Training
Registration closes @12 noon on 16.04.24
In this workshop (and the workshop on Worry 04.05.23) clinicians will be trained to deliver the Winning against Worry and Getting Better Sleep interventions. These are evidence-based psychological therapies that are popular with patients. They have been shown to be effective as standalone therapies for persecutory delusions, and comprise two of the five core components of the Feeling Safe Programme – the most effective psychological treatment for persecutory delusions to date (Freeman et al., 2021).
The workshops are suitable for health professionals who have some experience of working with adults with psychosis and the underlying principles of CBT. Participants may attend one or both workshops. Those who would like to attend the 5-day training in the full Feeling Safe approach can find further information here: https://www.psych.ox.ac.uk/research/oxford-cognitive-approaches-to-psychosis-o-cap/the-feeling-safe-programme
Sleep plays a vital role in sustaining physical and emotional wellbeing. In patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder however, sleep problems are complex, pervasive and often persist without intervention. The latest research shows that sleep problems are a contributory cause (rather than a consequence) of paranoid thoughts and hallucinations. They are therefore an important target for treatment in their own right and may also improve the psychotic experience.
CBT has been developed to address insomnia and is recommended by NICE and international treatment guidelines as the evidence-based treatment of choice. The Oxford Cognitive Approaches to Psychosis research group and Oxford Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute have been leading developments in the application of CBT for sleep problems in psychosis. Our group have completed a series of randomised controlled trials demonstrating the effectiveness of CBT for improving insomnia in this population (Freeman et al., 2017; Sheaves et al., 2018; Freeman et al., 2015).
It is an engaging stand-alone therapy which is popular with patients. It is also one of the five core components of the Feeling Safe programme, which is the most effective psychological treatment for persecutory delusions to date (Freeman et al., 2021).
The workshop will include an overview of the core techniques used to improve insomnia and nightmares and their adaptations for patients with psychotic experiences. This will include modifications for working within both community and inpatient settings. This clinical skills workshop describes the theoretical and empirical background to the intervention as well as the key adaptations needed for patients with psychosis or bipolar disorder. Using presentation, role play, video examples and case studies, participants will observe and practice skills in the assessment, formulation and intervention of sleep problems. By the end of the workshop, participants should be able to confidently use a brief intervention with their own clients.
Recommended Resources (provided to attendees):
Feeling Safe Programme – Treatment manual – Getting better sleep
Freeman, D., Waite, F., Startup, H., Myers, E., Lister, E., McInerney, J., Harvey, A., Geddes, J.,Zaiwalla, Z., Luengo-Fernandez, R., Foster, R., Clifton, L, & Yu, L-M. (2015). Efficacy of cognitivebehavioural therapy for sleep improvement in patients with persistent delusions and hallucinations(BEST): a prospective, assessor-blind, randomised controlled pilot study. Lancet Psychiatry, 2, 975-983.
Waite, F., Evans, N., Myers, E., Startup, H., Lister, R., Harvey, A.G., Freeman, D., 2016a. The patientexperience of sleep problems and their treatment in the context of current delusions andhallucinations. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice. 89, 181–93.
Waite, F., Myers, E., Harvey, A.G., Espie, C.A., Startup, H., Sheaves, B., Freeman, D., 2016b.Treating Sleep Problems in Patients with Schizophrenia. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy.44, 273–287.
Sheaves, B., Isham, L., Bradley, J., Espie, C., Barrera, A., Waite, F., Harvey, A.G., Attard, C.,Freeman, D., 2018. Adapted CBT to Stabilize Sleep on Psychiatric Wards: A TransdiagnosticTreatment Approach. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy. 46, 661–675.
Sheaves, B., Freeman, D., Isham, L., McInerney, J., Nickless, A., Yu, L. M., Rek., S., Bradley, j., Reev, S., Attard, C., Espie, C.A., Foster, R., Wirz-Justice, A., Chadwick, E., & Barrera, A. (2018). Stabilising sleep for patients admitted at acute crisis to a psychiatric hospital (OWLS): an assessor-blind pilot randomised controlled trial. Psychological Medicine, 48(10), 1694-1704.
Sheaves, B., Holmes, E. A., Rek, S., Taylor, K. M., Nickless, A., Waite, F., Germain, A., Espie, C.A., Harrison, P.J., Foster, R. & Freeman, D. (2019). Cognitive behavioural therapy for nightmares for patients with persecutory delusions (nites): an assessor-blind, pilot randomized controlled trial. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 64(10), 686-696.
Reeve, S., Sheaves, B., & Freeman, D. (2019). Sleep disorders in early psychosis: incidence, severity,and association with clinical symptoms. Schizophrenia bulletin, 45(2), 287-295.
Freeman, D., Emsley, R., Diamond, R., Collett, N., Bold, E., Chadwick, E., Isham, L., Bird, J., Edwards,D., Kingdon, D., Fitzpatrick, R., Kabir, T., Waite, F., & Oxford Cognitive Approaches to Psychosis TrialStudy Group (2021). Comparison of a theoretically driven cognitive therapy (the Feeling SafeProgramme) with befriending for the treatment of persistent persecutory delusions: a parallel, single-blind, randomised controlled trial. Lancet Psychiatry, 8, 696-707.
