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Interpersonal and Attachment-Based Principles of Interpersonal Reconstructive Therapy for Severe and Chronic Problems of Comorbid Disorders
This presentation will be an ONLINE VIRTUAL LIVE on September 26, 2025, from 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm ET. While this activity is LIVE and can only be viewed during the time specified, the evaluation will be available online until October 24, 2025. Go to the Register tab above to learn how to participate for continuing education credit, watch the broadcast and download the slides.
Maladaptive relationship patterns that are learned in early attachment relationships can be replicated with others in adulthood in predictable patterns referred to as “copy process” in Interpersonal Reconstructive Therapy (IRT, Benjamin, 2003/2006; 2018). The underlying attachment-based motivations to repeat old patterns can provide barriers to response to standard treatments while also holding the keys to change with even difficult or “stuck” cases.
This presentation will provide an overview of IRT principles, including review of empirical evidence supporting their use. Case illustrations will emphasize use of an interpersonal case formulation to tailor treatment for severe and chronic problems involving diagnostic comorbidity and personality pathology. Ultimately, IRT seeks to help patients become aware of copied interpersonal and intrapsychic patterns, and the role they play in maintaining connection with internalized attachment figures. From there, the goal is to help a patient differentiate from the “family in the head” and pursue healthy behaviors and self-concepts.
Target Audience
This activity is intended for psychologists, social workers, counselors, and other mental health professionals.
Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of this activity, attendees will be able to:
- Define relationship behavior with the self and others using the Structural Analysis of Social Behavior interpersonal model.
- Identify how patterns learned with attachment figures can shape and motivate problem behaviors in the present
- Describe how to enhance therapeutic responsiveness by addressing “family in the head”, especially with stuck or nonresponsive patients
- Appraise behavior using the three underlying dimensions of the Structural Analysis of Social Behavior model
- Judge presence of copy process repetitions in clinical material
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Price: Free. All courses offered through Sheppard Pratt are free of charge. There is no need to cancel if you cannot attend or complete a course, as no refund is necessary. Not completing an activity acts as a cancellation.
For more information on how to participate in this course, please read to the bottom of the page to review all of the directions.
For directions on how to participate in the program, refer to the FAQ page.
To participate in the interactive synchronous distance learning format course, you will download the handout, watch a webcast of the live broadcast hosted through Notified, and complete the required posttest, evaluation, and attestation for credit. A 75% is required for the posttest. You may retake it as many times as necessary to achieve that score. Once you have completed all the components of the Course Progress bar, the certificate will be available for immediate download. The certificate will also be saved in your account transcript.
Attendees claiming APA and ACE credits must attend the entire course. No partial credit will be awarded. If you are late to the event or need to leave early, you should not claim APA or ACE credits.
Outline of Activity:
1:00- 1:05 pm: Introduction
1:06- 1:50 pm: Presentation
1:51- 2:00 pm: Q&A
2:00 pm: End of event
Registration closes on September 26, 2025, at 12:59 pm ET. The course expires and cannot be completed after October 24, 2025.
Please contact [email protected] if you have questions, concerns, grievances, or for ADA accommodations.
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TO EARN CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT FOR YOUR ATTENDANCE
PRIOR TO THE EVENT: Log into your Sheppard Pratt Ethos account. Select the activity by series, title, or speaker name. Go to the REGISTER tab and click on the green rectangle TAKE COURSE button, and follow the prompts. You will not be able to work further until you are marked attended by entering the codeword. You do not need the codeword to watch the live broadcast. The link for the broadcast is located on the Overview tab of the course page. There is no Pretest requirement for this course.
REGISTER TO WATCH THE BROADCAST: There is a separate registration that you must complete to attend the live broadcast. Click on the Registration link below. Enter your first name, last name, and email address. When it is time for the live broadcast, you can use the link below again. Click on the ALREADY REGISTERED button at the bottom of the page and enter the email address you registered with to enter the broadcast. The link to watch the broadcast will be live at 12:30 pm ET.
https://onlinexperiences.com/Launch/QReg/ShowUUID=68782183-1B35-4D47-93B9-05B36C468251
The codeword will be announced during the live event. The codeword is used to prove you attended the event. You will not need it to access the broadcast.
