This 10-Week DBT Skills Group provides a structured, supportive environment to help you manage intense emotions, reduce stress, and improve relationships. Over 10 weeks, you will learn and practice the four core modules of Dialectical Behavior Therapy: Mindfulness, Emotion Regulation, Distress Tolerance, and Interpersonal Effectiveness. This group is ideal if you struggle with anxiety, anger, mood swings, or difficulty communicating and want practical strategies to create balance and resilience in your life. You will gain tools you can use daily while connecting with others who share similar challenges.
Cost: $50 per 60-minute session
Location: Zoom
Please note: You must be working with a DBT-trained individual therapist in order to join this group
Week 1: Introduction and Orientation
- Overview of DBT and group structure
- Setting personal goals for the group
- Introduction to mindfulness basics
Week 2: Mindfulness – Observing and Describing
- Practicing being present in the moment
- Observing thoughts, emotions, and sensations without judgment
- Learning “what” and “how” skills in mindfulness
Week 3: Mindfulness – Participating and Nonjudgmental Awareness
- Deepening mindfulness practices
- Exercises to increase focus and awareness in daily life
- Nonjudgmental observation of self and environment
Week 4: Emotion Regulation – Understanding Emotions
- Identifying and labeling emotions
- Understanding the function of emotions
- Learning to reduce vulnerability to intense emotional states
Week 5: Emotion Regulation – Changing Emotional Responses
- Strategies to manage and shift difficult emotions
- Building positive emotional experiences
- Applying emotion regulation skills in real-life situations
Week 6: Distress Tolerance – Crisis Survival Skills
- Techniques for managing crisis without making things worse
- Learning distraction, self-soothing, and radical acceptance skills
- Developing a personal distress tolerance toolkit
Week 7: Distress Tolerance – Reality Acceptance
- Practicing acceptance of situations beyond control
- Skills for tolerating emotional pain
- Exercises in mindfulness of the present moment during distress
Week 8: Interpersonal Effectiveness – Maintaining Relationships
- Learning assertiveness skills
- Strategies for asking for what you need and saying no
- Balancing priorities, self-respect, and relationships
Week 9: Interpersonal Effectiveness – Advanced Communication Skills
- Managing conflict effectively
- Handling criticism and feedback
- Practicing negotiation and problem-solving skills
Week 10: Integration and Future Planning
- Reviewing skills learned over the 10 weeks
- Creating a personal DBT practice plan
- Setting goals for continued skill use
- Group reflection and closure