"I was really surprised to feel more comfortable than I have in any kind of therapy setting I’ve ever been in. I’ve been able to be really open and bring my full self to the skills group and I feel really very grateful for that."Gray
Week 1 – Orientation and mindfulness
This is all about understanding the DBT approach, the guidelines for the skills groups and the approach that DBT takes to mindfulness.
Week 2 – STOP & TIPP
This week is all about changing your body to change your brain. Simple and effective skills to reduce emotional activation in a crisis.
Week 3 – Improve the moment, Distraction & Self soothing
This includes a mix of cognitive and body based skills to cope with a crisis. Even more ways to cope with crisis situations by using your senses.
Week 4 – Radical acceptance
This is all about working out the things in life that need accepting in order to build a life worth living. It is finding ways to accept uncomfortable and even hellish realities as they are. This isn't about approval, just acknowledging what is.
Week 5 – Turning the mind
This week is all about reinforcing radical acceptance with turning your mind towards the reality you are accepting and away from denial and avoidance. We will also touch in more detail on the concept of ‘wise mind’, our inner wisdom that we find between logical and emotion minds.
Week 6 – Willingness, Willfulness & Mindfulness of current thoughts
This session is all about recognizing feelings of willfulness and willingness without judgement. This week is all about learning that the content of your thoughts doesn’t mean anything in particular about you. It is about seeing your thoughts (and emotions) as part but not all of you.