Dialectical Behavior Therapy Intensive Training

Training Description

Please visit https://www.tcdquebec.ca/formation-intensive-en-tcd  register for this event.

The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Intensive Training™ is a ten-day course designed for those who have begun learning DBT® methods from self-guided study of the treatment manuals and introductory workshops. This training is intended for teams that are invested in learning DBT to a high standard in order to better implement the treatment in their settings.

As DBT is a treatment that requires an ongoing consultation team, the Intensive Training is designed for treatment teams, not individual practitioners intending to practice alone.

A DBT team (minimum of 3*, maximum of 8) is a group of mental health professionals who meets at least weekly to assist each other in applying DBT in their practice setting. With the intent to provide the highest quality training experience, it is our goal to have a maximum of eight teams for each Dialectical Behavior Therapy Intensive Training™. Teams should discuss and clarify their level of commitment prior to completing their application as course enrollment is limited, and there is a competitive demand for Intensive Training.

Training is conducted in two five-day sessions of instruction divided by six to nine months of home study. In Part 1, lectures, videotapes, and small group exercises are used to teach DBT theory and strategies in-depth. Between the first and second sessions, participants consolidate and apply what they have learned with the help of practice assignments. Between sessions, teams design and begin to implement their own DBT programs or to integrate DBT into an ongoing treatment setting. In Part 2, each team presents their work and receives expert consultation on specific cases and on their program, including protocols for specific treatment problems and adaptations of DBT.

The DBT Intensive Training involves rigorous preparation, training, and homework. Part 1 and Part 2 are both five full days of training. The course is designed to model basic elements of the treatment in an experiential way and to foster team development. Just as DBT requires clients to make a full commitment to treatment and to attend all sessions, DBT training requires Intensive participants to attend the entire training, do their best to learn the material, and participate in a willing, committed manner.

Training Objectives

Part 1:

• Participate in a DBT Consultation Team.
• Demonstrate Consultation Team strategies used in DBT.
• List the modes, the functions, and the typical treatment agreements made in DBT.
• Implement the structure, goals, and stages of DBT.
• Teach the four DBT® skills modules (Core Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emotion Regulation, and Distress Tolerance).
• Explain the diagnosis of Biosocial Model of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and other severe disorders in all required treatment contexts.
• Create DBT treatment plans for clients using targeting procedures.
• Explain the dialectical nature of DBT.
• Demonstrate how dialectics are used in DBT.
• Conduct Cue Exposure and Response Prevention.
• List the steps in Problem-Solving.
• Conduct complete Behavioral Chain Analyses and solution analyses.
• Implement the Cognitive-Behavioral strategies in DBT.
• Identify the levels of validation and the contexts in which they apply.
• Demonstrate the use of validation to balance the change strategies in treatment.
• Demonstrate the different communication strategies of DBT.
• Implement the DBT case management strategies.
• Implement telephone coaching and other generalization strategies of DBT.
• Apply suicide crisis protocols of DBT.
• Discuss the DBT research for different populations.

Part 2:

• Demonstrate comprehension of important concepts in DBT.
• Demonstrate the ability to apply important concepts in DBT.
• Demonstrate the ability to appropriately apply DBT strategies in my own cases and appropriately evaluate the use of DBT strategies in others’ cases.
• Demonstrate use of DBT commitment strategies.
• Identify in-session dysfunctional behaviors and use DBT strategies to treat them.
• Use DBT strategies to better manage skills training problems.
• Identify team problems and use DBT strategies to resolve them.
• Design DBT service programs, appropriately implementing and modifying DBT protocols for my particular setting and patient population.
• Formulate plans to evaluate my program/services.
• Discuss the take-home exam assigned in Part 1 and consequently better understand important concepts in DBT.
• Discuss homework assignments involving the application of the treatment and consequently better understand how to apply the treatment.
• Understand and apply the treatment after my team’s program presentation.
• Use techniques for strengthening and using the DBT consultation team.
• Practice the techniques of DBT by role-playing, as coached by the instructors and be better able to describe and apply treatment strategies.
• Teach mindfulness skills, interpersonal skills, and emotion regulation skills as detailed in the DBT skills training manual.
• View and discuss videotaped segments of DBT as modeled by expert therapists and be better able to describe and apply treatment strategies.
• Understand and apply the treatment after my team’s case presentation.

Schedule

General Schedule: 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM EST with Sign-in beginning at 8:00 AM.

Trainers

Prerequisites

All team members must read the following prior to Part 1:

• Linehan, M.M. (2015). DBT® Skills Training Manual: Second Edition. New York: Guilford Press.
• Linehan, M.M. (2015). DBT® Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets: Second Edition. New York: Guilford Press.
• Linehan, M.M. (1993). Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

The DBT Intensive Training is designed to help attendees build an effective treatment program. DBT is a treatment that requires an ongoing consultation team. Therefore, the training is only open to teams consisting of three to eight people. Individuals and teams of less than three will not be accepted. Each team member is expected to attend the entire ten days of training.

Technical Requirements

Live, Remote Instructor-Led, with possible in-person training in Montreal, QC, (venue TBD) pending COVID-19 restrictions

Continuing Education

Behavioral Tech is not authorized to provide Continuing Education Credits outside of the United States. Behavioral Tech will provide Letters of Completion only.