DBT Skills Group
Sarah co-facilitates DBT skills groups for individuals who want to develop practical skills for managing emotions, tolerating distress, navigating relationships, and responding more effectively to difficult situations. DBT skills training provides a structured opportunity to learn and practice these skills alongside others who may be navigating similar challenges.
Below, you can learn more about the skills covered in the group, what the group experience is like, and upcoming opportunities to participate.
Is a DBT Skills Group Right for You?
You might be someone who:
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Experiences emotions intensely or has difficulty returning to a manageable emotional state
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Finds yourself reacting in ways you later wish you had responded differently
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Feels overwhelmed by difficult situations and struggles to know how to respond effectively in the moment
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Experiences challenges with conflict, boundaries, communication, or relationships
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Wants practical strategies for tolerating distress without making a difficult situation worse
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Recognizes patterns in your thoughts, emotions, or behaviour but wants to develop more effective ways of responding
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Wants to become more effective in how you respond to yourself, others, and the situations you encounter
What Is a DBT Skills Group?
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based approach that teaches practical skills for managing emotions, tolerating distress, navigating relationships, and responding more effectively to difficult situations. DBT places equal importance on accepting yourself and your current experience while also working toward meaningful change.
A DBT skills group focuses specifically on learning and practicing these skills. Rather than coming to group primarily to process personal experiences, you'll learn concrete tools, practice using them, and explore how they can be applied to situations in your everyday life.
The Four DBT Skills Modules
DBT skills are organized into four core modules, each addressing a different area of effective living.
Mindfulness
Developing awareness of the present moment and learning to observe and participate in your experience without automatically reacting.
Distress Tolerance
Learning ways to tolerate painful or difficult situations without making them worse, including skills for getting through moments of crisis and accepting reality when it cannot immediately be changed.
Emotion Regulation
Understanding emotions, reducing vulnerability to intense emotional states, and learning ways to respond to emotions more effectively.
Interpersonal Effectiveness
Developing skills for communicating clearly, navigating difficult interactions, maintaining relationships, setting boundaries, and balancing your goals, relationships, and self-respect.
A Place to Experiment...
You’ll learn a wide range of skills, try them in your everyday life, and discover what works for you. Some skills may fit immediately, while others may not. Over time, you’ll learn which skills are most effective for you, and when to use them.
Learning in a Group
DBT skills training is structured and skills-focused rather than primarily being a space to process individual experiences.
Learning alongside others means you can benefit from perspectives beyond your own. You'll hear how other group members understand and apply the same skills to different situations, which can offer new ways of thinking about challenges and approaching difficult moments.
Although personal experiences are not the primary focus of the group, many people find it meaningful to learn alongside others who understand the challenges that bring someone to the program. By the 20th and final meeting, a sense of support and community has often developed through the shared experience of learning and practicing these skills together.
Many people also continue individual counselling while participating in a DBT skills group, providing a separate space to explore personal experiences in greater depth and consider how DBT skills can be applied to their own lives.
What to Expect
DBT skills groups are structured and skills-focused. Sessions include teaching, discussion, and opportunities to practice skills. You'll also be encouraged to practice between sessions and bring your experiences back to the group.
Some people choose to continue with another group after completing the curriculum, giving them an opportunity to revisit familiar skills with new experiences and a deeper understanding of how they can be applied.
Join an Upcoming DBT Skills Group
Interested in participating in a future DBT Skills Group? Complete the form below and Sarah will contact you by email when the next group is scheduled.