Guernsey psychotherapists develop training manual

Thirty mental health care staff in Guernsey are to receive new training to treat personality disorders.

Psychotherapists Michelle Ayres and Carol Vivyan have developed a training manual to treat impulsive behaviour.

"The Decider" was written following the award of a £3,000 bursary from the Insurance Corporation in November.

Consultants, probation officers and staff at the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service will be trained in June and September.

Ms Ayres said: "If it weren't for the bursary, we wouldn't be able to do this work and we're pleased that everyone on the course will be able to take away a copy of the manual."

The training will focus on ways in which to deal with borderline personality disorders using Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT).

These include teaching people how to tolerate stress, how to improve interpersonal skills and how to regulate emotions.

In addition to the Guernsey-based training sessions, the two psychotherapists will also travel to Maidstone in Kent to address the south east branch of the British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy (BABCP) about their work.