This presentation was last reviewed on July 16, 2024, and broadcast live online on May 13, 2022, from 2:45 PM - 4:15 PM ET. 

This presentation was last reviewed on July 15, 2024, and broadcast live online on May 13, 2022, from 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM ET. 

In this lecture, we will be discussing the use of punishment in school and residential treatment settings. When implemented, punishment procedures produce side effects that when improperly addressed, can teach learned helplessness, elicit intense emotional responding, and other more severe behaviors that may inhibit an individual from their schooling and obtaining coping skills. To combat this, staff training on the conceptualization of punishment, where and when punishment should be used, planning for the side effects of punishment need to be taught. Currently, there is a misunderstanding and therefore a misuse of punishment in the school and treatment settings that have led to an increase in the intensity and variety of problem behaviors from their youths. The intention of this lecture is to provide perspective and resources to staff serving these vulnerable populations.

An extensive empirical literature attests that personality factors (in both therapist and patient) account for the lion’s share of variance in psychotherapy outcome. Personality variables also affect whether patients cooperate with medication regimens. Although medical centers, counseling services, and clinics lack the resources to do long-term individual treatment of patients with personality disorders, clinicians in these settings can increase their effectiveness in reaching more limited goals by taking patients’ personality patterns (whether pathological or not) into account. This workshop will be oriented toward helping front-line clinicians improve their effectiveness by orienting treatment toward the individual personalities of their patients.