The broadcast can not be accessed through cme.sheppardpratt.org. You will need to use the link provided above to watch the broadcast.
DOWNLOAD THE HANDOUT.
Use this link to download the handout. This handout will be available for download on Thursday, September 25, 2025, at 12:00 pm ET.
Handout: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OhLEbQ7dfyiqub453-ofeLQdK2fiRocn/view?usp=sharing
DURING THE EVENT: Because you will view this event online, there will not be a sign in sheet. Instead of signing in, a codeword will be given during the lecture for you. The codeword will be announced during the live broadcast. There are two ways to enter the codeword: by text/SMS & through the website. To use the website to enter the codeword to be marked attended, you will go to https://cme.sheppardpratt.org/code and enter the codeword there. To use SMS to enter the codeword, you will text the codeword to 410-291-8061. To save time, add this phone number to your contacts. Once you enter the codeword, you can click on the MY ACCOUNT>PENDING COURSES and you will see the course listed there. From this tab you will be able to complete your course requirements for credit.
**A note regarding entering the codeword. Our codeword process is open for almost 4 weeks. Due to rising attendance numbers at our events, our website is more prone to experience high volumes and experience lagging as a result. It is recommended that you wait to enter the codeword and log back into the website after the broadcast is over to avoid any issues. If you notice the system is slow, please try again later. **
AFTER THE LECTURE: Once you enter the codeword, you can click on MY ACCOUNT>PENDING COURSES and you will see the course listed there. Click on the course title. Click on the TAKE COURSE tab then click on the TAKE COURSE button. Please use the navigation buttons located in the lower right corner to continue throughout the course for best results. Complete the posttest, evaluation, and credit designation to claim continuing education credits. A 75% is required for the posttest. You may retake it as many times as necessary to achieve that score. You must complete each component of the COURSE PROGRESS BAR to earn credit for the activity. Your transcript will reflect all completed events.
Questions? Please look at our FAQ page https://cme.sheppardpratt.org/content/faq or email [email protected].
This event can be taken as an interactive synchronous distance learning course. You will download the handout, watch the live broadcast, and complete the required posttest, evaluation, and attestation for credit. A 75% is required for the posttest. You may retake it as many times as necessary to achieve that score. Once you have completed all the components of the Course Progress bar, the certificate will be available for immediate download. The certificate will also be saved in your account transcript.
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There is no commercial support for this activity.
About the speaker
Ken Critchfield, Ph.D. is a tenured Associate Professor and Program Director of the Clinical Psychology Program of the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology of Yeshiva University. He is the author, with Lorna Smith Benjamin, of the 2024 APA publication, Structural Analysis of Social Behavior: A Primer for Clinical Use. Dr. Critchfield’s research, teaching, and clinical work emphasizes interpersonal and attachment-based principles of change implemented in Interpersonal Reconstructive Therapy (IRT: Benjamin, 2003; 2018). Dr. Critchfield is a Fellow of APA’s Society for Advancement of Psychotherapy (Div. 29), has held leadership roles with the Society for Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI), and has long been a member of the Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR). He maintains an independent psychotherapy practice serving clients in VA and NY.
Disclosure Statements
Sheppard Pratt holds the standard that its continuing medical education programs should be free of commercial bias and conflict of interest. In accord with Sheppard Pratt's Disclosure Policy, as well as standards of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and the American Medical Association (AMA), all planners, reviewers, speakers and persons in control of content have been asked to disclose any relationship he /she has with any entity producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing health care goods or services consumed by, or used on, patients, during the past 24 months. All planners, reviewers and speakers have also been asked to disclose any payments accepted for this lecture from any entity besides Sheppard Pratt, and if there will be discussion of any products, services or off-label uses of product(s) during this presentation.
