DBT Skills

No. This course is an ideal starting point if you’re new to DBT. It focuses on the core skills—Mindfulness, Emotion Regulation, Interpersonal Effectiveness, and Distress Tolerance—which you can integrate into your existing clinical work or use within a full DBT program. It is also helpful for experienced DBT clinicians who want to refresh their skills and strengthen their understanding of how skills training supports effective treatment.

This course focuses on the core DBT skills themselves. You’ll learn how to teach and use Mindfulness, Emotion Regulation, Interpersonal Effectiveness, and Distress Tolerance with clients. It does not cover the full DBT treatment model, including the structure, modes, or protocols required for comprehensive DBT. It’s a helpful place to begin if you’re new to DBT or want to incorporate DBT-informed skills into your existing clinical work.

DBT skills help clients who experience intense emotions or impulsive behaviours, and they’re widely used for challenges such as emotional overwhelm, depression and anxiety symptoms, shame, anger, and relationship conflict. These skills give clients practical ways to manage emotions, tolerate distress, and communicate more effectively.

Yes. DBT skills can be integrated with a range of therapeutic approaches. You can incorporate mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness strategies into CBT, ACT, or other frameworks to support clients in managing emotions and engaging more effectively in the work. These skills complement your existing approach by helping clients stay present, regulate emotions, and respond more effectively in the moment.

You’ll learn the four core DBT skills modules—Mindfulness, Emotion Regulation, Interpersonal Effectiveness, and Distress Tolerance—and how to teach and use them confidently with clients. The course takes you deeper into the theory and research behind each skill and shows you how to apply them flexibly in both individual and group settings.

Through expert teaching, role plays, and therapy demonstrations, you’ll see how DBT skills support clients in building lives they experience as worth living. You’ll also be guided in developing your own voice and style in teaching and integrating these skills into your work.

This course offers a downloadable Certificate of Completion you can use to show your professional development boards. CE/CME credits are also available for completing this course - please check the learner notification to view the relevant accrediting bodies.