CBT Boot Camp

Cognitive Therapy Training
for Mental Health Professionals

Workshop Description Agenda & Objectives About Dr. Padesky Credits Maps & Directions Hotels Download Brochure

What people who attended Boot Camp in London in April 2009 said they liked most about it:

(Taken from evaluations filled out on-line after attendees had returned to work a week after the workshop.)

C P is a very charming & charismatic individual with great style in speaking. She held my attention throughout, and I will take my CBT training forwards with her clear and humourous approach in mind.

Clarity and presentation of what seemed like very simple ideas but that have proved to be extremely relevant and helpful to my practice.

Dr Padesky - she was truly inspirational and her work was relevant to anyone trying to develop skills in CBT. I work as an educational psychologist and use CBT with children and adolescents rather than adults. It is very hard to find suitable training that focuses on this age group. This course focused on skills that can be adapted to any age of client and I left feeling that I had new skills and a deeper understanding of CBT.

The 'obstacle course' elements. I liked the fact that common mistakes people make were acknowledged and the reasons for these explained. It was particularly helpful to be able to role play the skills learned during the workshop.

I left feeling really excited to improve my practice. I could assimilate the information very quickly into practice because I have been practicing CBT for some time. I knew EXACTLY where my areas of drift were so I found the workshop met my needs very well.

Dr. Padesky – she was friendly, engaging and professional. Despite two full days of workshop my attention never lapsed, such was her ability to captivate the audience with relevant, concise information.

The most valuable aspect of what I learned was to structure my sessions with my client. I have had a lot of positive feedback from my clients about this!

I enjoyed the interactive nature of the day, being able to ask questions, work in small groups, etc. I thought the work booklet was excellent. I still have it on my desk and think it will continue to be useful to remind me what to do (the Giraffe also makes me smile). I found a lot of value in working on behavioural experiments - this section has been used lots over the last week and I have been able to make successful attempts at more specific and targeted experiments - brilliant! Finally I have been able to get a better handle on the use of thought records, especially how to introduce this to clients.

The fact that everything was backed up with research but the focus was on the applied skills, which I found very motivational. It is easier to access research and read this on your own but you rarely get the chance to see the applied material in practice and learn from others' mistakes. In particular, I intend to use more behavioural experiments and now have a better understanding of how they boost enthusiasm.

Undertaking role plays which allowed me to put myself in client and therapist role was useful followed by the opportunity to ask questions about what went well or not so well. Christine presented the workshop brilliantly, it flowed really well, didn't feel rushed and I felt my interest levels remained high even at the end of the day. It was also useful to see Christine doing role plays on stage and on the video, as this gave me an opportunity to see therapy in 'real life'.

I found the workshop was a fantastic booster in my use of CBT. I did notice that a lot of things mentioned were either things I had forgotten or were not taught to me clearly in the first place. Having such a tightly focused session put a lot of things in the right perspective. Thanks Dr. Padesky.

A two-day workshop given by

Christine A. Padesky, Ph.D.

Toronto – September 16-17, 2010

Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre

Ottawa – October 5-6, 2010

Hampton Inn Conference Centre

Vancouver – October 20-21, 2010

Norman Rothstein Theatre

Watch this 2 minute video from Christine Padesky in which she describes her new two-day CBT Boot Camp Workshop. Features six essential competencies that all CBT therapists need to master for effective practice.

When we presented CBT Boot Camp in London, UK in 2009, attendees enthusiastically rated it as one of Dr. Padesky's best workshops. It is especially designed for novice and intermediate level CBT therapists who want to build and strengthen core clinical competencies (Roth & Pilling 2007)* as well as understand more clearly how these competencies function as the foundation for all CBT protocols. By the end of Boot Camp, participants will achieve greater CBT fitness in the areas of: therapy alliance and structure, client observation and self-monitoring, awareness of safety behaviours versus good coping, assigning and debriefing relevant homework, and use of guided discovery methods (such as Socratic dialogue, thought records, and behavioural experiments).

*(Roth, A.D., & Pilling, S. (2007). The competencies required to deliver effective cognitive and behavioural therapy for people with depression and with anxiety disorders. London: Department of Health.)