Bond, J., Kenny, A., Mesaric, A., Wilson, N., Pinfold, V., Kabir, T., … & Robotham, D. J. (2022). A lifemore ordinary: A peer research method qualitative study of the Feeling Safe Programme for persecutorydelusions. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice.
Presenter
Louise Isham, Consultant Clinical Psychologist
Louise is a consultant clinical psychologist and NIHR clinical doctoral research fellow. She works for the Oxford Cognitive Approaches to Psychosis (O-CAP), PI Professor Daniel Freeman, and was a trial therapist on the Feeling Safe Study (an RCT testing the effectiveness of the Feeling Safe Programme) and the Oxford Ward sLeep Solution (OWLS) trial (a pilot RCT testing a sleep intervention designed specifically for psychiatric inpatients). She also works for the Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre where she leads the PGCert in Enhanced CBT (Psychosis and Bipolar) course and provides specialist CBTp supervision and training.
Additional Information
Cancellation & changes policy
If you cancel more than 14 days prior to your booked event, we will refund your fee minus a charge of 15% to cover our administration costs. We regret that cancellations 14 days or less before the booked event cannot be refunded or changed/transferred.
If you wish to change/transfer your booking after confirmation we will do our best to accommodate you if you notify us 14 days prior to your booked event, and if there is space to do so. However there will be an administration charge of £15 per change/transfer.
Confidentiality
Workshops often contain clinical material. This is always anonymised as far as possible but delegates are none the less reminded to respect confidentiality.
All that is discussed in your therapy sessions will be treated as confidential, with the following exceptions.
We are required to seek supervision by our professional body (The British Psychological Society or equivalent) as a means of ensuring good practice. We will usually inform your referrer of your progress, but the details that we disclose will be discussed with you. We do have a statutory obligation to break confidentiality under rare circumstances, namely, if we believe that a client is of danger to themselves or to others (under the Mental Health Act, 2001) or if we believe that a child is at actual risk of physical or sexual abuse (The Children Act, Section 47, 1989).
If we felt that it would be helpful to request additional medical, social or legal information, we could only do this with your consent. Similarly, should another medical, social or legal professional request information from us, we would not release this without your consent.
Disclaimer
OCTC makes every effort to ensure that this programme is delivered as advertised. However, should a presenter have to cancel, we will endeavour to find another suitable presenter. We will inform attendees as soon as is reasonably practical and, if requested, will offer a refund. In the rare event that we are unable to substitute a presenter, we may cancel a workshop and refund payments already made by attendees. OCTC will not refund travel and accommodation costs that attendees may incur.
All the workshops in this programme are carried out by highly experienced therapists and trainers. The individual presenter is responsible for the content of the workshop and any views expressed do not necessarily represent those of OCTC.
Although highly informative, none of the open workshops or workshop series confer a formal qualification or assurance of competence in CBT (or a specialist area of CBT) since we are unable to assess attendee competency within the training event. However, credit and award-bearing courses that lead to formal qualifications are offered by OCTC in conjunction with the University of Oxford. More about these courses is available on our website www.octc.uk
Levels of competence
Before booking a place on a workshop, please ensure that it is pitched at the appropriate level of competence for you. The guide to levels is as follows:
Basic
Basic workshops are for people from a variety of backgrounds, who have at least one year’s clinical experience. Cognitive behavioural knowledge is not necessary for attendance at these workshops, though in practice, a number of attendees will have some skills in the area, and are refreshing/updating their knowledge.
Intermediate
Intermediate workshops are directed towards people who already have knowledge of CBT, and experience in using cognitive formulations and treatment methods – for instance, they are able to identify and test automatic thoughts, and design behavioural experiments. Most participants will be using CBT as part of their clinical practice, and may still be acquiring new CBT skills.
Advanced
Advanced courses are directed towards those professionals who use CBT routinely as part of their clinical practice. They have probably undertaken a significant number of training courses and/or workshops, and use a broad range of cognitive behavioural strategies to work with a range of presentations at varying levels of complexity.
Making reservations
Bookings can only be considered confirmed after we have received your online registration or application form and payment (or invoicing details, including an official purchase order document).
The registration closing date for each workshop is shown on the workshop description page. Please note that no applications received after this deadline will be permitted.
If you are booking a workshop place for someone else, you must complete your own details in the billing field, but ENTER THE WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS NAME/ADDRESS in the shipping field. If you wish to order items using a paper order form instead of online, you can view or download an order form in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format. Once downloaded, print it out, fill it in, and send off with your payment [cheque made payable to OXFORD HEALTH NHS FOUNDATION TRUST] to the address on the form.
Refreshments
The cost of the workshops includes hot drinks on arrival, mid-morning and mid-afternoon, but not usually lunch unless stated. However, for workshops that do include lunch, if you have any special dietary requirements please let us know at the time of application.
Special needs
We welcome applications from diverse backgrounds. If you have any particular needs, please contact us
prior to booking.