Week 5B: A New Continuum Approach to Resolving Depression 

Confirmed Date and Location: August 17-21 2009, Location: Deerhurst Resort

Our seminars run from 9:00 to 12:15 daily, allowing registrants to make use of the resort amenities in the afternoons.

Overview:

Depression and symptoms of depression are the “common cold” of mental health, both prevalence and incidence continue to rise.  Both alone and in combination with other disorders, depressive syndromes have been demonstrated to be among the leading causes of disability in the developed and developing world even when compared with medical problems.  The scope of the problem is enormous, and the breadth of clinical presentations of depression just as troubling for many clinicians.  This workshop presents an emerging management and treatment strategy that acknowledges the complexity and breadth of depression experiences in the population.  The underpinnings of the approach involve an assessment of chronicity and severity of depression symptoms and matching of interventions of person and problem.  In this workshop  participants will learn about a “staged” approach to evidence based psychosocial treatments for depression depending on need.  A variety of approaches will be discussed, ranging on a gradient from simple self-monitoring and bibliotherapy, to behavioural approaches, toward full treatment protocols for acute depression including IPT and CBT, “schema” based methods for severe depression, and strategies to be used between depressive episodes to prevent relapse.  Video and case vignettes will be used to demonstrate techniques throughout the workshop.

Topics:

Participants will learn how to use a simple toolkit to assess severity and chronicity of depression in order to determine stage of intervention, which psychosocial treatments offer the best match for the patient’s level of difficulty, working knowledge of behavioural and cognitive approaches to depression symptoms, an overview of  the effective ingredients of IPT, schema therapy, and long-term psychotherapeutic methods for depression, emerging findings on novel treatments for depression.

Faculty:

Peter Bieling, Ph.D., Associate and Manager of the Mood & Anxiety in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences (McMaster University) and St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton, Ontario. 

Accreditation:

This educational program meets the accreditation criteria of The College of Family Physicians of Canada, and has been accredited for 15 MAINPRO-M1 credits. This educational program is approved as an Accredited Group Learning Activity under Section 1 of the Framework of CPD options for the Maintenance of Certification Program of The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, for a maximum of 15 hours. Each physician should claim only those hours of credit that he/she actually spent in the educational activity. This educational program is designated for a maximum of 15 hours in Category 1 credit towards the AMA Physician's Recognition Award. Each physician should claim only those hours of credit that he/she actually spent in the educational activity.

Study Credits:

The program offered in this week meets the accreditation criteria of the College of Family Physicians of Canada, and we will be applying for accreditation for 15 MAINPRO-M1 credits. As an organization accredited by the Committee of Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools, the Continuing Medical Education Program at McMaster University designates 15 Category 1 credits of the Physician's Recognition Award of the American Medical Association for each weekly seminar. Professional development credits may be given to Social Workers and Nurses. Attendees are advised to retain their letters of attendance.