Lesson 1Assessing common co-occurring conditions with personality disorders: mood, anxiety, PTSD, substance use, ADHD, and when to refer for brain function testingLooks at common co-occurring conditions with personality disorders, like mood, anxiety, PTSD, substance use, and ADHD. Covers screening, telling them apart, ordering treatment, and when to refer for brain function testing or specialist help.
Screening for mood and anxiety disordersSpotting PTSD and complex traumaSubstance use and addictive habitsRecognising ADHD across life stagesWhen to refer for brain function testingTreatment ordering with co-occurring conditionsLesson 2Assessing trauma and attachment patterns: using ACEs, childhood trauma questionnaires, and clinical interview methodsGives ways to assess trauma and attachment patterns using ACEs, structured questionnaires, and clinical interviews. Stresses pacing, safety, screening for dissociation, and connecting trauma to current personality functioning.
Using ACEs and similar screening toolsChildhood trauma questionnaires in detailInterviewing 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 reducing bias in assessmentLooks at how culture shapes personality expression and assessment, including cultural identity, explanatory models, norms, and clinician bias. Gives strategies for cultural formulation, putting symptoms in context, and avoiding labelling differences as illness.
Eliciting cultural identity and affiliationsExploring cultural explanatory modelsNorms for emotion, behaviour, and selfDistinguishing culture from pathologyRecognising and managing clinician biasUsing cultural formulation interviewsLesson 4Gathering collateral history: consent, sources, how to get reliable information from family, primary care, past therapistsExplores ethical and practical steps in getting collateral history, including consent processes, choosing right informants, structuring questions, and sorting out differences to improve reliability and cut bias in personality assessment.
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 parts of a full psychiatric history tailored to personality issues, including developmental milestones, trauma, attachment, education and work, legal matters, substance use, and past treatments, paying attention to timeline and context.
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, daily activities, risk triggersFocuses on assessing real-life functioning in work, school, relationships, self-care, and risk. Stresses linking functional problems to personality traits, spotting triggers, and using findings to guide care level and interventions.
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 clear diagnostic formulation, link symptoms to personality traits, prioritise a problem list, and share findings clearly with patients and teams to guide treatment planning and risk management.
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 tools for personality disorders, including SCID-5-PD, SCID-5-CV, and IPDE. Covers when to use, how to administer, score, interpret, and blend results with clinical judgement.
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 do a mental status exam with focus on personality features, including affect control, identity, cognition, empathy, and reality testing. Highlights words for documentation and implications for diagnosis.
Observing affective range and stabilityAssessing identity and self-conceptEvaluating thought content and styleAssessing empathy and perspective takingReality testing and micropsychotic signsDocumenting personality-relevant findings
