Description
Speakers: Dean McKay, PhD, ABPP
CEU(s) Available: 1.0 ACE Event BACB CEUs
Duration: 1 – 60 minute sessions
Modality: Live on May 15th, 11:00am CST, then on-demand, online, video course.
Once the course is purchased you may login to access the link and password for the live event, or you may wait until the on-demand version is loaded. CEUs issued after completion of the live version and survey online on this website following the event. CEU certificates can be downloaded from your profile once you are logged in and all items completed.
Abstract: Imagery is a critical component in exposure based therapies, either in conjunction with in vivo procedures, or as a stand-alone intervention. The available research literature emphasizes that maximal efficacy in treatment is when live exposure is paired with imagery, or when circumstances are not conducive to in vivo, that the imagery be vivid and immersive. However, there are significant questions around how to conduct imagery. For example, is it better to simply enhance the live exposure with imagery, or should the therapist attempt to provoke imagery for core fears? Should therapists provoke imagery around coping with the exposure exercise, or is outcome better with additional evocation of anxiety? Finally, how should clinicians ensure that the imagery is vivid and, potentially, prevents the client from strategically avoiding the feared situation through spontaneously occurring cognitive strategies? These important questions need to be understood by clinicians as they embark on exposure, and should be part of the clinical conceptualization. That is, each question may be answered differently based on the needs of the client, and may change over the course of treatment. Thus, the aim of this training is to address each of these questions, and provide clinicians a working model for how to integrate imagery into treatment, and flexibly change the manner of imagery development.
Learning Objective 1: Attendees will understand the basis for integrating imagery into exposure therapy for a wide range of conditions marked by avoidance.
Learning Objective 2: Attendees will be able to develop imagery in conjunction with in vivo or as a stand-alone intervention.
Learning Objective 3: Attendees will be able to develop imagery that challenges client’s spontaneously occurring cognitive avoidance strategies.
Dean McKay, PhD, ABPP is Professor, Department of Psychology, Fordham University, is Past President (2018) of the Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology (SSCP), and Past-President (2013-2014) of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT). He serves as a member of the Advisory Board for Better Living Center for Behavioral Health, which specializes in the treatment of anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorders. Dr. McKay is licensed in New York and Connecticut, a member of the National Registry of Healthcare Psychologists, and board certified from the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) in both Cognitive-Behavioral and Clinical Psychology. He has edited or co-edited 22 books, published over 350 journal articles and book chapters, and given over 300 presentations at scientific organizations. In addition to his work on the Advisory Board of Better Living, he is also on the Scientific Advisory Board of the International Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Foundation (IOCDF). Further, he is also a member of the Psychology of Pandemics Workgroup, an international consortium of researchers examining stress-related psychopathology associated with pandemics that was formed in February 2020. Dr. McKay is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, Association for Psychological Science, and Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies. His research has been primarily obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, anxiety disorders, the role of disgust in psychopathology, and misophonia (selective sound sensitivity), as well as professional issues in the delivery of evidence-based interventions. He has also provided professional consultation and treatment internationally.
