Higher Order Therapy Training Courses.
A series of one hour 'online anytime' modules, each consisting of an audio lasting 15-30 minutes, plus an exercise and resources for you to you use and practice with afterwards. The series is so named because it features all the 'higher order' factors that make therapy successful. If you examine the leading therapies they overlap to a fascinating degree, so by studying all the overlapping elements and then 'picking off' the elements that are unique to each particular therapy you achieve an extraordinary power and breadth in your ability to help others. And this is what the Higher Order Therapy series enables you to do.
Finally, don't be misled by the price; you may feel that the low price suggests these are not serious modules whereas in fact they very much are. The APT's purpose is to make the best, most relevant and engaging training accessible to as many mental health professionals as possible.
Assessment: how to ask the right questions.
A 1-hour online course.
$45 CAD per person.
In this Assessment Module, you'll learn or re-learn how to achieve one of the fundamental starting points of effective therapy: how to conduct consistent, subjective assessment of the key factors affecting each patient. This is an essential skill in any therapeutic endeavour and is too often 'glossed over' in the often unrealistic hope that even the most distressed patients will easily tell us just what is the matter. In reality, a skilled assessment provides hope for both the patient and for us.
Avoiding the fatal Second Arrow: Acceptance
A 1-hour online course.
$45 CAD per person.
In this module from the APT, we'll be talking about how to neutralize the extremely destructive 'second arrow,' through a principle of mindfulness: acceptance. The 'second arrow' refers to the spiral that so often occurs when for instance a person becomes depressed and then becomes frustrated that they are depressed, which makes them more distressed, which makes them more depressed and frustrated, and so on downwards. An exactly parallel effect occurs with anxiety, irritability, psychotic conditions and more.
Case Formulation: making sense of the information you obtain.
A 1-hour online course.
$45 CAD per person.
In this Case Formulation Module from the APT, you'll learn how to appraise the 6 P's of case formulation: the patient's problem, pre-disposing factors, precipitating factors, perpetuating factors, positive and protective factors and of course, the plan! It enables us to form a powerful strategy to organize the information we obtain in the assessment so we can help the patient as quickly and effectively as possible. And without it, we can be very much 'stumbling in the dark.'
Consultation Meetings: why you should set them up, and how to do it.
A 1-hour online course.
$45 CAD per person.
In this distance learning module from the APT, we talk about what consultation meetings are, why they're valuable, and how to structure them for maximum benefit. If you work with extremely distressing and demanding conditions - as many mental health professionals do - or work with very specific therapeutic approaches which need close adherence to their principles, then it is virtually certain that your work will be tremendously facilitated by well organized consultation meetings. This module shows you how to achieve just that.
Differentially Reinforcing Adaptive Behaviour: a simple piece of jargon that can make or break therapy.
A 1-hour online course.
$45 CAD per person.
In this distance learning module from the APT, we talk about the practice of differentially reinforcing adaptive behaviour, so your patients are encouraged to do more of what is helping them, and less of what isn't. Highlighted in DBT but relevant and effective in virtually every form of therapy, we look at why it works so well and what pot-holes there are to avoid; effectively we focus on how to 'water the flowers and not the weeds'.
Engaging Your Patients: if you don’t do this then everything else is wasted time.
A 1-hour online course.
$45 CAD per person.
This course will take you through the most critical elements of engaging your patients. Even with the best tools and training in the world, if we can't properly connect with and engage our patients, we won't be able to help them. All therapists mean to engage with their patients but many have never really been taught how to do it, as though it is achieved simply through an act of will on the part of the therapist. In fact there are clear principled strategies for achieving it, and this is what you learn here.
Evidence-Based Practice: as important as looking where you’re heading when you’re driving.
A 1-hour online course.
$45 CAD per person.
In this distance learning module from APT, you'll learn about evidence-based practice, practice, based evidence, and how to use them to help monitor and track the progress your patients make. We are rightly encouraged to base our practice on established evidence, and yet there isn't a protocol for every condition that every patient arrives with, so we lean heavily on 'practice-based evidence' - obtaining evidence from our practice and the patient we are working with. It is crucially important to do because without it we may be heading in the wrong direction - doing the patient more harm than good - but with it we are both encouraged and empowered.
