Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is shown to help clients who have persistent struggles with the regulation of intense emotions, such as depression, anxiety, and anger; it’s also highly effective for treating ADD, eating disorders, substance use, and many other chronic struggles that clients deal with in daily life. DBT offers clients the opportunity to build skills in four important areas: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. Six additional modules cover skill-building related to dialectics (finding the middle path between extremes), cognitive modification, problem-solving, addictions, building a satisfying life, and social media. These are skills we all need to make our lives easier and more enjoyable.
Cindy Darwin offers ongoing one-to-one DBT, as well as life skills group training (interest pending). Participation in either format requires clients to sign a commitment agreement, indicating their understanding and commitment to the DBT process.
DBT participants are expected to learn and practise skills; this can be accomplished through a combination of weekly skills training, regular individual therapy, and the using of new skills in daily life. As they add to their skills and connect skills to other skills, clients gradually form chains of new behaviours that allow them to create more meaningful and satisfying lives—the guiding goal of dialectical behavior therapy. The key ingredient for successful DBT is a commitment to engaging fully in the process. If you will work the skills, the skills will work!
DBT Life Skills Group Training
Cindy Darwin is trained in nonstandard DBT, and would like to invite you to consider joining Perspectives Counselling's Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) life skills group training. This group will be offered on a continual basis, with new participants welcomed in October, January, and April. Weekly sessions will take place in our reception space from 5 to 6:30 p.m., on two or three Wednesday nights of each month (with the last Wednesday of the month off). To facilitate a sense of cohesion and comfort, groups will run with and be limited to eight participants.
Participants will be required to commit to attending all sessions in a term, which will usually range from six to nine. One missed session per term, for non-medical reasons, is permitted. In the best interest of all clients, those who miss more than one session per term, other than for reasons related to illness, will be asked to withdraw from the term. Refunds will only be given for sessions missed due to illness or instructor cancellation, at a rate of $50.00 per session (including GST). The cost of a nine-session term is $475.00 (including materials fee) plus GST. Fees are due at time of registration. Receipts will be billed under the designation, "Group Dialectical Behavior Therapy," and may be eligible for coverage under your extended health care plan. Please check with your provider.
Tentative Dates, 2023-2024 Terms:
Term One – October 4, 11, 18; November 1, 8, 15, 22; December 6, 13
Term Two – January 3, 10, 17, 24; February 7, 14, 21; March 6, 13
Term Three – April 3, 10, 17; May 1, 8, 15, 22; June 5, 12
Each year, Perspectives’ DBT group skills training will cover skills from the ten modules. Continual or intermittent enrolment is possible. However, while it is not necessary to complete every term and module over the course of a year, it is preferable so that, over time, clients can build an extensive repository of life skills that will give them the best possible means of managing their counselling concerns.
Important Note: This group is not for you if you are currently self-harming, or feeling suicidal and/or have a plan for ending your life; please talk with your individual counsellor immediately if either is true for you.
To register for DBT life skills group training, please contact Cindy via email to reserve your spot and indicate your preferred method of payment (credit card or e-Transfer). Payment is due upon registration; however, if for any reason the group does not run, your fee will be fully refunded. You will also receive a refund for any individual sessions cancelled by the facilitator. Note: DBT groups foster the development of skills, and are meant to be an adjunct to, rather than replacement for, your individual therapy. It could work well for you to see your individual therapist monthly, while you attend weekly DBT life skills group training. And, so that we can begin in October, registration and payment for term one will close at the end of July; for term two, at the end of November; and for term three, at the end of February.