Workshops

The DBT Skills: A Three Day Training – 2024

Presented by: Alexander L. Chapman, Ph.D., R.Psych., and John Wagner, Ph.D., R.Psych.

Dates: Wednesday June 19 – Friday, June 21, 2024
Time: 9 AM – 4:30 PM PDT (11 AM – 6:30 PM CDT / 12 PM – 7:30 PM EDT)
Location: Zoom 

Registration is now closed. 

 

About DBT

As a comprehensive, cognitive behavioural treatment, dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) consists of individual therapy, group skills training, a therapist consultation team, and between-session telephone coaching. Originally designed to help chronically suicidal individuals, DBT has become a well-supported treatment for clients with complex mental health problems. DBT has demonstrated effectiveness for adults with borderline personality disorder, including those with co-occurring substance use disorders or eating disorders, as well as suicidal or self-injuring adolescents. Findings have shown that DBT also has promise for the treatment of adolescents with bipolar disorder and children with serious behavioural or emotional dysregulation, complex trauma, major depression, and transdiagnostic emotional regulation difficulties. Further, evidence has shown that DBT significantly reduces healthcare costs for complex clients. 

About the Workshop

In this workshop, we focus on the skills taught in DBT. These skills contain an array of tools that clients can use to build lives worth living. DBT skills consist of four modules: mindfulness (skills to attend to, experience, and live in the present moment), distress tolerance (how to tolerate distress, avoid making things worse in a crisis, and accept reality as it is), interpersonal effectiveness (build healthy relationships while maintaining self-respect), and emotion regulation (understand and manage emotions). Typically, skills are taught in weekly, 2-2.5-hour groups that run much like classes, with two therapists leading each group.

This workshop will begin with a discussion of DBT theory (biosocial developmental theory, dialectical theory). We will also discuss how to structure and run a DBT skills group, as well as strategies that clinicians can use in both DBT skills training and individual therapy, such as validation and chain analysis. The majority of the workshop will focus on each of the four skill modules, covering core skills in each module.

Teaching methods will include didactic presentations, demonstrations, video/audio clips, experiential exercises, and active practice by participants. This will be an active and engaging workshop.

Learning Objectives

• • Describe and discuss the biosocial developmental and dialectical theory.
  • Describe and discuss some core strategies used in DBT, such as validation and chain analysis.
  • Describe and discuss ways to run a DBT Skills group.
  • Describe and discuss core skills in each module, including mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness.

This three- day training will cover the following sets of skills:

Mindfulness: • What is mindfulness? • The states of mind • Observe, describe & participate • Non-judgmental, one-mindful & effective

Distress Tolerance • Crisis survival skills • Pros & cons • Radical acceptance • Willingness vs willfulness • Mindfulness of current thought

Emotion Regulation: • What good are emotions • Model for describing emotions • Problem-solving • Opposite action • Reducing vulnerability to negative emotions • Mindfulness of current emotion

Interpersonal Effectiveness: • Priorities in interpersonal relationships • Intensity for asking/saying no • DEAR MAN
• GIVE • FAST

Who Should Attend

This training is geared toward mental health professionals who would like to learn more about DBT, with a focus on DBT skills training. No prior DBT training is required.

Counsellors, psychologists, physicians, psychiatrists, case managers, social workers, nurses, and other clinicians working on a mental health team as well as therapists working in a solo or group practice will learn a valuable treatment model, develop their repertoire of clinical skills, and learn skills to help complex clients.

The following clinicians will find this workshop most helpful:

• • Clinicians who would like an introduction to DBT theory and practice.
  • Clinicians who wish to begin a DBT skills group
  • Clinicians already running a group who wish to improve their skills
  • Clinicians who simply wish to incorporate DBT skills into their everyday practice.

Recommended Reading

Participants are encouraged to purchase and read the text DBT Skills Training Manual by Marsha Linehan. The manual is available via:

Chapters/Indigo: DBT Skills Training Manual

Guilford Press: DBT Skills Training Manual

Purchasers of this manual get online access to all skills training handouts and worksheets.

Format & Schedule

This workshop will take place via Zoom. Participants are expected to log on through a secure wi-fi connection with access to a microphone and camera and work in a private office or room.

Recordings of the workshop will not be available.

Tentative schedule for all three day (times in PST)

9am – 10:30 First session
10:30 – 10:45 Break
10:45 – Noon Second session
Noon – 1pm Lunch
1pm – 2:30 Third session
2:30 – 2:45 Break
2:45 – 4:15 Fourth session
4:15 – 4:30pm Wrap up

Participants that are joining from outside British Columbia, please note the time difference.

About the Presenters

Alexander L. Chapman, Ph.D., R. Psych., is the President of the DBT Centre, Professor in the Department of Psychology at Simon Fraser University (SFU), as well as a DBT-Linehan Board of Certification, Certified DBT Clinician™. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship working with Dr. Marsha Linehan, the developer of DBT, and was among the first cohort of certified DBT clinicians by the Linehan Board of Certification. In addition, Dr. Chapman has published 5 books focused on DBT, along with several others related to evidence-based practice or coping skills for consumers. He regularly consults with mental health providers working with complex psychological problems and has provided workshops across Canada and the US. Full bio.

 

 

John Wagner, Ph.D., R. Psych., the Director of the DBT Centre of Vancouver, an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of British Columbia, as well as a DBT-Linehan Board of Certification, Certified DBT Clinician™. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship working with Dr. Marsha Linehan, the developer of DBT, and was among the first cohort of certified DBT clinicians by the Linehan Board of Certification.  He regularly consults with mental health providers working with complex psychological problems and has provided workshops across Canada. Full bio. 

 

Both are enthusiastic presenters and greatly enjoy working with clinicians to enhance their skills with evidence based treatments.

Continuing Education Credits

The DBT Centre of Vancouver is approved by the Canadian Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. The DBT Centre of Vancouver maintains responsibility for the program as a provider of continuing education (CE) activities. At the end of the workshop, participants will receive a letter of attendance confirming the number of credits awarded (1 credit/hour). This workshop is eligible for eighteen 18 CE credits. Unfortunately we are not able to award CME credits for physicians.

The CPA’s approval of an individual, group, or organization as a CE Sponsor or Provider is restricted to the activities described in the approved application or annual report form. The CPA’s approval does not extend to any other CE activity the Sponsor or Provider might offer. In granting its approval, the CPA assumes no legal or financial obligations to Sponsors, Providers, or to those individuals who might participate in a Sponsor or Provider’s CE activities or programs. Further, responsibility for the content, provision, and delivery of any CE activity approved by the CPA remains that of the CE Sponsor or Provider. The CPA disclaims all legal liability associated with the content, provision, and delivery of the approved CE activity.

Cancellation Policy

The DBT Centre of Vancouver will provide refunds up to 14 days prior to a scheduled workshop and are subject to a $75 admin fee.