What coping skills will I learn?
Mindfulness
Skills that enhance present moment focus, reduce judgmental thoughts, increase self-compassion and create greater discernment when making decisions.
Distress
Tolerance
Skills that help to reduce intense emotions and accept the reality during distressing moments, so that you can get through overwhelming situations by tolerating the distress rather than avoiding it.
Emotion
Regulation
Skills that increase your capacity to acknowledge and accept your emotions, reduce unpleasant emotions (i.e. anxiety, anger, shame) and increase the frequency of pleasant ones.
Interpersonal Effectiveness
Skills that improve relationships, communication and interactions with others, while enhancing your ability to navigate challenging interpersonal situations.
What to expect
You'll learn to use DBT techniques including mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness. Participants will be provided with learning materials and are expected to complete weekly skills homework assignments. The group will be facilitated by a Registered Social Worker and receipts for insurance purposes can be made available upon request.
You'll be provided with learning materials and are expected to complete weekly skills homework assignments that help solidify your skills practice.
We surveyed 100 previous participants and here's what they've said:
The program taught DBT skills that were valuable, practical and relevant to the difficulties I experience.
Statistics
Full Details
4.6
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25%
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65%
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Here's what 75 previous group participants said:
The program taught DBT skills that were valuable, practical and relevant to the difficulties I experience.
I feel more confident in my knowledge and application of DBT skills after taking this course.
The DBT skills introduced properly prepared me for managing emotions and relationship problems.
Online DBT Skills Groups
Our online 12-week DBT skills groups are carefully designed to provide you with effective coping strategies to help you manage emotional and interpersonal difficulties. Participants learn to use DBT techniques including mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness. Participants will be provided with learning materials and are expected to complete weekly skills homework assignments. Our program is open to adolescents (14-17) and adults (18+) in Ontario and will include up to 10 participants. The group will be facilitated by a Registered Social Worker and receipts for insurance purposes can be made available upon request.
Adult DBT Skills Group | July-October 2023 | Tuesdays at 7:00pm (EST)/ 5:00pm (MST)
Details: 12-week DBT skills group for adults (18+)
Date: July 18-October 3, 2023
Time: 1-2 hours
Cost: $70/session
Registration: Open to Ontario & Alberta residents
Adult DBT Skills Group | August-November 2023 | Thursdays at 7:00pm (EST)/ 9:00pm (MST)
Details: 12-week DBT skills group for adults (18+)
Date: August 10-November 2, 2023
Time: 1-2 hours
Cost: $70/session
Registration: Open to Ontario & Alberta residents
Advanced DBT Skills Group | September-December 2023 | Mondays at 6:30pm (EST)/ 4:30pm (MST)
Details: Designed for adults (18+) who have previously completed a DBT group, this 12-week program will take a deep dive into advanced DBT skills and promote mastery in these skills through guided discussions, practice and rehearsal in and outside of group sessions.
Date: September 11-December 4, 2023
Time: 1-2 hours
Cost: $70/session
Registration: Open
Adolescent DBT Skills Group
Cost: $70/session
Registration: Contact to join waitlist
DBT Skills Groups Starting Monthly
Return to this page for updates on our ongoing DBT Skills Groups!
Do I need DBT?
Our team will do a thorough assessment of your mental health history and therapy goals to determine the best fit for your therapy. The options for your therapy may include:
Comprehensive DBT
This involves all aspects of DBT, including individual therapy, skills group and phone coaching. We suggest this to promote best outcomes and achieve lasting change in symptoms.
DBT-Informed
This includes some aspects of DBT, typically only those that appear to be most needed. This may be suitable for those with less severe mental health difficulties.
Alternative Therapy
We offer more than just DBT. If we determine that you are better suited for another type of therapy, we'll adapt the therapy to meet your specific needs.
About DBT-PE for PTSD
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) is highly effective for people experiencing difficulties in managing emotions and interpersonal situations. Given that trauma can cause people to experience problems in emotional, social and occupational functioning, DBT can be effective and is increasingly being applied to those with a diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). At DBT Virtual we provide a therapy protocol called DBT-PE (Prolonged Exposure), which is designed to treat those with PTSD or significant PTSD-related symptoms.
What is PTSD?
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental health diagnosis that can occur in people who have either directly experienced, witnessed or learned about a traumatic event. This can include events involving actual or threatened sexual violence, death or serious injury. PTSD involves a range of the following symptoms including:
Intrusions: nightmares; flashbacks; recurring distressing memories; and emotional or physiological reactions to reminders of the event.
