DBT Intensive Program Information

Primary Objective:

To provide the content and expert guidance required for teams to implement DBT programs and to conduct DBT.

Learning Objectives:

1. Incorporate DBT assumptions and a dialectical worldview into treatment with multi-problem patients.

2. Understand the biosocial model of DBT, and how to conceptualise client issues through this model.

3. Apply DBT principles and strategies during DBT consultation team meetings.

4. Structure treatment according to the primary target hierarchies.

5. Complete DBT pre-treatment tasks (e.g., identify client’s goals, orient to DBT, obtain commitment to treatment).

6. Implement effective phone coaching strategies.

7. Generate chain analyses for problematic behaviors, and evaluate solutions for specific problematic links from a chain analysis.

8. Apply the DBT problem-solving strategies (skills training, cognitive modification, exposure, contingency management).

9. Implement the acceptance principles and levels of validation in DBT.

10. Assess long-term and acute risk for suicide, and apply DBT Suicide crisis protocols.

11. Implement effective approaches to PTSD in the context of Stage 1 DBT treatment.

12. Structure a DBT Skills Group, and apply effective strategies for teaching in this treatment mode.

13. Prepare a DBT case formulation.

14. Define problem behaviors specifically and behaviorally.

15. Identify the controlling variables influencing a problem behavior.

16. Identify solutions to address the controlling variables influencing problem behaviors.

17. Generate solutions to address barriers to implementing DBT in my program.

18. Identify team problems and use DBT strategies to resolve them.

19. Identify DBT skills for clients to use for specific problems in specific contexts.

20. Implement the DBT problem-solving strategies (skills training, cognitive modification, exposure, contingency management).

21. Evaluate whether a DBT program addresses the 5 functions of comprehensive treatment.

Course Goals:

• Educate members of new DBT teams in the standard content necessary to begin providing DBT to clients.

• Prepare participants to function as active members of a DBT Consultation Team.

• Educate participants in the evidence and decision making processes required to determine the most effective plans of action for patients with multiple problems and high risk.

You DBT Intensive pathway is 12 months, which includes the DBT Foundational online course, weekly team meetings, and consultations with your DBT expert.

Part A: DBT Foundational is a self-paced course and there is no requirement to be online at a specific times. You can work through the lessons, readings, and exercises at your own pace during the program, with 12 months access to the content.

You will need to be online at specific times to meet with your team's DBT expert during the consultation part of your program, on average every two weeks during the early portion of your Foundational course.

Regular meetings with your team will continue for the length of your program and you will also need to be online at specific times to meet with them.

The full DBT Intensive program takes 12 months, but your weekly time commitment during this program will vary.

In the first part of your training, we recommend allowing 2.5 hours per week to complete Foundational DBT course content at the recommended pace. In addition, you will need to allow extra time for the consultation sessions with your DBT expert, on average once every two weeks in this beginning stage.

Regular meetings with your team will continue for the length of your program and you will need to allocate time for these sessions.

Part A: DBT Foundational is a self-paced course and you have 12 months access to the course content. If you fall behind, you can catch up at your own pace.

This program does have attendance requirements for your DBT consultation team meetings and you are expected to attend these sessions. Excessive absences from these meetings may result in dismissal from the program, so we recommend planning your workload to accommodate these requirements. If you know in advance that you will miss a meeting or consultation, please advise your team and your DBT expert trainer.

There are required readings for this online training program. The four books in this list are included with the purchase of the Intensive learning pathway and will be available in your online group as downloadable PDFs on the course start date.

Required Reading - provided free as downloadable books

1.  Linehan, M. (1993). Cognitive-behavioral treatment of borderline personality disorder. New York: Guilford Press. 

2.  Linehan, M. (2015). DBT skills training manual. New York: Guilford Press.

3.  Linehan, M. (2015). DBT skills training handouts and worksheets. New York: Guilford Press.

4. Sayrs, J., Linehan, M. (2019). DBT Teams: Development and Practice. New York: Guilford Press

You will also have access to an online Library that includes free, helpful handouts and reference materials.

Participants who are enrolled in the program are encouraged to contact the Psychwire Support Team as soon as they are aware that they cannot complete the program. We will work with you to determine what alternatives might be available to you. Contact us at support@psychwire.com

The DBT Comprehensive program is only offered in English. Additionally, all handouts available in the online Library are only offered in English. 

Participants wishing to own Marsha Linehan’s books in languages other than English should contact Guilford Press about the availability of authorized translations. As of May 2018, Guilford Press indicated that translated titles are in progress or already available in languages such as Chinese, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish. 

Contact Guilford Press for current information about the status and availability of translated titles.