DBT Skills Training Groups

DBT Skills Groups generally consist of 5 to 9 individuals who meet once a week for 90 minutes. Group members learn skills based on the four modules of DBT: Core Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emotion Regulation, and Distress Tolerance.

The classes are offered in 8 to 10 week segments for a total of 26 sessions, and focus on helping members acquire the coping skills they need to solve problems and achieve their desired goals.  New skills are presented each week and homework is assigned for individuals to practice during the week. The goal is to gain new skills, improve the skills you have, and be able to use the skills when they are really needed, especially during times of intense emotion, crisis, or conflict.

Skills group is not like group psychotherapy.  It is similar to a class in which members learn skills to enhance their lives.

Core Mindfulness Skills

Mindfulness skills in DBT help members focus on the present and calmly attend to what is happening in the here and now. They help people slow down and focus on doing what is needed to care for themselves in the moment. Members learn the value of “wise mind” instead of succumbing to intense emotions and acting in a destructive way.

Distress Tolerance Skills

Distress tolerance helps people get through difficult times when emotions are running high. It teaches people to soothe themselves when they are feeling upset rather than becoming overwhelmed by emotions or hiding from them. This allows people to make wise decisions about how and whether to take action, rather than falling into intense, desperate, and often-destructive emotional reactions. Crisis survival skills are also taught so that one does not engage in problematic behaviors that ultimately make the situation worse. Reality Acceptance Skills focus on helping people fully accept reality and provide a guideline for responding to painful aspects of life.

Interpersonal Effectiveness Skills

Interpersonal effectiveness skills involve helping people understand the needs they have in their relationships, and help develop effective ways of dealing with others in order to get one’s wants or needs met in an effective way. This involves respecting the self and others, listening and communicating effectively, dealing with difficult people, repairing relationships, and being able to say no.

Emotion Regulation Skills

Emotion regulation skills help people understand their emotions. They teach people to decrease the intensity of their feelings, and help them ride out strong emotions without acting on them. They provide education about the function of emotions and how to not be ruled by them.