BPD Compass: Introductory Webinar

Live – January 30, 2026 at 1-4PM EST

BPD webinar

Friday January 30, 2026
1-4PM Eastern

APA Approve Sponsor logo
PERSONALITY COMPASS

BPD Compass

A Cognitive-Behavioral Roadmap for Personality Symptoms

For too long, clinicians have been taught that treating borderline personality disorder requires years of specialized training and complex, multi-year treatment protocols. BPD Compass (Cognitive-Behavioral Modules for Personality Symptoms) offers a different path.

Developed by Dr. Shannon Sauer-Zavala and colleagues, BPD Compass translates cutting-edge personality science into a short-term, modular treatment that efficiently targets the underlying personality processes—emotion dysregulation, impulsivity, and relational instability—that cut across BPD and its most common comorbidities (e.g., anxiety, depression, PTSD, substance use).

By focusing on personality traits rather than diagnostic categories, BPD Compass provides clinicians with a powerful yet flexible framework to help patients achieve meaningful change—even in the context of complex presentations. This transdiagnostic, personality-focused approach enables therapists to address multiple co-occurring problems at once, streamlining treatment without sacrificing depth or precision.

Your Instructor, Shannon Sauer-Zavala, PhD

Clinical Psychologist/Associate Professor

Dr. Sauer-Zavala is Licensed Clinical Psychologist with over 15 years of experience working with people struggling with borderline personality disorder. She is also an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Kentucky (UK) where she develops new treatments for common mental health conditions and tests them in rigorous clinical trials.

Dr. Sauer-Zavala is the lead developer of a short-term intervention personality difficulties to address common mental health problems – COMPASS (a loose acronym for Cognitive Behavioral Modules for Personality Symptoms).

Dr. Shannon Sauer-Zavala

Fast forward to this semester when I am now working with clients. Your training recently helped me connect with a client’s experience with borderline personality disorder and the workbook is informing my treatment approach. I feel much more equipped and prepared to help my client because of your training and resources. Learning and connections like this will never cease to be a delight to me, and I am thankful for you and what you do.

Stefphanie Gambrell - Counseling Psychology Graduate Student in an email a year after attending a Compass Workshop!

Shannon was great! It's hard to keep people's attention on a summer Friday and I think she did a wonderful job. As usual, Shannon is brilliant and engaging 🙂

Anonymous Feedback from a workshop participant
ATtendees Can Expect....

Educational Objectives

01
Learning Objective one
Participants will be able to articulate a case conceptualization for borderline personality disorder based on the personality dimensions that maintain symptoms of this condition: negative affect, antagonism, and disinhibition
02
Learning Objective Two
Participants will be able to describe strategies to customize the delivery of BPD Compass based on the presentation of individual patients.
03
Learning Objective Three
Participants will be able to describe the application of therapeutic components of BPD Compass with patients with BPD and commonly occurring conditions
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