DBT Skills Group

Dr. Marsha Linehan founded Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), an evidence-based treatment proven to be efficacious in treating people with a wide range of disorders. It combines cognitive, behavioral, and mindful-based therapies, and at its core, DBT is known as a skills-based modality. If you want to watch brief introduction to Dr. Linehan’s why, this short video says more about how she developed this work and why.

Marsha Linehan defines the term dialectical as the synthesis of opposites. At the core of dialectical thinking is acknowledging that two opposing phenomena can co-occur. You can love someone and be angry at them. This statement exemplifies the idea of dialectics.

You will leave this group a dialectical thinker who understands that two opposing things can co-exist. You will also be equipped with tools to regulate your emotions. Difficulty controlling emotions often affects your ability to handle stress and maintain healthy relationships.

It is not your fault, and here is why. Do you ever wonder why two people may experience the same phenomenon but react differently? It is because we are all unique and are wired differently. The same applies to the environment we are raised in, which plays a crucial role in our ability to regulate emotions.

The DBT biosocial theory helps us understand “why “from a no-blame perspective. Emotional vulnerability is biological and is simply how we are born, making it harder to regulate our emotions. This, when coupled with an invalidating social environment, makes it even more difficult to control emotions. When the environment is invalidating, and a person is predisposed to emotional sensitivity, this leads to pervasive emotion dysregulation. Both the biology and social environment influence your ability to regulate your emotions.

In the first session, you will be formally oriented to the group. You will be familiarized with the group’s structure, expectations, goals, and principles. Participation is critical, and everyone in the group will be invited to share their experiences. The purpose of this group is to foster emotional and social safety. The goal is to help all group members and the therapist agree to work together collaboratively.

The subsequent group sessions will focus on the four primary skills training modules. In the second session, we focus on core mindfulness skills. You will be taught to intentionally observe, describe, and participate in a non-judgmental manner.

Session three will focus on fostering interpersonal effectiveness. Getting along with others while asserting your own needs is fundamental in healthy relationships. This session will focus on building interpersonal effectiveness allowing you to develop and maintain healthy and satisfying relationships.

In session four, we shall focus on emotional regulation skills. The goal is to reduce emotional suffering but not eliminate the emotions. The key is to reduce how vulnerable we are to these emotions and build emotional resilience.

In the fifth session, we focus on learning to bear pain skillfully. We acknowledge that pain is part of life and cannot avoid it. The goal is to be able to tolerate distress without feeling to need to change it. The sixth and final session will be dedicated to wrapping up.

I recognize that sometimes difficulties in our lives stem from the dissonance between what society seems to want and need from us and our thoughts, perceptions, and expectations. We will work together to build on your strengths and resources using several different tenets of DBT to tailor the group experience to your needs. I believe you are unique, and I will respond to your individuality, beliefs, and needs during our work together. I want to work collaboratively with you to help you resolve this dissonance. I believe you already have what you need to heal, and I have the skills and experience to help you walk the walk and make the kinds of change you have not been able to yet on your own.