Who are DBT skills for?

Developed specifically to help people diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD), and equally helpful for anyone who notices that their emotions seem to take over and interfere with making the best choices (emotion dysregulation).

The Four Kinds of DBT Skills

Mindfulness: The building blocks of all other skills. How to know how you feel. How to get out of your head and into the present moment. How to choose where to put your attention. These are all prerequisites to executing other skills.

Distress Tolerance: How to survive a crisis. How to accept very painful, difficult realities.

Interpersonal Effectiveness: How to prioritize and protect your self-respect, your relationships, and getting what you want.

Emotion Regulation: How to build a fulfilling life. How to care for your body and manage your emotions in the long term. Skills for building self-efficacy, for approaching difficult situations, and for increasing the amount of enjoyment you derive from life.

What is DBT Skills Group like?

DBT Skills Training takes place in a group setting that is more like a classroom than traditional group therapy. We begin every class with a brief mindfulness exercise, and divide the remaining time between reviewing skills use over the past week and introducing new skills.