TRAINING

Training is available on the use of the CAPP instruments – the CAPP Interview and the CAPP-IRF. Training takes place over two days and begins with an overview of the construct of psychopathy indicating what a new measure will add to the evaluation of this critical construct. The CAPP instruments are then described and each of the stages of the assessment process is demonstrated with video clips and interview excerpts. Practice exercises allow trainees to develop their skills in the use of both tools and have questions and queries answered at the time. A practice scoring exercise and a discussion about the contribution of CAPP assessments to formulation and risk management planning concludes the training.

Training in the CAPP instruments has three objectives:

1. to give attendees a summary of the most up-to-date research findings relevant to psychopathy, the assessment of personality disorder, and formulation;
2. to give attendees an overview of the CAPP instruments and their use with clients in clinical settings and in research; and
3. to give attendees guidance on using the findings of a CAPP assessment in a formulation relevant to personality, risk or treatment.

The CAPP assessments can be used to make very detailed assessments of the personality presentations of clients, which will be a valuable contribution to work on clinical formulation and the measurement of change in response to treatment.

USER QUALIFICATIONS

CAPP training is suitable for experienced practitioners and researchers in the fields of psychiatry, psychology and nursing who are already trained in the assessment of psychopathy and who use structured assessments of personality disorder in their work with clients or research participants in forensic hospital or correctional settings.

VALUE OF TRAINING

The development and delivery of a number of training events has already facilitated the CAPP research and development process in a number of ways. First, training allows the instrument to be subject to wide-ranging discussion by experienced practitioners who demand high quality assessment processes in their work in the criminal justice system. This feedback has included suggestions on, for example, improving the wording and the order of items, use of probe questions, the information gathering process, and the interpretation of findings in the context of a risk formulation. Feedback from trained practitioners has therefore improved the quality and the user-friendliness of the instrument itself and the efficiency of assessment process.

Second, feedback from trainees has led to the development of specific materials that support the CAPP assessment process, such as the Glossary. The Glossary contains dictionary definitions of each of the trait descriptive adjectives used in the CAPP. It provides essential support to the assessment process by helping assessors be clear about the differences among the traits on which they are rating their clients. The Glossary is therefore a contribution towards ensuring the consistency with which the CAPP is applied, which will be evident in measurements of the reliability of the instrument. The Glossary was developed as a direct result of feedback from training.

Finally, feedback from training and the experience of using and delivering training on the CAPP is informing the team about its optimal use as a formulation aid. This very practical use of the instrument has tremendous appeal to trainees in this and other courses on personality disorder and risk such that all are being developed to include more input on formulation. Indeed, recent and forthcoming publications detail this process. The impetus to develop skills in this area came about as a direct result of the development of the CAPP and feedback from training.

CAPP TRAINING WORKSHOPS

Two-day training workshops are led by Caroline Logan and David Cooke. To organise a CAPP training workshop in your country or local area, and for general questions about CAPP training, contact any of the three developers.