Problem Solving Therapy: Practical, Evidence-Based, and Transdiagnostic Intervention for Managing Life Stress

Ann Aspnes, PhD, ABPP

March 18, 2020 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm

MPA Office, Columbia, MD or Online Via Zoom

Workshop Instructional Level: Introductory

Problem-Solving Therapy (PST) is a Cognitive Behavioral-based practice for clients presenting with mild-to-moderate depression, anxiety symptoms, adjustment disorder, or behavioral health concerns. When people are overwhelmed by stressors, they are vulnerable to avoidant or impulsive problem-solving efforts, which tend to exacerbate their stress. Through a combination of didactics, clinical demonstrations, and interactive discussions, therapists will learn how to build clients’ skills to manage their emotional distress and systematically solve both large and mundane problems. PST has strong empirical support as a skills-based intervention to reduce psychological distress, increase resilience, and improve functioning in multiple settings, including private practice, behavioral health clinics, and intensive mental health treatment programs.

This workshop is designed to help you:

  • Assess and describe ineffective problem-solving strategies that increase psychological distress and maintain anxiety/depression; 

  • Explain cognitive overload as a barrier to effective problem-solving. 

  •  Present effective strategies for managing cognitive overload, including externalization, simplifying, and visualization.

  • Demonstrate how emotional distress limits effective problem-solving.

  • Utilize slow down techniques to help clients regulate emotions.

  • Engage clients in a systematic four-step problem-solving process.

 

REGISTER 

Dr. Ann Aspnes received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Duke University before going on to further specialize in trauma and behavioral medicine through internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the Durham VA Medical Center. She served over 10+ years in the Department of Veterans Affairs first as a faculty member of the VA/UMB Psychology Internship Consortium in Baltimore, then as an expert Training Program Consultant in the national Prolonged Exposure and Motivational Interviewing VA Dissemination Initiatives, and finally as the Program Coordinator and lead Trainer for the VA Problem Solving Training (PST) Program Dissemination Initiative, part of the VA Office of Mental Health Services and Suicide Prevention. She trained with Drs. Arthur and Christine Nezu, developers of PST for Depression before going on to lead numerous PST workshops and provide consultation on PST practice throughout the Veterans Health Administration. She transitioned in 2017 to private practice in Columbia, MD, where she specializes in the treatment of trauma, anxiety, and behavioral health concerns.