Adult and Multifamily (teens and parents) DBT Skills Groups are offered. Four modules, each focusing on a particular set of skills, help people who have difficulty managing overwhelming emotions. Distress Tolerance skills help people learn to manage overwhelming emotions that might lead to dangerous or damaging behaviors such as cutting, substance abuse, violence, or suicidality. Participants in the Emotion Regulation module will learn to better identify those scary emotional waves, manage the thoughts our minds “cook up,” and problem-solve various “sticky” situations. Interpersonal Effectiveness skills help people to improve their communication with others. Participants learn to get what they want, ask for what they need, and decline unwanted requests in a way that that is both empowering and respectful of others. Finally, Mindfulness is taught in two-week increments at the beginning of each of the above modules. The key to mastering the other skills, Mindfulness provides a foundation for people to better notice themselves and the world around them giving them the space they need to make choices about their lives instead of reacting.
In the Multifamily DBT Skills Group, parents and teens learn skills together. Included are additional family skills that help parents and teens to navigate communication with one another about common challenges (e.g., curfews, friends, homework, electronics).
On occasion, a graduate group is offered for people who have successfully completed one year of skills training and would like to continue with more advanced skills work that focuses on developing fluidity in specific daily situations such as relationships with colleagues or loved ones.