Training Description

Research indicates that DBT skills are a key mechanism of change for suicide attempts, non-suicidal self-injury, depression, and anger, and multiple randomized control trials have shown DBT skills to be effective for a variety of problems, including depression, emotion dysregulation, binge eating, and borderline personality disorder.

This training provides in-depth training in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Skills: Core Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation, and Interpersonal Effectiveness, as well as the training methods required to help patients move from skills acquisition to generalization of skills into their natural environments. The intended purpose of the various skills and the rationale (including the evidence) for their place in the treatment are addressed. Clinical examples are used to illustrate specific skills training procedures. Participants will learn key teaching points for the various skills. Video of roundtable discussions of DBT experts, and demonstrations of a skills training class are incorporated.

The training consist of 16 segments for a total of 24 instructional hours over 4 days. Consolidation of knowledge from training requires preparation and tasks beyond the time spent with trainers. In order to maximize the return on the investment made in training, readings, homework tasks, and a knowledge test are built in. We estimate that participants should plan on additional 24 hours of time to complete these. Pertinent readings and homework tasks are included in a description of the training segment included later in this document.

Participants should have Dr. Marsha Linehan’s DBT® Skills Training Manual, Second Edition available during the training.

DBT skills training is one of 4 modes of standard outpatient DBT. For those who want to implement a full DBT program we recommend completion of the comprehensive Dialectical Behavior Therapy Intensive Training.

Primary Objective
As a result of this training participants will be able to conduct DBT skills training.

Learning Objectives

As a result of this training, participants will be able to:

1. Orient patients to how specific skills will help with specific relevant situations.
2. Conduct missing links analyses of incomplete homework assignments.
3. Conduct brief chain analyses in the context of skills training classes.
4. Demonstrate strategies for increasing client motivation.
5. Demonstrate the ability to manage questions, conversations and comments in skills training.
6. Demonstrate the ability to manage interactions among skills training participants.
7. Demonstrate how to solve problems that arise during skills training class.
8. Employ engaging teaching methods.
9. Conceptualize the rationale for the use of specific DBT skills.
10. Orient patients to the steps required to effectively use DBT skills.
11. Employ questions and activities that can be used to assess skills deficits.
12. Describe situations for skills practice.
13. Demonstrate providing corrective feedback.
14. Employ strategies for motivating patients to engage in skills rehearsal.
15. Identify strategies for engaging in behavioral rehearsal.
16. Demonstrate informal exposure procedures.
17. Employ strategies for shaping skillful behavior.
18. Identify DBT skills for clients to use for specific problems in specific contexts.
19. Motivate clients to use DBT skills by linking skills use to the goals of clients.
20. Identify therapy interfering and therapy destroying behaviors in skills training classes.
21. Identify points of polarization in interactions with patients in skills training.
22. Manage therapy interfering and therapy destroying behaviors in skills training classes.
23. Describe the evidence for the use of DBT Mindfulness skills.
24. Convey the rationale for DBT Mindfulness skills.
25. Identify situations in which Mindfulness skills can be helpful.
26. Teach Core Mindfulness skills to clients.
27. Describe the DBT skill of Wise Mind.
28. Define and describe the three “What” skills (Observe, Describe, and Participate).
29. Define and describe the three “How” skills (Nonjudgmentally, One-Mindfully, and Effectively).
30. Describe the evidence for the use of DBT Interpersonal Effectiveness skills.
31. Convey the rationale for Interpersonal Effectiveness skills.
32. Teach Interpersonal Effectiveness skills to clients.
33. Identify situations where Interpersonal Effectiveness skills can be helpful.
34. Identify skills for making requests or saying no to a request.
35. Identify skills for maintaining relationships.
36. Identify skills for maintaining self-respect.
37. Describe the evidence for the use of DBT Emotions Regulation skills.
38. Convey the rationale for DBT Emotion Regulation skills.
39. Teach Emotion Regulation skills to clients.
40. Identify situations where Emotion Regulation skills can be helpful.
41. Identify skills for changing emotional responses.
42. Describe specific DBT skills that are particularly helpful for anger.
43. Identify skills for reducing emotional vulnerability.
44. Describe the evidence for the use of DBT Distress Tolerance skills.
45. Convey the rationale for DBT Distress Tolerance skills.
46. Identify situations where Distress Tolerance can be helpful.
47. Convey the rationale for the use of reality acceptance skills.
48. Identify skills for reality acceptance.

Schedule

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Schedule includes four (4) 75-minute sessions separated by a 15 minute break after the first session, a 1-hour lunch after the second session and a 15 minute break after the third session.

Trainers

Prerequisites

The training is intended for those who have prior knowledge of DBT, and who want to learn DBT skills in depth to improve their work with their clients. Specifically, participants should either complete Dialectical Behavior Therapy Foundational Training, Dialectical Behavior Therapy Intensive Training, or Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills: Introduction before participating in this training. Alternately, participants can prepare by in-depth reading of Dr. Marsha Linehan’s DBT Skills Training Manual, Second Edition, on which this training relies.

Preparation & Training Requirements

Participants should complete pertinent readings before the workshop and plan to solidify their knowledge by completing homework tasks after the workshop. Daily quizzes are included. In order to receive CE/CME participants must pass a final exam with a score of at least 70%. The final exam is based on the quiz items.

Study Resources

Readings for DBT Skills Training
The readings pertinent to workshops on DBT Skills Training can be found in the primary text listed below. Each DBT provider should have access to a copy.

