1. Skills Training DBT
Psyc 451

2. Skills training – DBT Modules
A min of 6 months, 2-2 and a half hour groups
A leader and co-leader
Agenda determined by the set of skills taught
Targets:
1) Therapy destroying behaviors
2) Increasing skills acquisition, strenghtening, and generalization
3) Decreasing therapy-interfering behaviors (not the primary focus of group training, put on extinction schedule if possible)

3. Skills training – DBT Modules
Mindfulness skills
Interpersonal effectiveness skills
Emotion regulation skills
Distress tolerance skills

4. Required Skills 1 Mindfulness skills
Core skills, taught the first two weeks and at the beginning of each module for two consecutive weeks
Learning to manage pain skillfully rather than change it
Psychological and behavioral versions of meditation skills.
Three “what” skills (observing, describing, participating)
Three “how” skills (taking a nonjudgmental stance, focusing on one thing at the moment, being effective)
naz

5. Required Skills 2 Distress Tolerance
Ability to tolerate and accept distress.
Crisis survival skills (until the problem can be solved) and accepting reality skills (to tolerate problems that cannot be solved)
Crisis survival skills: 4 sets of strategies:
distracting (activities, other thoughts, etc.),
self-soothing (vision, hearing ,smell, etc.),
improving the moment (prayer, relaxation, etc.),
and thinking of pros and cons
naz

6. Required Skills 2 Distress Tolerance
Crisis survival skills: 4 sets of strategies:
distracting (activities, other thoughts, etc.),
self-soothing (vision, hearing ,smell, etc.),
improving the moment (prayer, relaxation, etc.),
and thinking of pros and cons
Acceptance skills
Observing my breath, Half-smiling, Awareness
Radical acceptance, turning the mind, willingness
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7. Required Skills 3 Emotion Regulation
Emotion regulation: borderline individuals are affectively intense and labile 1. Identifying and labeling affect: identify and label ongoing, current emotions 2. Identifying obstacles to changing emotions: identify functions and reinforces for particular emotional behaviors (if one hates another, this does not mean other is worthy of being hated) 3. Reducing vulnerability to emotion mind: balanced nutrition, eating habits, adequate exercise, sleep, etc. 4. Increasing positive emotional events: increasing number of positive events in one’s life 5. Increasing mindfulness to current emotion: experience emotions without judging them 6. Taking opposite action: acting in a way that is inconsistent with the emotion (approaching what she is afraid of) 7. Applying distress tolerance techniques
naz

8. Required Skills 4 and Self-Management
Interpersonal effectiveness skills: effective strategies of asking for what one needs, saying no, coping with interpersonal conflict
Self-management skills: Any attempt to control, manage or otherwise change one’s own behavior, thoughts or emotional responses
naz