Lesson 1Assessing comorbidities common with personality disorders: mood, anxiety, PTSD, substance use, ADHD, and when to refer for neurocognitive testingReviews common comorbidities with personality disorders, including mood, anxiety, PTSD, substance use, and ADHD. Addresses screening, differential diagnosis, sequencing of treatment, and indications for neurocognitive testing or specialty referral in diverse Australian populations.
Screening for mood and anxiety disordersIdentifying PTSD and complex traumaSubstance use and addictive behavioursRecognising ADHD across the lifespanWhen to refer for neurocognitive testingTreatment sequencing with comorbidityLesson 2Assessing trauma and attachment patterns: using ACEs, childhood trauma questionnaires, and clinical interview techniquesProvides methods for assessing trauma and attachment patterns using ACEs, structured questionnaires, and clinical interviewing. Emphasises pacing, safety, dissociation screening, and linking trauma to current personality functioning, with sensitivity to Australian Indigenous and multicultural contexts.
Using ACEs and similar screening toolsChildhood trauma questionnaires in depthInterviewing for attachment experiencesAssessing dissociation and fragmentationPacing, safety, and stabilisationConnecting trauma to current patternsLesson 3Cultural formulation and differential baseline personality expression: cultural identity, explanatory models, and bias reduction in assessmentExamines how culture shapes personality expression and assessment, including cultural identity, explanatory models, norms, and clinician bias. Provides strategies for cultural formulation, contextualising symptoms, and avoiding pathologising difference, particularly relevant to Australia's diverse communities.
Eliciting cultural identity and affiliationsExploring cultural explanatory modelsNorms for emotion, behaviour, and selfDistinguishing culture from pathologyRecognising and managing clinician biasUsing cultural formulation interviewsLesson 4Collateral history gathering: consent, sources, how to elicit reliable information from family, primary care, past therapistsExplores ethical and practical steps in obtaining collateral history, including consent procedures, selecting appropriate informants, structuring questions, and reconciling discrepancies to enhance reliability and reduce bias in personality assessment, aligned with Australian privacy laws.
Obtaining and documenting informed consentSelecting appropriate collateral informantsStructuring collateral interviews for clarityManaging conflicting collateral informationAddressing confidentiality and privacy limitsLesson 5Comprehensive psychiatric history: developmental, trauma, attachment, education/employment, legal, substance use, treatment historyDetails components of a comprehensive psychiatric history tailored to personality pathology, including developmental milestones, trauma, attachment, education and work, legal issues, substance use, and prior treatments, with attention to chronology and context in Australian healthcare systems.
Developmental milestones and temperamentFamily environment and attachment historyEducational and occupational trajectoryLegal, financial, and housing historySubstance use patterns and consequencesPrior treatments and response patternsLesson 6Functional assessment: occupational, social, interpersonal functioning, activities of daily living, risk triggersFocuses on assessing real-world functioning in work, school, relationships, self-care, and risk. Emphasises linking functional impairments to personality traits, identifying triggers, and using findings to guide level of care and interventions in community-based Australian settings.
Assessing occupational and academic rolesEvaluating social and intimate relationshipsActivities of daily living and self-careIdentifying risk triggers and patternsLinking traits to functional impairmentUsing functioning to guide treatmentLesson 7Documenting and synthesising findings into a diagnostic formulation and problem listCovers how to organise interview data into a coherent diagnostic formulation, link symptoms to personality traits, prioritise a problem list, and communicate findings clearly to patients and teams to guide treatment planning and risk management, compliant with Australian documentation standards.
Organising data by domains and timelinesLinking traits, symptoms, and stressorsDrafting a multiaxial style formulationPrioritising and structuring the problem listCommunicating formulations to patientsUpdating formulations over timeLesson 8Structured diagnostic instruments: SCID-5-PD, SCID-5-CV, IPDE — administration, scoring, interpretationIntroduces key structured diagnostic instruments for personality disorders, including SCID-5-PD, SCID-5-CV, and IPDE. Covers indications, administration, scoring, interpretation, and integrating results with clinical judgement, adapted for use in Australian clinical practice.
Overview of major PD interview toolsIndications and contraindications for usePreparing patients and setting expectationsStandardised administration proceduresScoring, thresholds, and reliabilityIntegrating results with clinical judgementLesson 9Mental status examination focused on personality features: affective lability, identity, cognition, empathy, reality testingDescribes how to conduct a mental status exam with emphasis on personality features, including affect regulation, identity, cognition, empathy, and reality testing. Highlights language for documentation and implications for diagnosis in multicultural Australian contexts.
Observing affective range and stabilityAssessing identity and self-conceptEvaluating thought content and styleAssessing empathy and perspective takingReality testing and micropsychotic signsDocumenting personality-relevant findings
