Interpersonal Metacognitive Therapy for Personality Disorders: Training in A Coruña

What is Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy?

TIM is an approach developed specifically for the treatment of personality disorders, providing structured procedures and clear tools for the formulation of complex cases. It offers therapists from various orientations a framework for understanding and modifying maladaptive interpersonal schemas, integrating experiential techniques and metacognitive work.

This model understands that schemas are not merely ideas about oneself and others, but emotionally charged configurations, behavioral dispositions, and somatic experiences. Therefore, it combines cognitive analysis with interventions focused on the body, imagination, and the therapeutic relationship, with the goal of promoting healthier and more flexible social functioning.

Why choose TIM for your training?

People with personality disorders often interpret their experiences through rigid mental patterns, which limit their ability to adapt and their relational well-being. These patterns not only perpetuate interpersonal problems but also contribute to a high rate of comorbidity with mood disorders, anxiety, PTSD, OCD, eating disorders, addictions, and behaviors such as aggression or self-harm.

Training in TIM teaches how to:

• Identify, assess, and reconstruct maladaptive interpersonal schemas based on the patient’s autobiographical memories.

• Work experientially with mental images, somatic correlates, and emotions associated with these schemas.

• Simultaneously address the core of the personality disorder and comorbid symptoms, integrating them into a shared formulation.

The goal is not only to reduce symptoms but also to promote metacognitive differentiation (a critical distancing from one’s own schemas) and experiential access to a “healthy self” that serves as a reference point for change.

What is this module about?

This module focuses on the specific challenges posed by personality disorders when they co-occur with multiple symptoms and behavioral problems. TIM proposes an individualized approach that allows for the inclusion of all relevant issues in the therapeutic process and the selection of the most appropriate techniques for each case.

Key competencies addressed include:

• Continuously monitor and update the therapeutic contract and the therapeutic alliance.

• Address maladaptive beliefs about oneself and others while addressing symptoms and problem behaviors.

• Integrate into a single theoretical framework the processes underlying interpersonal problems and those maintaining specific symptoms (OCD, PTSD, eating disorders, behavioral dysfunctions, etc.).

In addition, the module explores narcissistic psychopathology in depth, breaking it down into specific components to guide intervention:

• Difficulty understanding one’s own mental states and a tendency toward intellectualization.

• Interpersonal patterns centered on social status, which fuel fluctuations between grandiosity and feelings of failure.

• Difficulty relying on a stable internal drive for action.

• Maladaptive coping strategies (withdrawal, contempt, perfectionism, emotional detachment).

• Diminished ability to understand others.

Methodology: An experiential and practical approach

TIM considers experiential work to be a key component in the treatment of patients with severe interpersonal problems. This module describes and provides practice in techniques such as guided visualization and rewriting, role-playing, the two-chair technique, and sensorimotor exercises, always within a case formulation that is shared and updated with the patient.

The training will demonstrate how to:

• Propose these techniques to the patient, under what conditions, and with what specific objectives.

• Apply them and evaluate their effects, regulating emotional intensity and safety at all times.

• Use metacommunication to prevent and repair ruptures in the therapeutic alliance, transforming the relationship into a safe space for jointly reflecting on the mental states of both parties.

Although the module can be taken independently, it is recommended that you have previously completed Levels 1 and 2 to get the most out of the content.