The New York City Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Association
Presents:
The Toxic Impact of the Pandemic on Human Nature: Adapting CBT Strategies to Reduce Psychological Distress
by
Dr. William C. Sanderson
Professor of Psychology and Director of the PhD Program in Clinical Psychology
Hofstra University
Friday, June 26th
11:00am-12:30am
This webinar will be conducted via Zoom.
Register here
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Established professionals, early career professionals, and students from all applied, research, and academic settings are invited to attend.
Topic Description:
CBT does not have an agreed upon and coherent view of human nature that would enable clinicians to have a nuanced perspective on fundamental human motives, including how failure to meet these motives often is paramount to human suffering and psychopathology. An empirical view of human nature from the field of evolutionary psychology will be presented, which the speaker believes should become the foundation of clinical psychology -- including CBT. The understanding of human nature and the adaptational function of emotions will be used to explain why mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and suicide were increasing to an alarming degree in the U.S. well-before the pandemic (i.e., psychological mismatch theory). And the pandemic has greatly accelerated the mental health crisis because it has further disrupted the ability of individuals to satisfy core human needs in the modern environment. Finally, an adaptation of CBT to deal with pandemic-related fear and sadness will be presented, with a focus on facilitating resilience and post-traumatic growth, which is based upon the speaker's recent paper on this topic, The Nature and Treatment of Pandemic-Related Psychological Distress (Sanderson et al., in press).
You will learn:
How to incorporate the concept of fundamental human motives, which comprise an evolutionary defined empirical view of human nature, into clinical work.
How to understand the nature of pandemic-related psychological distress in light of fundamental human motives.
How to adapt various cognitive and behavioral treatment strategies to deal with pandemic-related psychological distress and facilitate resilience.
Speaker Bio:
Dr. William C. Sanderson is Professor of Psychology at Hofstra University where he directs the Anxiety & Depression Clinic. He is also Director of the PhD Program in Clinical Psychology. Dr. Sanderson received his Ph.D. in 1987 working under the mentorship of Dr. David Barlow at the Center for Stress and Anxiety Disorders, University at Albany. He then completed a Fellowship in Cognitive Therapy with Dr. Aaron T. Beck at the Center for Cognitive Therapy, University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Sanderson is a Founding Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy and is presently a Board Member. He has participated on numerous national committees, including the American Psychiatric Association's DSM-IV Anxiety Disorders Workgroup, served as Editor of The Clinical Psychologist, and was the Chair of the American Psychological Association Division of Clinical Psychology's Committee on Science and Practice (a Task Force aimed at identifying and promoting the practice of evidence-based psychological interventions). Dr. Sanderson has published more than 100 articles (including 7 books), primarily in the areas of anxiety, depression, personality disorders, and evidence-based treatments. At present his primary interest is integrating evolutionary psychology and clinical psychology.