Last week Beck Institute held its second Cognitive Behavior Therapy Workshop Level II: Personality Disorders and Challenging Problems. Psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, councilors, and other professionals traveled from all over the world, including Brazil, Romania, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Zimbabwe and seven U.S. states, to receive training in Cognitive Behavior Therapy. Participants received professional training from Aaron T. Beck, M.D., Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., Leslie Sokol, Ph.D., and Norman Cotterell, Ph.D. Lectures and role-plays emphasized the need for the therapeutic alliance in order to differentiate the therapist from everyone else. The need to identify core beliefs and automatic thoughts as soon as possible was also stressed. Dr. Sokol discussed patient collaboration and made it clear that a therapist should always be there for the client. The use of mood checks was discussed and participants were told that a patient will start with negative emotions and it is critical to probe them for positives to counter the negatives.
CBT Worksheet Demonstration
Dr. Judith Beck (right) demonstrated how to use a variety of CBT worksheets for therapists to use, such as the Cognitive Conceptualization Diagram. Dr. Beck encouraged workshop participants to roleplay with one another to practice CBT techniques. One of the highlights of the workshop was watching Dr. Aaron Beck (above-left) conduct a live patient session. Dr. Beck started the session with a mood check and followed with setting the agenda. Following the patient interview, Dr. Beck led a case discussion with workshop participants. All participants are pictured (below) with both Drs. Beck. 
