Full Course Description

Integrative DBT Certification from Start to Finish

Learning comprehensive DBT skills doesn’t need to be overly complicated, expensive and involve hours of lecture.

Many clinicians like you just want to quickly gain DBT skills… without rigid protocols or unnecessary dogma.

Take the guesswork out of how to use DBT with this course where you learn from in-session demonstrations exactly how to craft flexible and adaptive DBT interventions.

Join Charles Jacob, PhD whose trained thousands of clinicians like you, for a game-changing step-by-step breakdown of DBT skills you can immediately use in your practice.

No lecture can match the insightful “how-to” power this masterclass style training. Step into the therapy room with Dr. Jacob and learn to teach mindfulness, guide clients through emotion regulation, address distress tolerance, improve relationships and so much more.

Walk away able to:

Troubleshoot roadblocks and easily overcome them
Integrate DBT with Internal Family Systems Therapy and Motivational Interviewing
Tailor DBT treatment for specific client problems in both inpatient and outpatient settings
Confidently facilitate DBT groups (with step-by-step instructions!)
Calmly de-escalate crises, stop self-directed violence and create contingency management plans
Sensitively support BIPOC, Veterans and other client populations
Treat kids and teens with special training on coordinating with parents and schools

PLUS, you’re eligible to earn your new C-DBT credential, completely free when you register now.

Get certified and master the skills needed to start using DBT tomorrow!

Program Information

Objectives

Analyze basic principles of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT).
Develop methods of applying DBT to diverse clients and clinical problems.
Formulate specific approaches to explaining DBT principles to clients.
Analyze basic principles of mindfulness as they apply to dialectical behavior therapy as well as treatment in general
Develop methods of applying mindfulness-based skills with clients.
Formulate specific approaches to explaining mindfulness principles to clients.
Analyze basic principles of emotion regulation as they apply to dialectical behavior therapy as well as treatment in general.
Develop methods of applying emotion regulation skills with clients.
Formulate specific approaches to explaining emotion regulation principles to clients.
Analyze basic principles of distress tolerance as they apply to dialectical behavior therapy as well as treatment in general.
Develop methods of applying distress tolerance skills with clients
Formulate specific approaches to explaining distress tolerance principles to clients.
Analyze basic principles of interpersonal communication as they apply to dialectical behavior therapy as well as treatment in general.
Develop methods of applying interpersonal communication skills with clients.
Formulate specific approaches to explaining interpersonal communication principles to clients.
Integrate key strategies from ACT, Motivational Interviewing and Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy into DBT sessions.
Develop skills to facilitate group DBT sessions.
Formulate adaptations to DBT to effectively with kids, teens, parents, and interface with school-based professionals.
Develop DBT-based interventions to help reduce self-directed violence and suicidality.
Describe common adaptations to DBT that target trauma and common mental health diagnoses.
Describe applications of research on efficacy of DBT.

Outline

Introduction: Background, Prepping Clients for DBT & Expert Assessment

Overview of the training course, broadly
Why & How DBT
Overview of DBT
- History/development
- Research base/Expanding base
- Is DBT client led?
- DBT in a virtual setting
Prepping clients for DBT
- Socializing clients to the model
- When is it indicated to use DBT versus another approach?
- Using parts of DBT without doing the full “protocol”
Assessment
- When is a client ready?
- How far to go in history taking?
- Clients manipulating assessment?
- Contraindications
- Cultural considerations

Module 1: Mindfulness

Research
Theory/conceptualization – recognizing mindfulness both as an intervention to reduce anxiety, and as a gateway skill to all other interventions (e.g., assuring mindfulness before addressing interpersonal effectiveness)
“Sales Pitch” – how to succinctly describe mindfulness principles to clients
Basics of Radical Acceptance
- Turning the mind
Mindfulness as a gateway skill vs mindfulness as a mood regulation tool
Skills Training – how to prepare and troubleshoot common problems teaching clients:
- Zen philosophy and contrast with CBTs
- Basics of dialectics and wise mind
- Hanging on vs letting go
- “What” vs. “how” skills
Skills Training - Experiential exercises
- Raisin exercise
- Body scans
- Mindful seeing/listening
- Five senses

Module 2: Emotional Regulation

Research
Theory/conceptualization: – recognizing emotion regulation skills as a way of pushing against mood congruency. Just because I feel angry doesn’t mean I have to behave angry
“Sales Pitch” – how to succinctly describe ER principles to clients
Skills Training – how to prepare & troubleshoot common problems
- Basics of understanding emotions and rating scales
  - Subjective Units of Distress (SUDs)
- Opposite action
- Problem solving
Skills training in Experiential exercises
- PLEASED
- IMPROVE
- Self-soothe
- Pros/cons – using hedonistic calculus to slow down the decision-making process
Using emotion regulation skills to address anxiety disorders (anxiety in 2023)
Using emotion regulation skills to address depression

