About this 4-Part Series:

As caring and competent providers, you realize the importance of having readily available tools to share with your clients whether you are meeting for the 1st or the 15th time. Few evidence based practices offer relevant and accessible skills for decreasing distress, or the vulnerability to distress, like Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT).  Although not a comprehensive DBT course, this 4 module seminar provides a snapshot of some of the foundational skills of DBT. Learn how you can integrate DBT-informed skills into your work with clients from a trauma psychologist trained in DBT approaches. (Register for remaining sessions here.)

In this 4 week course, you will learn:

Week 1: Learn how to assess clients' motivation for treatment and identify behavior in the first session

• Identify the three states of mind that govern behavior
• Analyze unhelpful behaviors to decrease their likelihood of recurring in the future
• Discover an overarching problem solving framework to use across situations
• Explore ways to integrate mindfulness practice into your work

Week 2: Learn skills for helping clients validate their emotions 

• Discuss the importance of sensing, naming and managing emotions
• Identify ways to engage clients in their own assessment of their emotions
• Identify techniques to assist clients in developing practical strategies for addressing their emotions appropriately

Week 3: Learn skills for increasing client capacity to manage distress

• Discuss the purpose of emotions from a DBT informed perspective
• List at least two ways clients may benefit from improved emotion regulation
• Identify techniques to assist clients in developing practical strategies for regulating their emotions appropriately

Week 4: Learn skills for setting boundaries, practicing assertiveness and advocating for clients' needs 

• Differentiate characteristics of healthy vs unhealthy relationships
• Identify strategies to help clients clarify goals and objectives in interpersonal situations