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Live Webinar

2-Day Borderline Personality Disorder Treatment Workshop

$459.99 Standard
DEC
16-17
2026
8:00 AM - 4:00 PM (CST)
Schedule at a glance
Wed, 12/16/2026 8:00 AM-4:00 PM CST
Thu, 12/17/2026 8:00 AM-4:00 PM CST
Register Now
Stream on your own time
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DEC
16-17
2026
8:00 AM - 4:00 PM (CST)
Schedule at a glance
Wed, 12/16/2026 8:00 AM-4:00 PM CST
Thu, 12/17/2026 8:00 AM-4:00 PM CST
Register Now
Stream on your own time
Add to Cart

This training gives you the skills, structure, and interventions to treat clients with BPD

  • Core treatment principles and an easy-to-follow treatment framework
  • Diagnostic interview strategies and how to evaluate treatability
  • How to guidance on de-escalating crises, boundary-setting and managing suicide risk
  • Proven DBT tools and best practices

 

The emotional intensity. The boundary testing. The crisis calls. The sessions that leave you second-guessing. And underneath it all, the quite worry:

Am I actually helping – or just managing the chaos?

BPD is one of the most misdiagnosed, stigmatized, and misunderstood conditions in clinical practice – and most clinicians were never given in-depth training on treating it.

This intensive two-day workshop changes that.

You’ll join Ellen Biros, LCSW, C-PD, a Certified Personality Disorder Treatment Provider with over 25 years of clinical experience and an adjunct professor and author who’s trained thousands of therapists worldwide.

Over two days, she’ll give you a complete clinical framework that covers assessment, differential diagnosis, risk management, and structured, evidence-based treatments …

…PLUS walk you through case studies and demonstrations that show you exactly what effective intervention looks like in the therapy room, not just in therapy.

You’ll learn how to stay out of the drama triangle, hold boundaries without rupturing the alliance, create real accountability, and protect yourself from the burnout this work is notorious for.

Over two days, you’ll learn to:

  • Diagnose BPD and distinguish it from bipolar, narcissistic personality, and trauma-related conditions
  • Assess treatability and build a realistic, structured treatment plan
  • De-escalate crises and interrupt the patterns that derail therapy
  • Set boundaries that hold under pressure
  • Manage suicide risk and self-harm in clients with BPD
  • Navigate countertransference and protect yourself from burnout

Whether you want to specialize in personality disorder treatment or simply want to feel fully prepared the next time one of these clients is on your schedule …

… this training gives you the skills, structure, and tools to treat BPD.

Register now.

We’re so confident this training will make you a more capable, more confident clinician that it’s backed by our 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Here's What You'll Learn

DAY 1: UNDERSTANDING BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER: DIAGNOSIS, DEVELOPMENT, AND CLINICAL PRESENTATION

 

Foundations of Personality and Personality Disorders

  • Understanding Personality
    • Definition of personality and enduring psychological patterns
    • Components of personality development
    • Interaction of temperament, environment, and attachment
    • Distinguishing personality traits vs. personality disorders
  • What Makes Personality “Disordered”
    • Adaptive vs maladaptive personality functioning
    • Personality disorders as characterological conditions
    • Long-term functional impairment across life domains
    • Cultural expectations and personality pathology
  • DSM-5-TR™ Framework for Personality Disorders
    • Diagnostic criteria for personality disorders
    • Alternative DSM-5™ Model for Personality Disorder
    • Personality disorder clusters
  • Prevalence and clinical challenges

Recognize Personality Disorders in Clinical Practice

  • Clinical Interview Indicators
    • Ego-syntonic behavior patterns
    • External locus of control
    • Chronic interpersonal conflict
    • Difficulty forming collaborative therapeutic alliances
  • Behavioral and Relational Warning Signs
    • “Therapist hopping”
    • Chronic instability in relationships and work
    • Recurrent crises and life disruptions
    • Escalating interpersonal drama
  • The Drama Triangle in Personality Disorders
    • Victim, rescuer, persecutor
    • Role shifts in clinical relationships
    • How therapists become pulled into dysfunctional roles
  • Identify personality patterns in session

Clinical Framework for Treating Personality Disorders

  • Working with personality vs. symptoms
  • Core principles for treatment
  • Essential clinical competencies
  • Burnout prevention strategies
  • Exercise: Therapist Resilience Reflection

Borderline Personality Disorder – Clinical Overview

  • Historical Development of the Diagnosis
    • Early conceptualization of “borderline” conditions
    • Contributions from psychoanalytic theory
    • Evolution of modern diagnostic frameworks
  • Define Borderline Personality Disorder
    • Instability in emotional regulation
    • Disturbances in identity and self-image
    • Interpersonal hypersensitivity
    • Impulsivity and behavioral dysregulation
  • DS-5-TR™ Diagnostic Criteria for BPD
  • Exercise: Rapid Interpretation: The Meaning-Making Process

Epidemiology, Development, and Risk Factors for BFD

  • Prevalence
  • Gender differences
  • Socioeconomic vulnerabilities
  • Developmental risk factors
  • Biological contributors
  • Cultural considerations in borderline personality disorder

 