Kenneth L. Critchfield, PhD, reports that he is the owner of Interpersonal Reconstructive Therapy Institute and receives royalties from the American Psychological Association during the past 24 months. He will be discussing the use of the Intrex Questionnaire in this presentation. All relationships have been mitigated through review.
Event Planners/Reviewers Disclosures: The following event planners and/or reviewers are reported as having no financial interest, arrangement or affiliation with any entity producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing health care goods or services consumed by, or used on, patients, during the past 24 months: Todd Peters, MD, Michael C. Hann, MD, MBA, Ronald Means, MD, Rajeev Krishna, MD, PhD, MBA, Louis Marino, MD, Devi Bhuyan, PsyD, Manan Shah, MD, Vittoria DeLucia, MD, Chad J. Lennon, MD, Crystal DeVito, PhD, Faith Dickerson, PhD, MPH, Carrie Etheridge, LCSW-C, April Sobiech, LCSW-C, Latia Suite, LCSW-C, Tom Flis, MS, BCBA, LBA, LCPC, Lisa Illum, MLIS, MEd, and Jennifer Tornabene.
Psychologist Statements: Sheppard Pratt is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Sheppard Pratt maintains the responsibility for this program and its contents. Sheppard Pratt designates this educational activity for a maximum of 1.0 contact hours for Psychologists.
Sheppard Pratt is authorized by the State Board of Examiners of Psychologists as a sponsor of continuing education. Sheppard Pratt takes responsibility for the content, quality, and scientific integrity of this CE activity. Sheppard Pratt designates this educational activity for a maximum of 1.0 contact hours for Psychologists.
Social Worker Statements: Sheppard Pratt, 2104, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 4/22/2025- 4/22/2026. Social workers completing this course receive 1.0 Clinical continuing education credits.
Sheppard Pratt is authorized by the Board of Social Work Examiners of Maryland to offer continuing education for Social Workers. Sheppard Pratt takes responsibility for the content, quality, and scientific integrity of this CE activity. This activity is approved for 1.0 contact hours in Category I credits for Social Workers.
Counselor Statement: Sheppard Pratt has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 5098. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Sheppard Pratt is solely responsible for all aspects of the program. This activity is available for 1.0 NBCC clock hours.
Available Credit
- 1.00 ACEP NBCC clock hours
- 1.00 American Psychological AssociationSheppard Pratt is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Sheppard Pratt maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
- 1.00 Category I credits for Social Workers
- 1.00 Psychologists
- 1.00 Participation
Directions to attend and complete the activity for credit are located on the Overview tab.
Click the Take Course button to proceed into the course to complete the requirements for credit.
Required Hardware/software
Optimal System Configuration
Flash Player: Adobe Flash Player 10.1+
Browser: Firefox 3+, Internet Explorer 8.0+, Safari 4.0+, or Google Chrome 7.0+
Operating System: Windows XP+ or Mac OS X 10.4+
Internet Connection: 1 Mbps or higher
Minimum Requirements
Windows PC: 500-MHz Pentium II; Windows XP or higher; 128 MB RAM; Video Card at least 64MB of video memory; Sound Card at least 16-bit; Macromedia Flash Player 10 or higher, audio playback with speakers for programs with video content; Firefox 1.1+, Internet Explorer 7.0+, Safari 1.0+, Google Chrome, or Opera
Macintosh: Mac OS X 10.3 or higher with latest updates installed; 1.83MHz Intel Core Duo or faster; RAM: 128MB or more; Video Card: at least 64MB of video memory; Sound Card: at least 16-bit
Hardware/Software Specifications
This internet-based CME activity is best experienced using Internet Explorer 8+, Mozilla Firefox 3+, Safari 4+. This Web site requires that JavaScript and session cookies be enabled. Certain activities may require additional software to view multimedia, presentation, or printable versions of the content. These activities will be marked as such and will provide links to the required software. That software may be: Adobe Flash, Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Windows Media Player.