Therapy Services for Children and Families
DBT for Children (DBT-C) is an evidence-based treatment for children and families struggling with challenges related to intense emotional dysregulation. It combines traditional DBT with elements of behavioural management training (BMT) to help children and their families to learn ways to manage difficult emotions and promote more effective functioning. Children and families who benefit from DBT-C may experience problems with emotional outbursts, mood, anxiety, suicide or self-harm, and reactive aggression. The DBT-C program is provided in adherence with the DBT model developed by Drs. Marsha Linehan and Francheska Perepletchikova.
Intake Assessments
DBT-C services start with a brief phone consultation with caregiver(s) to determine whether the treatment is consistent with the family’s needs. If so, an intake assessment is scheduled in which the caregiver(s) and child start by filling out some important forms and questionnaires. Caregiver(s) then meet individually with the clinician for approximately 2-3 hours to further discuss what is bringing them to treatment and gather a history of the child’s emotions and behaviours. The child then meets (individually or with parents) with the clinician for approximately 1-2 hours to provide any additional information and complete any questionnaires the child was unable to do independently. At the end of the assessment, the clinician will then typically meet with the child and caregiver(s) together to share diagnostic impressions and answer any related questions to help in selecting the best treatment. We will also write up a report summarizing this information and our findings.
Family Therapy
DBT-C begins with caregiver-only sessions in order to improve effectiveness in responding to child behaviour. The goal is to teach the caregiver(s) the skills to support changes in their child’s behaviour on an ongoing basis. DBT-C sessions are typically 80-90 minutes long. The caregiver portion lasts approximately 10-15 weeks, depending on how quickly the skills are put into practice. Following this, each session is typically dividing into 3 sections: family (child and caregivers) meetings with the clinician (approximately 30 minutes); child-only meetings with the clinician (approximately 30 minutes); and caregiver-only meetings with the clinician (approximately 20-30 minutes). Family meetings are designed to teach family members DBT-C skills for emotion regulation and behaviour change. Caregiver-only and child-only meetings are designed to help each person learn more about emotions and apply the DBT-C skills to their lives.
Families are taught the following DBT-C Skills:
- Mindfulness – to improve awareness of emotions, keep our attention in the moment, and reduce judgments of ourselves and others.
- Distress Tolerance – to cope with intense emotions in the moment without making the situation worse.
- Emotion Regulation – to change uncomfortable emotions and increase our control over our behavior.
- Interpersonal Effectiveness – to decrease family conflict and improve relationships.
Telephone Consultation
DBT-C also includes telephone consultation, in which children and/or their families can call the clinician in between sessions. These are designed to help children and families apply the skills in their day-to-day lives, so that the new ways of responding to emotions generalize outside of the therapy sessions.