DAY 2: TREATMENT, RISK MANAGEMENT, AND CLINICAL INTERVENTION STRATEGIES

 

Core Psychological Features of BFD

  • Identify disturbance
  • Cognitive distortions
  • Emotional dysregulation
  • Interpersonal instability

Differential Diagnosis

  • Distinguishing BPD from Bipolar Disorder
    • Mood instability vs mood episodes
    • Environmental vs neurological triggers
    • Emotional depth and empathy differences
  • Other differential diagnoses

Assessment and Treatability Evaluation

  • Diagnostic Interview Strategies
    • Evaluate general personality disorder criteria
    • Identify long-term relational patterns
  • Standardized Assessment Tools
  • BPD-specific measures
  • Evaluating treatability

Management Strategies for BPD

  • Purpose of Clinical Management
    • Reduce harm and escalation
    • Stabilize functioning
    • Prevent therapeutic rupture
  • When to Use management vs treatment
  • Staying Out of the Drama Triangle
    • Slow emotional escalation
    • Maintain therapist neutrality
    • Avoid emotional blackmail
  • Identify Behavioral Targets
    • Focus on one behavior at a time
    • Interrupt escalation patterns
    • Reinforce adaptive behaviors

Boundaries, Therapeutic Language, Treatment Goals and More

  • Effective boundary-setting
  • Language that escalates conflict
  • Therapeutic neutrality
  • Treatment Goals
  • Treatment Contracts
  • Responding to Contract Violations

The Borderline Personality Disorder Treatment Toolbox

  • Expanding the Self
  • Strengthening the Observing Ego
  • Reducing Drama
  • Building Problem-Solving Capacity
  • DBT Skills for BPD
  • The biosocial model: understanding emotion dysregulation as the core of BPD
  • Dialectics in practice: balancing acceptance and change
  • Mindfulness – building the “wise mind” and reducing reactivity
  • Distress Tolerance – crisis survival skills (TIPP, radical acceptance, self-soothing) to replace self-harm and impulsive behaviors
  • Emotion Regulation – identifying, labeling, and modulating intense emotions; reducing emotional vulnerability
  • Interpersonal Effectiveness – DEAR MAN, GIVE, and FAST skills for boundaries and relationships
  • Chain analysis: mapping the links from trigger to problem behavior
  • Research, risks, and limitations

Psychopharmacology in BPD

  • Medication Classes Used in BPD
  • Limitations of Medication

Suicide Risk and Self-Harm Management

  • Suicide Risk in BPD
  • Non-suicidal self-injury as emotional regulation
  • Risk Assessment Strategies

Ethics, Supervision, and Professional Boundaries

  • The 4 Nonnegotiables in working with BPD
  • Clinician Self-care
  • Clinician’s Responses in Treatment Outcome
  • Navigating Countertransference
  • Case Study Application

Everything You're Getting

  • Two Full Days of live video content
  • Up to 12.5 CE credits
  • Certificate of completion

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2-Day Borderline Personality Disorder Treatment Workshop
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Meet Your Experts

Ellen Biros, LCSW, C-PD

Toggle speaker biography

Ellen Biros, LCSW, C-PD, has over 25 years of experience working with individuals struggling with trauma, anxiety, substance abuse, depression, domestic violence, and personality disorders. She’s a Certified Personality Disorder Treatment Provider (C-PD) and specializes in working with survivors of narcissistic abuse and other manipulative personality disorders. Ms. Biros has trained thousands of therapists on a variety of issues including emotional manipulation, personality disorders, and covert abuse. She’s an adjunct faculty member at The University of Phoenix in the School of Social Work and was formerly an adjunct at Tulane’s University’s School of Social Work. Ms. Biros is the author of Recovering from Narcissistic Mothers: A Daughters Workbook.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Ellen Biros maintains a private practice and has employment relationships with UMass Global and the University of Phoenix. She receives royalties as a published author. Ellen Biros receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Ellen Biros is a member of the National Association of Social Workers, the Georgia Society of Clinical Social Workers, and the American Clinical Social Work Association.
More taught by Ellen Biros, LCSW, C-PD

100% Satisfaction Guarantee

Register for this intensive training course without risk. If you're not completely satisfied, give us a call at 800-844-8260.

We’re that confident you'll find this learning experience to be all that's promised and more than you expected.

PESI App

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Access Period for Live Webcast

You will have access for 90 days after the program for review. For live CE credit, you must watch the live webcast in its entirety at its scheduled time and complete the CE quiz and evaluation within one week. Please note that this requirement may vary by credit type. Please see detailed credit information for specific requirements for each credit type.

Webcast Schedule

Please note: There will be a 70-minute lunch and two 15-minute breaks; one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Lunch and break times will be announced by the speaker and at their discretion. A more detailed schedule is available upon request.

Questions?

Visit our FAQ page at www.pesi.com/faq or contact us at www.pesi.com/info

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Media Type:
Live Webinar
Also Available:
Digital Seminar
Product Code:
LWC151088
Brochure Code:
PWZ96844
Duration:
Two Full Days

ADA Needs

We would be happy to accommodate your ADA needs; please call our Customer Service Department for more information at 1-800-844-8260.

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