Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Program
What is DBT?
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based, proven therapeutic modality to treat behaviour and emotion regulation issues. It is designed for those who lack, or struggle with, important interpersonal, self-regulation, and distress tolerance skills, independent of diagnosis. In DBT, participants focus on building skills related to:
Mindfulness
The practice of being fully aware and present in this moment and developing skills to do so (e.g., observe, describe, participate, non-judgmental).
Interpersonal Effectiveness
How to ask for what you want and how to say “no”, while maintaining self-respect and relationships with others.
Emotional Regulation
How to change the emotions you want to change.
Distress Tolerance
How to tolerate pain in difficult situations that are not likely to change.
Who Can Benefit?
DBT is proven to offer significant benefits for individuals with a wide variety of mental health challenges. As a comprehensive treatment, DBT serves to enhance your behavioural capabilities, improve motivation for change, and assist with developing new capabilities that generalize to your day-to-day life.
Process groups are facilitated by trained therapists and allow clients to share their common struggles with other members and receive support, feedback, and encouragement. Psychoeducational groups provide members with information and teach strategies to help them become more skilled in navigating their personal struggles.
DBT may be a particularly effective path for those who struggle with managing behaviours including:
- Overwhelming emotions
- Impulsive behaviours
- Overwhelming emotions
- Impulsive behaviours
- Challenging relationships
- Trauma
- Challenging relationships
- Trauma
Adult Programs
DBT Intensive
Our DBT Intensive program is a 21-week, continuous intake program with intake intervals every six to eight weeks. It includes three main components:
- Individual Therapy
- Three-hour Skills Training Group
- One-to-One Skills Training
The Skills Training Group occurs once per week, typically in the afternoon. Individual therapy is scheduled once per week, or as needed. Clients also meet with a Skills Trainer once per week, or as needed, and can focus on help with homework, understanding more challenging skills, or applying the skills to difficult daily life experiences.
The Skills Training Group is split into three distinct modules that cover four areas of focus outlined above: Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation, and Interpersonal Effectiveness.
Contact us for pricing. Payment plans available.
Next Intake: July 18, 2023
DBT Regular
Our DBT Regular program is a 24-week continuous intake program with intake intervals every six to eight weeks. It includes two main components:
- Individual Therapy
- Two-hour Skills Training Group
The Skills Training Group occurs once per week, typically in the afternoon. Individual therapy is scheduled once per week, or as needed. The Skills Training Group is split into three distinct modules that cover four areas of focus outlined above: Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation, and Interpersonal Effectiveness.
For individuals who require a higher level of intervention, the DBT Intensive program is recommended.
Contact us for pricing. Payment plans available.
DBT Skills Group
The DBT Skills Group is a 12-week evening program, designed for adults that covers the primary DBT skills. The group consists of two hours of Skills Group per week and is designed for those who desire an introduction to DBT skills or would like a review of the skills they have already learned.
This group is a psychoeducational skills-based group that provides information on DBT skills and has weekly homework assignments to assist you in practicing the skills being taught. The group is run by psychologists trained in DBT and will include participants from all walks of life who are struggling with emotional difficulties.
All clients participating in the Skills Group are required to be under the care of a mental health treatment professional who they can see on an individual basis for a minimum of one hour per month. That professional is responsible for their clinical care while they participate in the Skills Group. For those without a therapist, ECSS can also provide that therapeutic support.
Contact us for pricing. Payment plans available.
Next Group: September 2023
Adolescent Programs
DBT Adolescent
The DBT-Adolescent program is a 24-week continuous intake program specifically for adolescents and young adults, ages 16-22. It is our hope that offering a group for individuals in similar life stages, with shared experiences, will allow members to learn from one another and feel supported as they learn the skills needed to build a life worth living.
The DBT-Adolescent program includes two main components:
- Individual Therapy
- Two-hour Skills Training Group
The Skills Training Group occurs once per week, typically in the late afternoon/early evening. Individual therapy is scheduled once per week, or as needed. In addition to following the skills-based group and therapy format that is typical for DBT programs, the DBT-Adolescent program involved a person from the youth’s support network to help with treatment compliance, skill modeling, and guiding the client in making skills-based decisions. The support person can include a support worker, a parent, or any other supportive relative.
Contact us for pricing. Payment plans available.
Next Intake: August 3, 2023
Intake
Please contact us to register for one of our DBT programs. When you contact our office, we will conduct a brief intake in which you will be asked about the program stream in which you are interested and to provide a brief description of your concerns. You will be contacted by a therapist to discuss which stream of programming may be best suited for you. You may be asked to participate in a brief intake interview in order to ascertain if the program is appropriate for you and the level of intervention that is recommended.