Module 3: Distress Tolerance

Research
Theory/conceptualization: recognizing that distress tolerance is either the process of “riding out” an unpleasant emotion or making an effort to feel better in the moment (but not both at the same time!)
- Picking one path and mourning the other: exposure vs. skills
Sales Pitch” – how to succinctly describe DT principles to clients
Skills Training: Experiential exercises
- STOP
- Pros and Cons
- TIP your Body Chemistry
- Distract
- Self Soothe the 5 Senses
- Improve the Moment
- Using distress tolerance skills to address specific phobias
- Using distress tolerance skills to address OCD

Module 4: Interpersonal Effectiveness

Research
Theory/conceptualization – recognizing that the goal of many counseling interventions is to improve client’s ability to interact with the world – relationships, work, family, etc – and helping clients to develop skills to navigate relationships
- What is “effectiveness” and further integration of dialectics
Sales Pitch” – how to succinctly describe interpersonal effectiveness principles to clients
Skills Training: Experiential exercises
- When to say yes and no
- DEAR MAN
  - Examples
- GIVE
- FAST

Module 5: Suicide Risk Assessment and Self-Directed Violence

Research
Theory/conceptualization: for clients in general, knowing how to respond to threats of suicide or self-directed violence is critical. For clients meeting the criteria for BPD, skills to manage suicide and SDV are crucial,
- DBT’s hierarchical process
- Risk factors
- Basics of safety planning (not contracting)
Experiential exercises
- Emotion regulation skills for SDV
- Distress tolerance for SDV
- Contingency management
Pros and cons of de-escalation versus matching
Level of care, referrals, inpatient
Ethical – phone calls, etc.

Module 6: Adaptions for Working with Common Diagnoses

Research
Anxiety Basics
- Assessing Emotions
- Specific Anxiety Interventions
  - STOP
  - TIP
  - ACCEPTS
  - IMPROVE
  - Self-Soothe
  - PLEASED
- Exposure Basics
- Treating OCD
- Radical Acceptance
Trauma and DBT
- History
- Trauma and the Brain
- Complex Trauma
- Strategies for Depression
- Strategies for Anxiety
  - (revisiting STOP, TIP, etc)
  - Trauma and Exposure
- “Sales Pitch”
- Taped Demonstration

Module 7: Working with Kids, Teens, Parents & in Schools

Research
Theory/conceptualization: - while DBT was developed specifically for individuals that meet the criteria for BPD, the research on dismantled conditions supports use of DBT principles in a variety of clinical areas. For couples, families, and children, skills to manage powerful emotions and engage with one another interpersonally can be invaluable resources for clinicians.
- Adaptations to the DBT model depending on the population
- Using DBT principles in relationship counseling
- Attachment, Developmental models
Skills Training: Experiential exercises
- Adapting skills to work with children
  - Adapting Mindfulness – simpler exercises and explanations
  - Emotion regulation – “I don’t need to act how I feel”
  - Distress tolerance – “whatever I am feeling now, I won’t feel it later”
  - Interpersonal effectiveness – “what do I need, what am I doing, and is what I an doing getting me what I need”
Parenting Focused Skills
- When a family presents in your office
- Getting parents on board with how to support kids at home
School/Classroom focused strategies
- How do you adapt DBT for school environments?
- Can it be helpful for kids who have chronic absences?
- Full classroom exercises

Module 8: Facilitating a DBT Group & Inpatient Therapy Work

Research
Theory/conceptualization:
- Review of DBT formal structure/dismantled conditions research
- Structure of DBT skills groups
  - Mindfulness exercises
  - Diary cards
  - Overview of teaching strategies
- Group management strategies
  - Clients dominating group
  - Clients not sharing
- Running a virtual group
- Practical considerations when starting/running a skills group
  - Open/closed
  - Gender specific
Skill training: Experiential exercises
- Mindfulness dissemination strategies
- Emotion regulation dissemination strategies
- Distress tolerance dissemination strategies
- Interpersonal effectiveness dissemination strategies
Inpatient Considerations
- Getting non-therapist inpatient staff on board with DBT basics
- Does this work with psychotic patients? Is it safe for psychotic disorders?

Module 9: Integrating DBT with Popular Evidence-Based Approaches

How to integrate DBT with other modalities
- ACT
- Internal Family Systems
- Motivational Interviewing

Target Audience

Counselors
Social Workers
Psychiatrists
Psychologists
Case Managers
Addiction Counselors
Therapists
Marriage & Family Therapists
Psych Nurses
Other Mental Health Professionals