Functional Analysis: most ‘problems’ serve a purpose, and revealing that purpose can be the key to success.
A 1-hour online course.
$45 CAD per person.
In this module from the APT, we talk about the functions our patients' problems and behavior serve for them, what fallacies exist around for example 'attention-seeking behavior', and what to do once we have uncovered the functions of the behavior. We'll look at hunches and ABC Analysis, depression, behavior that has 'built-in' functionality, and the importance of verifying that there aren't underlying physical causes. Functional Analysis is a concept that has long been recognized by those working with 'challenging behavior' but in fact it relevance is much wider than that.
Generating Insight and Motivation: energising the person to make changes.
A 1-hour online course.
$45 CAD per person.
In this distance learning module from the APT, you learn effective strategies to help your patients gain insight into their motivations and behaviors, by asking questions about and tracking feelings about their behavior. It is a wonderfully powerful and helpful action, because once we are all clear about those motivations and goals the person is well set up to start planning how best to achieve what they want - how to head in a life direction they value.
Helping the Patient Apply What's Covered In-Session: ‘Agreeing homework’ is just the start.
A 1-hour online course.
$45 CAD per person.
In this distance learning module from the APT, you'll learn strategies to help your patients consistently and effectively apply what is addressed during therapy sessions. There are 148 hours in a week and therapy maybe takes up just one of those, so what patients do in the remaining 147 is crucial, and we need to have strategies for addressing exactly that.
How to construct a Plan that will help the patient.
A 1-hour online course.
$45 CAD per person.
In this module, we talk about how to create a motivating vision for the patient to work towards, and the steps they will take to achieve it. 'Planning' is surely one of the most misunderstood concepts in therapy: patient may say they 'plan to give up drinking' or 'plan to conquer their depression' both of which may be relevant, but they are not plans, the are simply hopes or aspirations. Planning is a frequently-enjoyable and frequently-rewarding activity tailored to achieve such hopes and aspirations, and it is this we address in this module.
How to Structure a Therapy Session: one of the strongest pillars of quality control in therapy.
A 1-hour online course.
$45 CAD per person.
In this distance learning module from the APT, we'll be looking at the different elements you should include in every therapy session. This allows you to provide the same quality of service to all of your patients, every time they see you and creates a structure they can use and rely on. Providing the same quality late on a Thursday afternoon as you do early on a Tuesday morning can be demanding, and having a solid structure for the therapy session is one of the strongest pillars we have in achieving this.
Problem Solving: the workhorse of therapy, reliable and effective - if you do it right.
A 1-hour online course.
$45 CAD per person.
Of all the clinical skills we try and master, problem-solving is one of the most important. In this module, you'll learn the steps involved in both intuitive and formal problem-solving. Fundamentally, most patients arrive to see us with a problem which they hope we will help them solve. So while it is wonderful to learn the latest and most advanced therapeutic approaches, nothing may be as effective as having a powerful problem-solving focus, with the skill to match.
The Constructional Approach.
A 1-hour online course.
$45 CAD per person.
In this Distance learning module from the APT, we talk about the constructional approach, which focuses on building positive behavior that displaces behavior that works badly. So if we work with depression then maybe also to develop energetic and positive behavior, if we work with anxiety then maybe also to develop energetic and relaxed activity, if we work with 'challenging behaviour' then also to encourage behavior that works well for the patient and those around them. It can sound too obvious when put so clearly, but in fact it often contrasts with the negative focus of much work. As was once famously found: 'for every paper published on happiness, around a hundred a published on depression.'
Validation: a key component in therapy and relationships in general.
A 1-hour online course.
$45 CAD per person.
‘Validation’ is a key skill for both your professional and personal life. In this module, we address the importance of validating the experiences and emotions of your patients, why it is such a good thing to do, and effective strategies for doing it well. Patients may find that some of the things they do appear to them to be 'stupid' or bizarre, and yet they rarely are; even the most unusual behaviors and emotions almost always 'make sense' when we look closely enough. It is wonderful for patients to be able to see this, and then work towards doing things - and ultimately feeling things - that work better for them.
