PERSONAL STATEMENT

I have had the pleasure and the honor to serve as ISST Training & Certification (T&C) Coordinator for the last four years and am asking for your support to serve for one more term. I am running for this position because I have a strong commitment to the ISST members and to Schema Therapy (ST) training and would like to complete setting up the needed structures to firmly establish the certification process in ST. I feel strongly about the importance of maintaining the integrity of the ST model while supporting both creative developments and research.

For the last 4 years I have worked with the ISST Executive Board (EB) to put into place a system for training and certification, one that is transparent and applied equally to all members. The number of certified therapists has doubled during this period with the addition of 33 approved ST training programs adding 7 new countries. This period of growth and development has required the effort of many wonderful people internationally who have provided feedback to the EB and been involved in the certification process. It has also required 8-10 hours per week from me as the T&C Coordinator. Anyone running for this position needs to understand the time commitment involved. It has also required good communication skills and the ability to connect and collaborate with various groups internationally. My activity in training internationally (16 countries) has allowed me to hear first-hand a wide range of concerns and needs from schema therapists and those in training. I have established a large network of amazing members active in the training and supervision of ST that allows me to poll opinions of the membership related to T&C issues, and to provide balanced feedback to the Board. One of my original goals for this position was to involve more members in the training and certification process. If you read my annual report on the website you will see what has been accomplished in the T&C area in the last 2 years. Under “additional information” in the same area as the EB reports you will see the number of T & C committees I initiated with the support of the EB and the many dedicated members involved.

Two years ago I did not expect to run again for this position, however as the end of my second term in office approached I realized that there was still work for me to do to be able to pass on to the next coordinator a firmly established transparent process for certification with strong member involvement via well functioning committees, well organized records, and a working interface with the ISST office to be able to provide certificates within 4-6 weeks of application. There are also some projects that I started and would like to complete for the benefit of ISST and future T&C Coordinators. These include:

1. Support the work of the Quality Assurance committee in recommending a system of ongoing evaluation of our training programs and supervisors to the EB.

2. Assisting the committee established to recommend the requirements for treatment programs in ST to be certified by ISST. We have a pilot program in place that needs to be evaluated.

3. Complete the process of applying for affiliate membership in the EABCT and continue supporting ST having a presence at the annual EABCT convention. I initiated this effort, as I believe it benefits ISST to connect with other professional associations.

4. Establish with the EB a committee to plan the next biannual ST Summer School, following upon our successful event in St Petersburg 2015.

5.    Establish a Training & Certification Advisory Board of senior ST trainer-

       supervisors to provide input to the EB on certification requirements including the      qualifications to train in ST by country.

My qualifications for the position of T&C Coordinator

In addition to my willingness to devote the time involved for the duties of this position, I believe that I am well qualified for the position. I am an organized and detail-oriented person, which I think this position requires. Training has been a focus of my professional career over the last 38 years. I spent 25 years on the faculty at Indiana University School of Medicine, training psychiatry residents and clinical psychology interns. I continue as an adjunct professor in clinical psychology providing a ST practicum for PhD students. I am a licensed PhD Clinical Psychologist. Over the last eight years I have provided ST training in 16 countries and written three books on ST. I presented research and training workshops at the American Psychiatric Association and American Psychological Association annual meetings, the World Congress of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, the EABCT, each ISST Conference held and two ISST Summer Schools. I co-direct an ISST approved training program in individual and group ST and support a program in Child-Adolescent ST. I am co-Principal Investigator with Arnoud Arntz for the international multi-site trial of group and individual ST for Borderline personality disorder. I also collaborate and provide supervision for a number of other research projects to evaluate Group ST for various disorders. I served on the executive board of the Indiana Psychological Association in the position of Chair for Social & Cultural Issues for four years.