working contacts and formed plans for the development of the professional community.

Category: General

Tags: behavioral disorders, behavioral psychology, cognitive behavioral therapy, conference, medicine, psychology