A note for those who work with adolescents and their families:

• Our training models extensively reference sections of Dr. Marsha Linehan’s DBT Skills Training Manual, 2nd Edition(2015). This book comprises most of the reading assignments in our trainings. The reason for this is that it is a comprehensive treatment of DBT skills, including key treatment concepts, core strategies and procedures, and variations on the structure of skills training based on studies with different lengths of treatment. Moreover, the RCTs with adolescents that were conducted by Lars Mehlum et al in Norway, and Linehan et al at the University of Washington and UCLA were based on the material in this manual.
• Many who have worked with adolescents prefer handouts that are presented differently than those in the second edition of Dr. Linehan’s manual. Those persons may wish to use the handouts from DBT Skills Manual for Adolescents (2015) by Drs. Jill Rathus and Alec Miller as an adjunct to the Linehan skills manual with their adolescent patients. They may also find the background material contained in the Rathus and Miller volume a helpful adjunct in learning to deliver the skills to adolescents and their families.

1. Primary text for DBT skills training
Linehan, M. M. (2015). DBT Skills Training Manual(2nd ed.). The Guilford Press.

2. Supplemental reading for DBT skills training with adolescents and their families
Rathus, J. H., & Miller, A.L. (2015). DBT Skills Manual for Adolescents. The Guilford Press.

Attend

Tuition Schedule:

• Early Bird: $775 – Registrations made on/or before January 31, 2022
• Standard Registration: $825 – Registrations made after January 31, 2022
• Your tuition payment must be paid in full no later than May 6, 2022

IMPORTANT: Two weeks prior to the training, participants will receive an email from our Online Portal (powered by Thinkific) with a sign-in URL for this training. Please follow the instructions in the email to log in to our Online Portal and set your password, prior to Day 1 of the training.

Please email support@behavioraltech.org if you have any questions about accessing your training.

Cancellations, Substitutions and Refunds
For a complete list of Behavioral Tech policies and limits of liability, see our Sales & Refund Policy page.

Technical Requirements

• Our Online Portal (powered by Thinkific) will be used to host the live Zoom sessions and share supplemental materials. All Live-Remote Trainings require each participant to have:
  • A high-speed Internet Service Connection with a minimum speed of 5Mbps. Test your internet speed. 
  • The most recent version of any of the following web-browsers: Google Chrome, Firefox , Safari , Microsoft Edge (Please note Internet Explorer will not be supported) 
  • Web-browser configurations must have Javascript enabled and popup blockers disabled.
  • The following software applications: Zoom, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, A PDF reader such as Adobe Acrobat Reader, or the ability to view PDFs in a web-browser. To test your internet connection, camera, and microphone for Zoom, you can use Zoom’s testing application.
  • No firewall restrictions. If a firewall is installed, please be aware that may interfere with the training content and materials, as it may be blocked. Please include the following 3rd party services to trusted sites list(s):
    • Thinkific Learning Management System: https://behavioraltech.thinkific.com/
    • SurveyMonkey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/
    • Zoom: https://zoom.us/

Continuing Education

Continuing Education Credit Information

Behavioral Tech cannot offer partial credit. To receive Continuing Education Credits, participants are required by the CE Boards to
meet all criteria listed below:

1) Attend 100% of the training
2) Complete the Last Day Evaluation survey, and
3) Pass the Post Assessment(s) with a score of 70% or higher

Please remember to login through the Zoom online platform to document your attendance. Continuing Education will be emailed to you 4-6 weeks after the training.

If this offering is approved for Continuing Education or Continuing Medical Education, BTECH verifies that it meets the requirements for the number of hours for each discipline listed below. If there are no listings, this offering does not provide continuing education credits. Licensing and continuing education requirements vary by state. Please contact your state’s regulatory authority to verify if this course meets your licensing or continuing education requirements. Inquiries regarding CE for other disciplines not listed may be directed to Behavioral Tech at 206.675.8588 or via email to support@behavioraltech.org.

Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselors

Behavioral Tech is approved by NAADAC – the Association for Addiction Professionals, Provider #77431. Behavioral Tech, LLC is responsible for all aspects of the programming. You will receive a letter via email documenting your attendance upon successful completion of the activity. The allotted CE hours for this activity = 24.

Mental Health Counselors

Behavioral Tech is approved as a NBCC-Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP™), ACEP No. 5885. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Behavioral Tech, LLC, is solely responsible for all aspects of the program. Behavioral Tech will email you a letter documenting your attendance upon the successful completion of the activity. The allocated clock hours for this activity = 24.

Psychologists 

Behavioral Tech is approved by the American Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. Behavioral Tech maintains responsibility for the program and its content. Behavioral Tech will email you a letter documenting your attendance after the successful completion of the program and homework. The number of hours Behavioral Tech has allocated within APA guidelines = 24.

Nurses

Behavioral Tech is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. Nurses should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. Continuing Medical Education is accepted by the ANCC for nursing certification renewal. The maximum AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ designated by Behavioral Tech for this activity = 24

Psychiatrists

Behavioral Tech is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. The maximum AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ designated by Behavioral Tech for this activity = 24.

Psychologists – New York

Behavioral Tech is recognized  by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists, #PSY-0063. Behavioral Tech will email a certificate of attendance upon 100% completion of this activity. The total contact hour allocated for this activity = 24.

Social Workers- WA

Behavioral Tech will apply the NASW, Washington State Chapter, Provider Number 1975-166, to offer continuing education for Certified Social Workers. Behavioral Tech will email a certificate of attendance upon 100% completion of this activity. The hours of CE allocated for this activity = 24.

Social Workers – NY

Behavioral Tech is approved recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers, #0040. Behavioral Tech will email a letter documenting attendance to participants with 100% completion of the program and homework. The hours allocated for this activity = 24.

Notice of requirements for successful completion: For all trainings (both in-person and remote), participants must attend 100% of the training and complete the Final Evaluation to receive a certificate of successful completion. This includes signing in and out each day/session of the event. For remote, Instructor-led training, participants have to pass the Post Assessment(s) with a score of 70% or higher.