Thinking Functionally: Using functional analysis to tailor interventions with precision
Tracks
Track 8
| Saturday, May 16, 2020 |
| 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM |
Presenter(s)
Mr Brendon Knott
BSc(Psych)(Hons), MPsych(Clinical)
Contextual Interventions
Thinking Functionally: Using functional analysis to tailor interventions with precision
10:30 AM - 5:00 PMAssumed knowledge of attendee
Beginner (casual familiarity with topic area e.g., treated one case)
Level of learning
Introductory
Outline
The ability to engage in functional behavioural assessment and case conceptualisation is core to all third wave behaviour therapies, such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) and a range of others. Even outside of third wave therapies, there is a growing trend towards more individualised, process-based interventions (e.g. Process-Based CBT) guided by functional assessment. Despite the central importance of functional assessment in contemporary psychological interventions, these skills are rarely taught in psychology training programs, and practical accounts of how to engage in functional conceptualisation in adult psychotherapy are surprisingly difficult to find in the literature. For the generalist clinician working with a broad range of complex presenting issues, there are few practical guidelines for the flexible use of functional assessment in day-to-day outpatient clinical work.
This workshop will provide clinicians with an introduction to the core elements of functional behavioural assessment and case conceptualisation, and demonstrate practical skills for applying these processes to a range of real-world presenting issues. Clinicians will be taught a range of ways to use functional assessment to simplify complex presentations, link functional assessment outcomes directly to clinical interventions, and will gain an appreciation of the innately compassionate and non-pathologising stance of the functional contextual approach. As these skills are core to all third wave therapies, the workshop will be of relevance not only to ACT therapists, but also to practitioners of DBT, FAP, BA and other contextual models. The workshop is also well suited to any clinician, irrespective of therapeutic orientation, wishing to learn practical ways of individualising their interventions. The central goal of this workshop is to assist participants to ‘think functionally’ in the therapy room, and use this thinking to guide and tailor their interventions with greater precision to improve clinical outcomes.
This workshop will provide clinicians with an introduction to the core elements of functional behavioural assessment and case conceptualisation, and demonstrate practical skills for applying these processes to a range of real-world presenting issues. Clinicians will be taught a range of ways to use functional assessment to simplify complex presentations, link functional assessment outcomes directly to clinical interventions, and will gain an appreciation of the innately compassionate and non-pathologising stance of the functional contextual approach. As these skills are core to all third wave therapies, the workshop will be of relevance not only to ACT therapists, but also to practitioners of DBT, FAP, BA and other contextual models. The workshop is also well suited to any clinician, irrespective of therapeutic orientation, wishing to learn practical ways of individualising their interventions. The central goal of this workshop is to assist participants to ‘think functionally’ in the therapy room, and use this thinking to guide and tailor their interventions with greater precision to improve clinical outcomes.
Learning outcomes
At the conclusion of this workshop, participants should be able to:
• Understand and implement the basic components of a functional behavioural assessment, and be able to apply these principles to out-of-session as well as in-session client behaviour.
• Participants should also be able to begin to practice using the results of a functional assessment to tailor an individualised intervention, and monitor its effectiveness.
• Understand and implement the basic components of a functional behavioural assessment, and be able to apply these principles to out-of-session as well as in-session client behaviour.
• Participants should also be able to begin to practice using the results of a functional assessment to tailor an individualised intervention, and monitor its effectiveness.
Biography
Brendon Knott is a Clinical Psychologist who has applied Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and contextual behavioural approaches in generalist clinical settings since 2003. He has lectured on ACT and behavioural therapies to undergraduate and postgraduate clinical students at the University of Newcastle (UoN) for the past 8 years, and runs skills training workshops in the areas of ACT, functional analysis, and functional contextual approaches to treatment. He is also currently working as a research Psychologist with the School of Biomedical Sciences (UoN) developing resiliency training programs using contextual behavioural principles in virtual reality. Brendon has a passion for helping clinicians adopt a modern, contextual behavioural perspective on their clinical work. His workshops are designed to help clinicians think and conceptualise from a functional perspective, and to demonstrate and explain relevant contextual behavioural principles in ways that are simple to understand and implement in clinical practice.