Avoidance: avoiding thoughts, feelings and external reminders (i.e. people, places, or objects) related to the event.
Changes in Thinking and Mood: strong negative emotions; difficulty experiencing positive emotions; negative thoughts about oneself, others or the world; blaming oneself for the trauma; detachment from others; and a lack of interest in meaningful activities.
Arousal and Reactivity: irritability and aggression; reckless behaviours; hypervigilance; heightened startle response; and trouble concentrating and sleeping.
Dissociation: feeling detached from oneself or as though your surroundings seem unreal.
Most people after a trauma will exhibit a range of these symptoms. It is only after someone experiences these symptoms for one month or longer that the mental health condition can be diagnosed.
Can DBT-PE help me?
DBT-PE is designed to combine two evidence-based protocols (Dialectical Behaviour Therapy and Prolonged Exposure) to simultaneously treat both PTSD and other coinciding conditions such as depression, anxiety or personality disorders. DBT-PE is designed for people who either have the diagnosis of PTSD or experience PTSD-related symptoms. More specifically, it is intended for people with PTSD that first require support with stabilization of life-threatening, high-risk or impulsive behaviours that would otherwise interfere with trauma therapy (such as self-harm or suicidal behaviours, substance use, aggression, recklessness, disordered eating, or addiction). It can also be helpful for clients who may experience regular difficulties attending or remaining engaged in their therapy, such as those with repeated absences, withdrawal, dissociation or refusal to participate in their therapy tasks.
What can I expect in DBT-PE?
By participating in DBT-PE you will be required to attend our DBT Skills Group and one-on-one DBT prior to beginning trauma therapy, where the aim will be to increase your capacity to use DBT coping skills to help you gain control over severe behaviours and improve your regulation of emotions and crises (approximately 20 sessions). Once stability is achieved and maintained trauma therapy through Prolonged Exposure can begin (approximately 13 sessions), which involves deliberate exposure to situations and memories related to the trauma that the person avoids. Prolonged Exposure is a necessary intervention in DBT-PE since avoidance is what maintains PTSD symptoms and prevents one from recovering. The two ways this occurs is in:
Imaginal Exposure: where one revisits the traumatic experience and describes it verbally during therapy.
In Vivo Exposure: where one confronts real life situations that are actually safe but are avoided because the trauma has caused you to believe they are dangerous.
Both forms of exposure are deemed to be very effective at reducing fear, avoidance and other trauma-related symptoms.
Want to learn more about the research supporting the efficacy of DBT-PE? Click here.
Trauma Therapy
Trauma can cause people to experience problems in emotional, social and occupational functioning. Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) is highly effective for people experiencing difficulties in managing emotions and interpersonal situations, and is increasingly being applied to those with a diagnosis or symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Our team will do a thorough assessment of your mental health history and therapy goals to determine the best fit for your trauma therapy, which may involve DBT.
The options for trauma therapy include:
DBT-Prolonged Exposure
(DBT-PE)
DBT for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
(DBT-PTSD)
Cognitive Processing Therapy
(CPT)
Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR)
🔹 Couple Therapy: resolve conflicts, improve intimacy, and foster connection in your relationship.
🔹 Family Therapy: improve family dynamics by learning how to manage emotions and communicate more effectively.
🔹 Parent therapy/coaching: receive guidance on how to best manage and respond to the emotional and behavioural difficulties of your child (of all ages).
🔹 DBT Skills Training: learn the DBT skills as a couple, family or individual to promote better emotion regulation and communication with others.
Available for one-time consults or multiple appointments.
DBT for Adolescents
While DBT was initially designed to treat adult populations, it has been adapted and is now widely used to support adolescent populations. Research suggests that DBT can be effective for adolescents and their families and that DBT can support adolescents in multiple domains, including improving emotion regulation, depression, self-harm and suicidal behaviours. In DBT adolescents can learn a wide range of coping skills for coping with strong emotions, self-defeating thoughts and interpersonal difficulties.
At DBT Virtual we work with adolescents and their families as we aim to optimize the wellbeing of the adolescent. Our DBT therapists are trained to effectively support adolescents (ages 14-18) who are struggling with emotional, behavioural and interpersonal difficulties. Both individual and group therapy options are available.
Our 12-week DBT skills groups program involves both adolescents and their parent/guardian. Our program involves educating the adolescent's caregiver on effective coping skills so that they may assist the adolescent in using their skills and promote best outcomes in their therapy. It is also recommended that the adolescent either work with one of our therapists or their own therapist throughout the group program to help them apply the skills they are learning.
Self-referrals are accepted. Receipts are provided for reimbursement through your health benefits.
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